Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan asks that business leaders demand transparency in government. More Photos

CED Hosts Forum to Examine “Culture of Corruption” in Illinois and Washington, D.C.

On June 7, 2006, CED convened a luncheon forum featuring Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan and Illinois Comptroller Daniel Hynes. The event was hosted by CED Trustee Ronald Grzywinski, Chairman & President, ShoreBank Corporation, at the Swissôtel and drew a crowd of over 100 business and civic leaders.

Attorney General Madigan acknowledged that the problem of corruption in government couldn’t be handled by elected officials alone, and that the business community had a role to play. She asked that business and civic leaders demand accountability and transparency and supported regulations that would prevent political fundraisers from being held in the weeks before and after votes on critical legislation.

Illinois Comptroller Daniel Hynes calls for an end of “Pay to Play” bribes. More Photos

Comptroller Hynes added that more attention should be focused on “pay to play” scandals and that in Illinois, as well as in Washington, legislation should be prioritized that would prevent government officials from receiving major campaign contributions from recipients of contracts that they award.

CED Trustee Ronald Grzywinski called the luncheon to order. More Photos

In addition to comments by the Attorney General and Comptroller, CED President Charles E.M. Kolb and ICPR Director Cynthia Canary discussed timely national and statewide reform topics, including the success of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (BCRA); the proliferation of “Section 527” groups formed to circumvent the BCRA “soft money” ban; the need for comprehensive lobbying reform; and the importance of improving ethics in government.

In partnership with the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform (ICPR), this luncheon was the fourth in a series of events that CED is hosting with generous support from The Pew Charitable Trusts.
 

CED Highlights Money and Politics at Los Angeles Forum

CGS President Bob Stern asked those in the room to coordinate efforts to encourage positive reform.

CED President Charlie Kolb highlighted CED’s work in campaign finance reform while discussing CED’s new project, "Making Washington Work." More Photos

Partnering with the California Clean Money Campaign (CCMC), CED sponsored a June 6, 2006 luncheon discussion on money and politics in Beverly Hills, CA. Over 35 business and community leaders joined for the discussion which featured remarks from Charles E.M. Kolb, President, CED; Thomas E. Mann, W. Averell Harriman Chair and Senior Fellow, The Brookings Institution; Robert M. Stern, President, Center for Governmental Studies (CGS); Susan Lerner, Executive Director, CCMC; and Richard Jacobs, Chair, Brave New Films.

CED Trustees Harold M. Williams, President Emeritus, J. Paul Getty Trust and John C. Siciliano, President and CEO, BKF Capital Group, Inc., hosted the luncheon which was held at the Peninsula Beverly Hills Hotel.

The forum, held on the same day as the California Primary Elections, touched upon CED's national campaign finance reform effort, "527" reform, and highlighted the current state of affairs in California.  The discussion was the third in a series of forums CED is hosting with generous support from The Pew Charitable Trusts.

CED Hosts “Can Congress Cure Itself” Forum

full photo Dr. Jim Thurber moderates a panel discussion at CED’s luncheon on ways to enact lasting ethical and financial reform in Washington, DC.

Thomas Mann, Senior Fellow in Governance Studies at The Brookings Institution answers questions from audience members.

On May 24, 2006, CED hosted Can Congress Cure Itself, a luncheon forum featuring remarks from Dr. Michael Johnston, Charles A. Dana Professor of Political Science & Director, Division of the Social Sciences, Colgate University. Dr. Johnston discussed the findings of his new book, Syndromes of Corruption: Wealth, Power and Democracy. Specifically, he explored various types of corruption in societies and the threat to democracy and economic stability that results. The event took place as part of CED’s Annual Meetings at the Waldorf=Astoria Hotel in New York City.

Dr. Michael Johnston, Charles A. Dana Professor of Political Science & Director, Division of the Social Sciences, Colgate University delivers keynote remarks.

