skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Saturday, July 19, 2025

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Trump tells Justice Dept. to seek release of Epstein grand jury testimony; NV education advocates blast freeze on federal funds; and VA leaders push EV adoption as economic, national security imperative.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

An asylum case sparks alarm, protests invoke the late John Lewis, Trump continues to face backlash over the Epstein files and the Senate moves forward with cuts to foreign aid.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The Trump administration's axe to clean energy funding could hit rural mom-and-pop businesses hard, cuts also jeopardize Alaska's efforts to boost its power grid using wind and solar, and a small Kansas school district engages new students with a focus on ag.

WV Joins Backlash Against 'Citizens United' Decision

play audio
Play

Monday, January 21, 2013   

CHARLESTON, W.Va. - Last year's elections were the most expensive in history, and West Virginia lawmakers are being pressed to help a national effort to get the big money out of politics. During the next legislative session, clean-election groups will push lawmakers go on record for amending the U.S. Constitution to reverse the "Citizens United" decision. That's the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that ended campaign spending limits for corporations and special interest groups.

A new report from the watchdog group Demos says political fundraising is dominated more than ever by big businesses and their wealthy owners. Adam Lioz, Demos' staff counsel, explains how it worked.

"The top 32 super-PAC donors, contributing an average of nearly $10 million each, matched all of the money that both President Obama and Mitt Romney raised from small donors, combined. That's $313 million, from at least 3.7 million people giving less than $200 apiece."

The Demos says the campaign finance system favors incumbents over challengers and grassroots candidates, and makes it impossible to track some donations, which don't have to be reported if they fall outside a certain time period before the elections.

Another report, released by the U.S. Public Interest Research Group (PIRG), says almost one-third of the outside spending reported to the Federal Elections Commission was by organizations that do not have to disclose the original sources of their funds.

Blair Bowie, a democracy advocate with the U.S. PIRG Education Fund, says voters didn't know who was really behind more than half of all presidential TV ads paid for by outside groups – and Congressional races were affected, too.

"In the 20 states we analyzed, 90 percent of outside spending on House and Senate races came from out-of-state groups."

This weekend around the country, groups are planning rallies and other events to coincide with the third anniversary of the Supreme Court's Citizens United decision.

The Demos report, "Billion-Dollar Democracy," is available at www.demos.org. The U.S. PIRG report, "Elections Confidential," is at www.uspirgedfund.org. More Citizens United protest events are listed at www.moneyout-votersin.org.



get more stories like this via email

more stories
The U.S. Department of Education has frozen grants that support summer learning, teacher professional development, after-school programs, English-language classes, support for children of migrants, school-based mental health and adult education. (Syda Productions/Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

Public education advocates are sounding alarms about the upcoming school year because the federal government is holding up about $60 million in funds …


Social Issues

play sound

An Eau Claire resident is speaking out about how federal cuts to Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program could affect his life and …

Environment

play sound

A cleaner environment through less waste is the goal of a new state organization, the Indiana Composting Council. The council will enlist …


Just 30% of U.S. solar and 57% of wind projects are expected to survive under the new GOP tax and spending law signed by President Donald Trump. (Adobe Stock)

Environment

play sound

More than $7 billion in Colorado's GDP and 9,600 jobs are projected to be lost under President Donald Trump's signature tax and spending bill which cu…

Environment

play sound

California receives high marks in a report on the fight against plastic pollution. This is Plastic-free July and the United States of Plastics report…

April's Clean Water Lobby Day was held by Oregon Rural Action and the Stand Up to Factory Farms Coalition in Salem. (Oregon Rural Action)

play sound

Environmental groups say Oregon's new groundwater law, meant to curb pollution, has been diluted to the point they can no longer support it. …

Social Issues

play sound

Groups working to end hunger in Nebraska are reaching out to all parts of the state to train food insecure people to advocate for others facing simila…

Social Issues

play sound

New Mexico demonstrators will join nationwide protests today to oppose policies of the Trump administration. The "Good Trouble Lives On" nonviolent …

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021