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New York Post: Ajit Pai becomes latest ex-FCC chairman to join a private equity firm
Former FCC Chairman Michael Copps found the news disappointing. He said commissioners tend to be more sympathetic to private equity firms and corporations when they are commissioners if they know that they might also, one day, become their future employers. “We have a serious revolving door problem at the FCC,” Copps told The Post. “This is not encouraging.” Private equity firms often put too much debt on media companies and do not have the public interest in mind, according to Copps. He raised the present example of Alden Global Capital buying up many of the country’s newspapers and firing reporters. Two of the four FCC chairs who joined private equity firms since 2001 were Democrats and two Republicans so the revolving door is not about party affiliation, he said.
Found in: Common Cause
USA Today: Supreme Court to debate whether nonprofits must reveal donors despite threat of violence
"Even though they're saying the case had nothing to do with elections and is not about public transparency, if there's a bad ruling here it could be leveraged to expand these exemptions from transparency in election spending," said Beth Rotman, national director of money in politics and ethics at Common Cause. "If you're going to expand those exemptions so broadly, then you're going to really take away a lot of the transparency that we have in political disclosure laws."
Found in: Common Cause
New York Times: Voting Rights Standoff Stalls Trump-Inspired Ethics Measures
“It’s critically important that the For the People Act remain big, bold and together,” said Aaron Scherb, the director of legislative affairs for Common Cause, one of several groups working with Democrats on the bill, adding, “People don’t want piecemeal solutions to comprehensive problems.”
Found in: Common Cause
Salon: Bills targeting local officials who resisted Trump could allow GOP to "overturn election results"
"America is one of the only democracies that does not have elections run by a nonpartisan government entity," Sylvia Albert, director of the voting and elections program at the nonpartisan voter advocacy group Common Cause, said in an interview with Salon. "What you're seeing right now is the danger of politicians running elections. We should all be very much on guard."
Found in: Common Cause
Missouri Independent/Kansas City Star: Medical marijuana firms awarded licenses by Missouri are raising money for Gov. Parson
“When someone sees industry leaders are able to, not even have a seat at the table but actually pay for the table, that doesn’t speak well for how policy decisions are going to be made,” said Beth Rotman, director of money in politics and ethics for Common Cause. Pointing to next week’s fundraiser for Parson, Rotman said things don’t have to be illegal or corrupt in order to be problematic. “In many instances it’s clear,” she said, “to get the face time, to get the phone call returned, to get the one-on-one conversation, it requires these campaign contributions.”
Found in: Common Cause
Reflections on the Chauvin verdict: one conviction does not absolve a system
I am encouraged by the decision in the Chauvin case but I am in no way relieved. The criminal justice system has a history of failure in similar cases. This one conviction does not absolve a system that has disappointed the families of Michael Brown, Antwon Rose, Breonna Taylor, Walter Scott and so many others.
Found in: Common Cause
New York Times: Georgia Faith Leaders Urge Boycott of Home Depot Over Voting Law
“I can’t fully support a boycott within Georgia,” said Aunna Dennis, the executive director of the Georgia chapter of Common Cause. “The boycott hurts the working-class person. But corporations do need to be held accountable on where they put their dollars.”
Found in: Common Cause
Roll Call: Ohio Rep. Steve Stivers to leave Congress next month
Few names have emerged as potential successors to Stivers, in part because all House districts will be redrawn to reflect the results of the 2020 census. Ohio is also “very, very likely” to lose a seat when the House is reapportioned, according to Catherine Turcer of Common Cause Ohio.
Found in: Common Cause
Chicago Tribune: Democrats may use population estimates for redistricting, raising questions about fairness of maps
“Those are the people I feel have been dishonored by the path that the Illinois General Assembly has now chosen,” said Jay Young, executive director of Common Cause Illinois. “It should be the job of our elected officials to sort of recognize that this challenge exists, to recognize that they’re not going to be able to draw the district lines with any degree of specificity, they’re not going to be able to draw equal districts.”