The forum also included a panel discussion featuring John Brademas, President Emeritus, New York University and Rick Lazio, Executive Vice President, Global Government Relations and Public Policy, JPMorgan Chase.  As former members of Congress, both Dr. Brademas and Mr. Lazio spoke on the increasing hostility and the dwindling middle ground in Washington.  CED Trustee Frank Vogl, President, Vogl Communications and Nancy Z. Boswell, President, Transparency International-USA noted the effect that corruption in Congress is having on our international marketplace.  Thomas Mann, Senior Fellow in Governance Studies, Brookings Institution; and James A. Thurber, Executive Director, Director, Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies, American University added comments on the failings of previous reform efforts and what reforms are needed to restore power to Congress.

Congressman Christopher Shays Keynotes Money and Politics Forum

On April 24, 2006, over 100 business and civic leaders gathered for a CED luncheon forum featuring Congressman Christopher Shays (R-CT).  The forum highlighted the recent successes in campaign finance reform and underscored the need for further action in Washington to create lasting ethics and lobbying reform.

Congressman Christopher Shays called for Congress to pass meaningful, bipartisan reform legislation.

CED President Charles Kolb moderated a panel discussion which included remarks from: Carol Darr, Director, George Washington’s Institute for Politics, Democracy & the Internet, Graduate School of Political Management; Richard H. Davis, Managing Partner, Davis Manafort; and Norman J. Ornstein, Resident Scholar, American Enterprise Institute.  The event was hosted by CED Trustee Edward A. Kangas, Retired Chairman & CEO, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu at the Waldorf=Astoria Hotel in New York City.  The current climate of corruption in Washington, DC and the need for a coordinated call for reform was theme throughout the speakers’ remarks.

Congressman Shays has long been a principal champion of reform in Washington. He helped lead the fight for campaign finance reform in Congress that resulted in the passage of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (BCRA).  CED has worked closely with Congressman Shays on campaign finance reform and played a key role in building support among the business community for enacting BCRA and in defending the law against a constitutional challenge in McConnell v. FEC.

CED Launches Series of Forums to Discuss Money and Politics

Panelists at the Washington, D.C. Campaign Finance Reform Luncheon. More Photos

On March 16, 2006, CED hosted a luncheon forum featuring Senator John McCain (R-AZ) to highlight the recent successes of the reform movement in Washington and to underscore the need for further action. The forum also included a panel discussion which included remarks from Norman J. Ornstein, Resident Scholar, American Enterprise Institute; Trevor Potter, President and General Counsel, Campaign Legal Center; James A. Thurber, Director, Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies, American University; and Anne Wexler, Chairman of the Executive Committee, Wexler & Walker Public Policy Associates.  

Panelist Trevor Potter of the Campaign Legal Center comments on the status of politics inside the Beltway as fellow panelist Anne Wexler listens. More Photos

Senator McCain, unable to leave the Senate floor during budget votes, sent a video message during which he discussed several timely reform topics, such as the success of BCRA; the proliferation of “Section 527” groups formed to circumvent the BCRA “soft money” ban; the need for comprehensive lobbying reform; and the importance of improving ethics in government.

Senator McCain has long been a principal champion of reform in Washington. He led the fight for campaign finance reform in Congress that resulted in the passage of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (BCRA). As Chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, he conducted the Congressional hearings on lobbyist Jack Abramoff’s dealings with various Indian tribes that helped expose the depth of this lobbying scandal.

CED has worked closely with Senator McCain to build support among the business community for enacting BCRA and in defending the law against a constitutional challenge in McConnell v. FEC.  
 

CED Hosts Campaign Finance Reform Forum in San Francisco

CED Trustee Harold Williams with Senator Debra Bowen and CED President Charlie Kolb. More Photos

With generous support from the Richard and Rhoda Goldman Foundation, CED hosted a February 15, 2006 campaign finance reform luncheon forum with The Greenlining Institute and the California Clean Money Campaign. Building on momentum recently achieved when the California Assembly passed legislation calling for publicly financed state and legislative campaigns, leaders of the state and national campaign finance reform debate met at the Bank of America Building in San Francisco for this discussion on changing the way political campaigns are being financed.

