2021 Articles
The Citizen’s United v FEC decision by the Supreme Court opened the floodgates to campaign spending by deep-pocket anonymous donors. The following articles and reports portray the aftermath of this decision:
December 28, 2021: Six things we must do to save our democracy and protect our elections in 2022 Fulcrum
December 22, 2021: Democratic push on voting rights becomes more urgent as midterms approach Washington Post
December 15, 2021: ‘Final Five’ bill would drastically alter how Wisconsin sends people to Congress WKOW
December 11, 2021: Against Plutocrats, Platitudes — About Democracy — Will Always Be Pitiful Inequality.org
December 8, 2021: Wake up, America! Corporations are expanding their influence Jeff Clements via Post Bulletin
December 6, 2021: Are We Doomed? The Atlantic
December 6, 2021: 21 Things We Learned About Money in Politics in 2021 Brennan Center for Justice
December 3, 2021: Matt Rothschild: Our rotting democracy needs fixing in Wisconsin Matt Rothschild via Wisconsin State Journal
November 28, 2021: How Manchin and Sinema’s status as Senate holdouts is proving lucrative The Guardian
November 28, 2021: Democratic frustration growing over stagnating voting rights bills The Hill
November 22, 2021: US added to list of ‘backsliding’ democracies for first time The Guardian
November 12, 2021: ‘Dark Money’ Groups Battle Online Over Reconciliation Bill The American Prospect
October 31, 2021: Exposed: The insidious cancer at the core of democracy that could take down Biden AlterNet
October 28, 2021: Cases show foreign donors secretly funnel money through straw donors, shell companies, ‘dark money’ Open Secrets
October 7, 2021: Florida GOP Jacks Up Cities’ Campaign Contribution Limits Sludge
October 7, 2021: Koch network lurks behind school mask battles, despite soothing new tone at the top Kansas Reflector
October 4, 2021: Ranked-choice voting is worth a look The Cap Times
September 30, 2021: The Koch Empire Goes All Out to Sink Joe Biden’s Agenda — and His Presidency, Too Rolling Stone
September 16, 2021: Revised voting rights bill rolled out in U.S. Senate, with Manchin on board Wisconsin Examiner
August 28, 2021: Rally pushes for fair maps in Wisconsin’s political districts WBAY Green Bay
August 13, 2021: America is full of ‘democracy deserts’. Wisconsin rivals Congo on some metrics The Guardian
August 12, 2021: Wisconsinites Prepare Fair Maps to Counter Expected GOP Gerrymandering Sludge
August 11, 2021: Secret IRS Files Reveal How Much the Ultrawealthy Gained by Shaping Trump’s “Big, Beautiful Tax Cut” ProPublica
August 8, 2021: Dems push for campaign finance reform WKOW Madison
August 5, 2021: The uphill battle to reform campaign finance laws Wisconsin Examiner
August 4, 2021: Wisconsin Democrats propose overhauls to campaign finance laws The Cap Times
August 3, 2021: Wisconsin Democrats Renew Push To Tighten State Campaign Finance Laws WPR
August 3, 2021: State Democrats Announce Campaign Finance Reform Package WORT Radio Madison
August 3, 2021: Dems push for stricter campaign finance laws Leader Telegram, Eau Claire
August 3, 2021: Democrats introduce bills that would overhaul Wisconsin campaign finance system Wisconsin State Journal
August 3, 2021: Wisconsin Democrats reignite push to overhaul state campaign finance laws Channel 3000 News
August 3, 2021: Wisconsin Democrats reignite push to overhaul state campaign finance laws WGLR – Lancaster, WI
July 28, 2021: Democrats craft revised voting rights bill, seeking to keep hopes alive in the Senate Washington Post
July 20, 2021: The Democrat blocking progressive change is beholden to big oil. Surprised? The Guardian
July 16, 2021: The Supreme Court is antidemocratic. That’s by design Washington Post
July 1, 2021: The Supreme Court just made Citizens United even worse Vox
