A chart contained in the regulations for the state Office of Campaign and Political Finance would appear to play a central role in the ongoing dispute the office is having with Sen. Ryan Fattman and his wife Stephanie, the register of probate in Worcester County. Â The chart spells out annual campaign contribution limits, and to […]
Campaign finance
Posted inPolitics
Following the money in Fattman campaign finance fight
A CHART CONTAINED in the regulations for the state Office of Campaign and Political Finance would appear to play a central role in the ongoing dispute the office is having with Sen. Ryan Fattman and his wife Stephanie, the register of probate in Worcester County. Â The chart spells out annual campaign contribution limits, and to […]
Posted inOpinion
Citizens United gaining super PAC adherents
ON JANUARY 21, 2020, the famous US Supreme Court decision, Citizens United vs the Federal Election Commission (Citizens United), celebrated its tenth birthday! As the court decision matures, so do many of its original skeptics. Massachusetts US Sen. Elizabeth Warren rose to prominence in 2012 by not using a super PAC to defeat incumbent US […]
Posted inOpinion
Shining a light on dark money
“WE CANNOT GUARANTEE the sun will rise tomorrow, but we can guarantee our donors will never be disclosed.” So vowed Paul Craney, spokesperson and board member of the conservative Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance, in a 2018 CommonWealth op-ed that protested efforts by “powerful politicians, bureaucrats, unions, and far-left interest groups” to force the organization to reveal […]
Posted inPolitics
Trahan changes tune on campaign cash
CONGRESSWOMAN LORI TRAHAN wouldn’t look as bad right now if she had accurately explained the source of a last minute campaign-cash infusion soon after she was first asked about it. From the time the Boston Globe’s Andrea Estes first started poking around about it earlier this year, there was strong suggestion that her husband, businessman David […]
Posted inThe Download
Trahan changes tune on campaign cash
Congresswoman Lori Trahan wouldn’t look as bad right now if she had accurately explained the source of a last minute campaign-cash infusion soon after she was first asked about it. From the time the Boston Globe’s Andrea Estes first started poking around about it earlier this year, there was strong suggestion that her husband, businessman David […]
Posted inPolitics
Thornton squeaks out a win from divided FEC
THE POLITICALLY WIRED ATTORNEYS at Thornton Law Firm won a partial — and ironic — victory at the Federal Election Commission last week. Andrea Estes, an investigative reporter at the Boston Globe, wrote what could wind up as the epilogue to a story she helped break three years ago. Back then, Estes and Viveca Novak […]
Posted inThe Download
Thornton squeaks out a win from divided FEC
The politically wired attorneys at Thornton Law Firm won a partial — and ironic — victory at the Federal Election Commission last week. Andrea Estes, an investigative reporter at the Boston Globe, wrote what could wind up as the epilogue to a story she helped break three years ago. Back then, Estes and Viveca Novak […]
Posted inOpinion
Citizens United: Election fairness or flaw?
Money shouldn’t buy a bigger megaphone A constitutional amendment would reset campaign finance after Citizens United By David Ropeik THE HEALTH OF the United States of America relies on a few fundamental beliefs. One is the shared sense that, despite deep disagreements, ultimately we are all in this idea of America together. E pluribus unum. […]
Posted inOpinion
Little buzz on ballot question with wide impact
MASSACHUSETTS VOTERS FACE three ballot questions this November. Though Question 2 has received the least attention, it has the potential to affect every citizen of the Commonwealth—and, perhaps, the nation. Question 2 proposes a volunteer commission be convened to consider amending the U.S. Constitution to overturn the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2010 decision in Citizens United […]