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 6, 2021: History Teaches that Constitutional Reforms Come in Waves. We May Be Approaching One Now. Politico

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