June 23, 2021: With a few simple steps, Wisconsin could ensure that its elections are safer and that citizens have more confidence in the results Milwaukee Journal Sentinal
June 16, 2021: Manchin Says He’s ‘Open’ To Lowering Filibuster Threshold To 55 Votes Forbes
June 16, 2021: Leaked Audio of Sen. Joe Manchin Call with Billionaire Donors Provides Rare Glimpse of Dealmaking on Filibuster The Intercept
June 16, 2021: Manchin pitches changes to For the People Act elections and voting bill and is reportedly now more open to reform of filibuster rule Marketwatch
June 6, 2021: Joe Manchin: Why I’m voting against the For the People Act Charleston Gazette-Mail
June 4, 2021: How Democrats can keep the filibuster and advance voting rights The Hill
May 27, 2021: For The People Act will empower small donors and increase representation in our democracy The Hill
May 27, 2021: I Was Once a Lobbyist for the Koch Brothers. I Just Didn’t Know It Common Dreams
May 22, 2021: Manchin’s Voting Rights Plan Would Do Nothing About The Wave Now Of Voter Suppression Bills Huffington Post
May 15, 2021: Democrats confront reality on voting rights: Congress probably isn’t coming to the rescue Washington Post
May 15, 2021: Life will dramatically change under brutal American oligarchy Raw Story
May 15, 2021: Wisconsin Supreme Court declines to adopt Republican-backed redistricting rules WiscNews
May 13, 2021: The For the People Act: Separating Fact from Fiction Brennan Center for Justice
May 13, 2021: Leaked Video: Dark Money Group Brags About Writing GOP Voter Suppression Bills Across the Country Mother Jones
May 12, 2021: After Zuckerberg Money Pours Into Election, Wisconsin Lawmakers Vote to Curb Outside Funds The Daily Signal
May 11, 2021: Wisconsin Assembly Calls for a Constitutional Convention U.S.News & World Report
May 11, 2021: Senate panel deadlocks in vote on sweeping elections bill The Hill
May 8, 2021: Campaign Finance: How did Money Influence 2020 U.S. Senate Elections? Harvard Business Review
May 3, 2021: Republicans feared Democrats’ voting protections bill polls well. A new poll says they’re right Vox
May 3, 2021: Senate Dems agonize over voting rights strategy Politico
May 2, 2021: How the middle class was created and destroyed Thomas Toth via Bucks County Courier Times
May 1, 2021: The Cautionary Tale of Joe Manchin’s Opposition to DC Statehood Thom Hartmann via Random Lengths
April 30, 2021: Ted Cruz admits a bit too much about influence of corporate cash MSNBC
April 30, 2021: Americans for Prosperity launches campaign targeting six Democrats to oppose ending filibuster The Hill
April 25, 2021: Schumer: Senate deadline for voting rights bill ‘probably by August or so’ The Hill
April 20, 2021: Dozen Megadonors Gave $3.4 Billion, One in Every 13 Dollars, Since 2009 NYTimes
April 17, 2021: The Supreme Court hears a case next week that could make Citizens United even worse Vox
April 12, 2021: Manchin’s Filibuster Defense Betrays the Senate Legacy He Claims to Protect Manchin’s Filibuster Defense Betrays the Senate Legacy He Claims to Protect Common Dreams
April 10, 2021: Is Democrats’ voting rights bill too big and doomed to fail? Even some who support it think so Salon
April 9, 2021: McConnell Has No Trouble With Corporate Speech—as Long as It Takes the Form of Bribery The Nation
April 8, 2021: The Man Who Waited 50 Years for This Moment The Atlantic
April 8, 2021: The Money Monster Mitch McConnell Created Finally Turned On Him The Daily Beast
April 7, 2021: Jayapal Leads Proposal for Constitutional Amendment to End Corporate Personhood Truthout
April 6, 2021: Jayapal Introduces Constitutional Amendment to Reverse Citizens United, End Corporate Personhood YubaNet.com
March 31, 2021: Republicans keep grip on Legislature despite Democratic spending spree Madison 365