Senator Debra Bowen (D-Redondo Beach) discussed the urgent need for campaign finance reform in California. More Photos

The co-sponsors convened with key California reform proponents, including Assemblywoman Loni Hancock, author of the recent legislation; Senator Debra Bowen, Chair, Senate Elections, Reapportionment and Constitutional Amendments Committee, Bob Harris, Vice President of Environmental Affairs, Pacific Gas & Electric Co., and Robert Stern, President, Center for Governmental Studies.

Additional remarks were heard from A.W. Clausen, Chairman & CEO (Retired), Bank of America; Charles Kolb, President, CED; Ted Williams, Chairman, California Clean Money Campaign; John Diaz, Editorial Page Editor, San Francisco Chronicle; and Paul Turner, Senior Program Manager, The Greenlining Institute.

More than ever, change in California is necessary due to recent campaign finance scandals, the costly 2005 Special Election, and the widely-held public perception that state government is dominated by special interests. Assemblywoman Hancock’s legislation attempts to remedy these issues by enabling candidates who agree not to accept funding from special interests to receive public funding for their campaigns.

To read the transcript, click HERE.
 

Lobbying Reform Summit

Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) delivers the keynote address at the CED-CCPS Lobbying Reform Summit.

CED and the Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies (CCPS) at American University hosted a “Lobbying Reform Summit” on January 26, 2006 at the National Press Club, in Washington, DC. The summit brought together experts to discuss the important lobbying reforms needed to clean up Washington.

The forum featured keynote remarks from Senator Barack Obama (D-IL). A distinguished panel of experts also provided comments. The panel included Martin Frost, former Congressman from Texas and Fellow, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars; Lee Hamilton, former Congressman from Indiana and President and Director, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars; Trevor Potter, President and General Counsel, The Campaign Legal Center: James A. Thurber, Director, Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies; Fred Wertheimer, President, Democracy 21; and Joseph Minarik, Senior Vice President and Director of Research at CED.

The CED-CCPS Lobbying Reform panel.

To view the video of the Summit and Senator’s Obama’s remarks, visit http://spa.american.edu/ccps/events.php?ID=291.
 

2001: Campaign Finance Reform Press Conference

In February 2001, endorsers of the CED campaign finance reform plan held a press conference at the Capitol in Washington, DC to emphasize the business communities’ overwhelmingly support of reform and to call on Congress to make reform a reality.  Those attending included Senator John McCain (R-AZ), Rep. Jim Turner (R-TX), Warren Buffett, Chairman of the Board of Berkshire Hathaway, Investing in the People’s Business subcommittee co-chairs, Edward Kangas and George Rupp, and CED President Charles Kolb.

Press Release

Just ahead of the mid-term elections, CED has issued a new CED Update on Money & Politics that addresses party fundraising in the 2006 election. Prepared by prominent campaign finance expert Anthony Corrado of Colby College, the brief makes a compelling case that the political parties have remained financially viable by courting small donors. The parties have not been crippled by the “soft money” ban imposed by the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (BCRA), as many critics of BCRA suggested would happen.

Read the Update

Senator John McCain delivered the keynote address at the policy luncheon

CED Trustees George Rupp and Edwards Kangas summarized CED's findings and recommendations for the audience. Shawnta Walcott, Communications Director for Zogby International, provided an analysis of the Business Leaders Poll.

Charles Kolb, President of CED, and Senator McCain.

Building on Reform. On April 5, 2005 CED released a new policy statement concerning campaign finance, Building on Reform: A Business Proposal to Strengthen Election Finance. (Click here to read the press release.) Senator John McCain (R-AZ) delivered the keynote address, which focused on the dangerous new 527 loophole and the ineffectiveness of the Federal Elections Commission (FEC) at enforcing the law. He went on to say: "By calling for the regulation of 527s and an overhaul of the FEC, CED is courageously leading the business community in speaking out against the corrupting influence of big money in federal elections, as it did during the fight to pass BCRA."

