By Charles Kolb for the Huffington Post

The former New York Controller, Alan Hevesi, is now in a New York prison. He received a one-to-four-years sentence after pleading guilty to corruption. As Controller, Hevesi was the sole trustee of the state's $129 billion pension fund. He took bribes from individuals who wanted access to the fund's investment decision-making, and several of his associates were also implicated in the pay-to-play scandal.

 

By Charles Kolb for the Huffington Post

With the 2010 midterm elections over, it is unclear whether the Tea Party will become a serious national political movement or represent a passing populist spasm fueled by the painfully slow economic recovery. There is much that the country needs to learn about who funds the Tea Party, whether it will attract and retain independent voters, and whether it is capable of developing a coherent policy agenda that can be translated into effective governance.

By Charles Kolb for the Huffington Post

Some thirteen years ago, when I first began to think seriously about campaign finance reform, I thought that columnist George Will had it right: eliminate all restrictions on political giving so that anybody could give whatever money desired, subject to immediate and complete disclosure. This "sunlight is the best disinfectant" approach appealed to my longstanding conservative, antiregulation values; it also had the elegance of simplicity. After all, who needed more complex rules that were not enforced by the consistently ineffective Federal Election Commission?

By Charles Kolb for the Huffington Post

Members of Congress are either craven beggars or skillful shakedown artists. Perhaps both. What they are not is representatives of the American people.

These are strong words, and, of course, there are individuals in Congress to whom they certainly do not apply. But recent stories in The Washington Post and The New York Times paint an alarming portrait of what is actually happening in Congress with political action committees (PACs) and the spending pattern of lobbyists in connection with the pending financial services legislation.

CED President Charles Kolb Urges Congress to Act

CED President Charles Kolb expressed concern over today's decision of the United States Supreme Court in the Citizens United case. The Supreme Count's decision abandoned restrictions on corporate spending in federal election campaigns, effectively reversing major portions of the 2002 McCain-Feingold Act.