March 30, 2021: How This Voting Rights Bill Could Turn the Next Election Into a Clusterf*ck The Daily Beast
March 29, 2021: Inside the Koch-Backed Effort to Block the Largest Election-Reform Bill in Half a Century The New Yorker
March 25, 2021: Fact check: Breaking down 10 claims about the Democrats’ elections bill CNN
March 25, 2021: Senators spar over For the People Act OpenSecrets.org
March 24, 2021: Three False Claims About the Federal Voting Rights Bill FactCheck.org
March 24, 2021: How Small A Minority Should Be Allowed To Rule? The Daily Poster
March 22, 2021: How Congress Can Better Represent the People Brennan Center for Justice
March 22, 2021: Democrats Now Dominate Dark Money Spending. They Still Want To End It HuffPost
March 21, 2021: Our Taxes Subsidize as Much as 74 Cents of Every Dollar Donated by a Billionaire TruthOut
March 17, 2021: ‘Dark money’ topped $1 billion in 2020, largely boosting Democrats OpenSecrets.org
March 12, 2021: Conservative Groups Launch Misinformation Campaign Against HR 1 Sludge
March 11, 2021: Faces of Small Donor Public Financing 2021 Brennan Center for Justice
March 4, 2021: How Dems Can Turn Filibuster Reform Into the ‘Moderate’ Option New York Magazine
March 3, 2021: Wisconsin GOP’s Misguided Move on Amending the Constitution Wisconsin Democracy Campaign
March 3, 2021: H.R. 1: The Path to Democracy in America The American Prospect
February 28, 2021: The Only Way Democrats Will Get Anything Done Robert Reich via Eurasia Review
February 26, 2021: Big Tech Shouldn’t Be the Arbiter of Our Free Speech Rights TruthOut
February 25, 2021: The For the People Act Is Popular, Pass It Right Away Crooked Media
February 25, 2021: Ranked-choice voting bill has bipartisan support WKOW Madison
February 18, 2021: March vote set for HR 1 as both parties harden democracy reform postures The Fulcrum
February 17, 2021: With Record $14.4B Spent in 2020 Elections, Wyoming Legislators Call For U.S. Constitutional Amendment Oil City News
February 16, 2021: Is giving our drinking water legal personhood the best way to protect it? The Counter
February 12, 2021: How American Corporations Used Courts and the Constitution to Avoid Government Regulation Promarket
February 11, 2021: Most expensive ever: 2020 election cost $14.4 billion OpenSecrets.org
February 11, 2021: The Two Faces of Charles Koch Republic Report
February 6, 2021: Money in Politics, One Month Later NYTimes
February 4, 2021: COVID, Campaign Finance, and Unfair Maps Wis. Democracy Campaign
January 28, 2021: Corporate America Should Immediately Cease All Political Spending, Says Reform Coalition Sludge
January 25, 2021: If We Don’t Pass H.R. 1, ‘We Are F*cked as a Nation’ Esquire
January 22, 2021: ‘A big deal’: Democrats reintroduce Constitutional amendment to overturn one of the Supreme Court’s most damaging rulings Raw Story
January 19, 2021: Please Don’t Follow This Money NY Times
January 15, 2021: Cruz and AOC Said They Would Propose a Lobbying Ban. So What Happened? The American Prospect
January 15, 2021: The surest way to end corporate America’s love affair with money in politics CNBC
January 15, 2021: Corporate America Presses Pause on Political Contributions Center for Public Integrity
January 13, 2021: How to Fix American Democracy Brennan Center for Justice
January 12, 2021: The First Amendment doesn’t guarantee you the rights you think it does CNN
January 12, 2021: Koch Network Says It Will Evaluate Future Support for Candidates Based on Actions Leading Up to Capitol Riot Wall Street Journal
January 11, 2021: Businesses rethink political donations after Capitol siege Associated Press
January 7, 2021: Republican Attorneys General Dark Money Group Organized Protest Preceding Capitol Mob Attack Documented.net