After working hard to help pass the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (BCRA), CED was happy to see the 2004 election cycle produce millions of new small donors, filling the coffers of candidates and parties without the appearance of corruption or influence peddling that only a few years earlier had dominated the process.

But, the BCRA was only a first step, not comprehensive reform. Party reliance on soft-money has been curbed. But so-called "527 committees" operated much like shadow parties in 2004, raising and spending hundreds of millions of un-regulated dollars in much the same way the Republican and Democratic national committees once did. Despite this avalanche of new spending, the FEC seemed both unwilling and unable to act effectively to curb these activities-- activities that ran contrary to both the spirit and letter of the new law. Also, 2004 was the first presidential primary cycle that saw both eventual nominees opt out of the public-funding system. CED continues to support a strong and vibrant public funding system for federal elections, but without additional reforms, the existing system is likely to continue its path toward into irrelevancy.

To address these important shortcomings in our current election finance law, CED makes three categories of recommendations: the FEC reform, strengthening the soft-money ban by closing the so-called '527 committee" loophole, and strengthening the presidential public funding system in both the primary and general election. These reforms are vital if we are to fashion a campaign finance system that protects free speech, encourages debate, and elects candidates based on ideas, not dollars. To learn about these reform proposals in more details, click here to read the executive summary or here to download the full report.

The subcommittee that oversaw this project was co-chaired by Edward A. Kangas, Chairman, Global Board of Directors, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, and George Rupp, President, Columbia University. Professor Anthony Corrado of Colby College served as project director.

Summary  |  Report  |  Press Release  |  Order ($18)

Investing in the People's Business. Since the March 1999 release of CED’s landmark report Investing in the People’s Business: A Business Report for Campaign Finance Reform, the debate over the way American elections are financed has fundamentally changed. CED successfully demonstrated that business leaders support reform and representatives of the business community became prominent and outspoken advocates for reform for the first time because of CED’s work.

Investing in the People's Business calls for specific changes in U.S. campaign finance laws to enhance electoral competition, stem the flow of unregulated money, and shift financial influence from organized interests to individual voters and small contributors.  Major recommendations include a ban on soft money; an increase from $1,000 to $3,000 on contribution limits to candidates and $2 for $1 public matching funds on small donations for candidates who adhere to spending limits.  Over 300 CED Trustees and business leaders across the country have endorsed CED's recommendations to reform the campaign finance laws and have played an instrumental role in the successful effort to pass significant reform legislation. Click here to view the list of endorsers.

In the 2000 election, CED played a leading role in national discussions and debates on the issue. Presidential candidates pointed to CED’s work and views, CED President Charles Kolb testified before an important Congressional panel, and CED representatives and messages were regularly featured in editorials and on op-ed pages, network news reports, and newspaper and magazine articles around the nation.

In 2001, CED increased the number of prominent business and civic leaders endorsing its reform plan by about 50 percent, from roughly 200 to more than 300.  CED was also instrumental in holding a broad, bipartisan coalition of organizations together in support of controversial elements of the Senate campaign finance reform legislation, such as increases in hard-money contribution limits.  In April 2001, the U.S. Senate passed campaign finance legislation, and many Senators, including reform leaders Senators John McCain and Russell Feingold, used CED’s work as evidence of the need for reform.

On March 27th 2002, President Bush signed into law campaign finance reform.

In November 2002, CED filed an amicus brief supporting the defendants in McConnell v. Federal Election Commission, the legal challenge to the new campaign finance law. Please click here to view the amicus brief. The brief includes quotes from Gerald Greenwald, Chairman Emeritus of United Airlines; Alan Hassenfeld, Chairman and CEO of Hasbro, Inc.; Edward Kangas, retired Chairman & CEO of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu; and Charles Kolb, CED President, attesting to the detrimental effects of soft money.

