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WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is building a large-scale grass-roots political operation that has begun to rival those of the major political parties, funded by record-setting amounts of money raised from corporations and wealthy individuals.

The chamber has signed up some 6 million individuals who are not chamber members and has begun asking them to help with lobbying and, soon, with get-out-the-vote efforts in upcoming congressional campaigns.read more >>

In a city where the phrase "bipartisan initiative" is becoming an oxymoron, the urgency of containing the damage the Supreme Court could do to our electoral system creates an opportunity for a rare convergence of interest and principle.

At issue is the court's astonishingly naive decision in January that allows unlimited corporate spending to influence elections. Its 5 to 4 ruling in the Citizens United case was a shocking instance of judicial overreach and reflected an utter indifference to how politics works.read more >>

Now that the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that corporations and labor unions can spend freely on political campaigns, Arizona has a simple choice - create new regulations to monitor that type of spending, or run the risk of an entire election cycle being dominated by millions of dollars worth of anonymous advertising.read more >>

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As the 2010 census nears its official start in March, nonprofit leaders are raising serious concerns about the government’s ability to achieve an accurate tally in this once-a-decade population count.

In response, foundations have poured tens of millions of dollars into nonprofit census efforts, but many nonprofit leaders say much more is needed.read more >>

Americans of both parties overwhelmingly oppose a Supreme Court ruling that allows corporations and unions to spend as much as they want on political campaigns, and most favor new limits on such spending, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.

Eight in 10 poll respondents say they oppose the high court's Jan. 21 decision to allow unfettered corporate political spending, with 65 percent "strongly" opposed. Nearly as many backed congressional action to curb the ruling, with 72 percent in favor of reinstating limits. read more >>

Some 100,000 people who were living in San Francisco on April 1, 2000, were not counted by that year’s Census workers, city officials have claimed.read more >>

Buoyed by polls showing the public is fed up with money influencing politics, Democrats are beginning to settle on options for curbing the Supreme Court's recent ruling that freed corporations and unions to enter the political fray with unlimited ads. read more >>

The Supreme Court's decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission turns back the clock on almost a century's worth of campaign finance regulation. The court, under Chief Justice John Roberts, held for the first time that a corporation is entitled to the same First Amendment protections for its electoral spending as an individual citizen. Suddenly, the billions of dollars in corporate treasuries are available to advocate the election or defeat of candidates. read more >>

We noted with interest reports that subsidiaries of foreign corporations from across the globe have launched a lobbying campaign in Washington to protect their newfound power to influence American elections under the Citizens United case. About 160 of these U.S. subsidiaries of foreign-owned or controlled corporations are involved in a lobbying group trying to stop President Obama and Congress from enacting limits on their spending in political campaigns. Worse still, the lobbyist leading the effort refused to disclose all the companies involved in the lobbying campaign.read more >>

"Populism" is the most overused and misused word in the lexicon of commentary. But thanks to a reckless decision by Chief Justice John Roberts's Supreme Court and the greed of the nation's financial barons, we have reached a true populist moment in American politics.

The Supreme Court's 5-to-4 decision last week giving American corporations the right to unlimited political spending was an astonishing display of judicial arrogance, overreach and unjustified activism.read more >>

January 13, 2010

As Supreme Court Weighs Landmark Case, Wealthy GOP Donors Bankroll Attack on Campaign Finance Law

The hotly anticipated Supreme Court case that could open the door to a flood of corporate money in political campaigns represents the latest thrust in a patient, carefully orchestrated bid to use legal challenges to undo the restrictions passed by Congress.read more >>

January 4, 2010

The nation’s hard times are proving to be boom times for the lobbying industry in Washington. Lobbyists are expected to easily break their record of $3.3 billion in annual business, raising an inevitable question: How much more in special-interest donations will be bagged by lawmakers as they are furiously lobbied on everything from health care reform to economic regulation? read more >>

December 29, 2009

The Census Bureau gave political junkies a gift last week with the release of its latest population estimates, data that give very good indications of which states are set to gain congressional seats and which will lose them in the 2011 redistricting process.

According to Polidata projections (the best in the business), eight states are positioned to gain one or more seats in the remapping and 10 states are slated to lose a seat or more.read more >>

December 24, 2009

With the 2010 decennial census bearing down on us, the time for congressional reapportionment is right around the corner.

And, as The Times’s Damien Cave and others have reported, if the data the Census Bureau released this week is any indication, recent trends in how seats are allocated in the House of Representatives will continue this go-round.read more >>

December 8, 2009

At a hearing last week, the House census subcommittee highlighted outreach and promotion activities for the 2010 count. The focus wasn’t on the Census Bureau’s extensive communications program but on grassroots organizations, state and local governments, and businesses – sectors that are operating in what I call a “parallel universe” to help ensure an inclusive count in all communities. read more >>

In a nation where large financial interests already dominate public policy, the Supreme Court is likely to issue a ruling soon that will make it easier for businesses and labor unions to spend money to engage in partisan political activity.

That action would widen a gulf between nonprofit groups and businesses and could further seriously diminish charities' and foundations' influence, relevance, and clout in shaping solutions to the nation's problems.read more >>

November 5, 2009

The District of Columbia, not commonly associated with innovative government, showed itself to be a real leader today with passage of far-reaching election reform legislation. The DC Council's vote today for the Omnibus Election Reform Act puts the District in the lead of states and localities with progressive election administration.read more >>

November 4, 2009

Advice to readers about the coming orgy of analysis about the New Jersey and Virginia gubernatorial elections: Ignore it. Disquisitions on The Meaning of It All for President Obama or the 2009 results as a harbinger for Congress in 2010 have scant basis in reality.

Over-interpreting election results is an occupational hazard for political reporters. This problem is particularly acute in the year after a presidential contest, when we are suffering from a bad case of electoral withdrawal.read more >>

November 3, 2009

Linda Graham helped register voters like Florence Dziamniski in 2008. Here, Dziamniski fills out a voter registration form outside a senior citizens home in Clairton, Pa.

In this lull between major elections, advisers from recent Republican and Democratic presidential campaigns have joined together to try to come up with a better way to register voters. read more >>

Mon Nov 2, 2009

WASHINGTON, Nov. 2 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- On Nov. 3, 2009, the Justice
Department will monitor elections in the following jurisdictions to ensure
compliance with the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and other federal voting rights
statutes: the cities of Lowell and Springfield, Mass.; the city of Hamtramck,
Mich.; Middlesex County and the borough of Penns Grove, N.J.; Orange County
and Queens, N.Y., and the city of Philadelphia.

Under the Voting Rights Act, the Justice Department is authorized to ask theread more >>

October 31, 2009

U.S. Assistant Atty. Gen. Thomas Perez ushers in an era of 'transformation and restoration' with pledges to fight housing bias, hate crimes and predatory lending, among other things.

The nation's top civil rights attorney vowed Friday to step up enforcement of laws against housing bias, hate crimes, racially targeted predatory lending and other discriminatory acts in what he called a new era of "transformation and restoration."read more >>

October 28, 2009

A Republican senator’s proposal to count only United States citizens when reapportioning Congress would cost California five seats and New York and Illinois one each, according to an independent analysis of census data released Tuesday. Texas, which is projected to gain three seats after the 2010 census, would get only one.

The proposed change would spare Iowa, Louisiana, Michigan and Pennsylvania the expected loss of one seat each. Indiana, Montana, North Carolina, Oregon and South Carolina would each gain a seat.read more >>