Democracy Wire

Perhaps the door to comity has cracked open in the Senate but it remains shut and locked tight in the House of Representatives

Not even President Trump’s most fervent admirers take seriously the president’s claim that up to 5 million people cast illegal ballots last fall.

Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, whose deceptive public statements about voter fraud appear to be part of a strategy to advance his political career, is finding that deception doesn’t work so well when it’s directed at federal judges.

Wednesday’s introduction of the Fair Elections Now Act deserves a tip of the hat to sponsoring Sen. Dick Durbin, D-IL, and his 23 co-sponsors for continuing to stand up for a good idea.

The Koch brothers invested $260 million – more or less – to elect a Congress that will do their bidding; now they and their ultra-wealthy network of business leaders are putting millions more into a “grassroots” lobbying campaign aimed at making their investment pay off in a massive business tax cut.

Even in California, where strong state campaign finance laws set an example for the nation, it’s not that easy to see who is bankrolling political candidates or initiatives.