In August 2003, CED, and a number of individual business leaders who support CED's position on campaign finance reform, submitted an amicus brief supporting the defendants in McConnell v. Federal Election Commission. Please click here to read the brief.

The subcommittee that oversaw this project was co-chaired by Edward A. Kangas, Chairman, Global Board of Directors, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, and George Rupp, President, Columbia Univeristy. Professor Anthony Corrado of Colby College served as the project director.

Press Release  |  Endorsers  |  Summary  | Report  |  Order ($18)

In 2005, CED released Building on Reform, a policy statement which addresses key post-BCRA issues, including the proliferation of “Section 527” organizations.  Named for the applicable tax code section, 527 groups have been formed by operatives of both parties to replace the political parties as the new conduits of soft money, thus circumventing BCRA’s ban on such contributions.  While very few corporate donors have elected to contribute to such organizations, CED is still concerned that the prevalence of such groups threatens to undermine some of the gains of BCRA.

CED provides recommendations in Building on Reform to ensure that 527 organizations that participate in federal elections are subject to the same limits that political parties face in raising money.  We have now launched a campaign to recruit public endorsers of CED’s recommendations regarding 527 groups.  A critical part of our previous success on campaign finance reform was our ability to recruit over 300 business and civic leaders willing to endorse publicly our recommendations for reform.   

Nearly 100 prominent business and civic leaders have endorsed CED’s plan.  To endorse CED’s recommendations or to review the endorsement form, please click HERE.  Click HERE to read the list of endorsers.

Endorsers of 527 Reform
 

2005: Business Leader Poll

In April 2005, CED released results of a business leader poll conducted by Zogby International on several campaign finance reform issues. Questions focused on the role of “527” committees, FEC reform, and the presidential public funding system. The poll shows that a strong majority (71%) of the business community believes that “527” committees have a corrupting influence on the political process, and over 4 in 5 (83%) believe that “527s” should register with the FEC.

The poll was conducted by telephone from March 8 through March 23, 2005. The business executives were chosen at random from a list of U.S. companies.

You can view the entire poll by clicking here.
 

2000: Business Leader Poll

In October 2000, CED released the first-ever survey of business leaders’ views on political fundraising. The survey, conducted by the Tarrance Group, provided new evidence to demolish the myth that corporations supported the campaign finance system.

Poll Fact Sheet  |  Press Release

2004: CED Urges Restraint on "527" Giving

In 2004, CED called on corporations, labor unions, and individuals not to fund so called “527” independent groups that are designed to influence federal elections.  CED applauded companies’ resistance to the campaign finance loophole and urged restraint on "527" giving.  Click HERE to read the full text of the press release.

2003: CED Applauds Supreme Court Decision on McCain-Feingold

To learn more, click HERE.
 

2003: CED Files Amicus Brief with Supreme Court in Support of Campaign Finance Reform

In August 2003, CED, and a number of individual business leaders who support CED's position on campaign finance reform, submitted an amicus brief supporting the defendants in McConnell v. Federal Election Commission. Please click here to read the brief.

Individual business leaders who signed on to the brief include: Robert L. Bernstein, Warren E. Buffett, William K. Coblentz, Harry L. Freeman, Ronald Grzywinski, Edward A. Kangas, Thomas J. Klutznick, Jerome Kohlberg, Arjay Miller, Thomas S. Murphy, Steffen E. Palko, Raymond Plank, Sanford R. Robertson, Richard Rosenberg, George Rupp, Donald Stone, Robert D. Stuart, Jr., Dr. P. Roy Vagelos, A.C. Viebranz, and Paul Volcker.

2002: CED Asks President to Support Campaign Finance Reform

In 2002, nearly 100 business leaders, working with CED and Campaign for America, wrote President Bush asking him to urge the Senate to pass the Shays-Meehan reform legislation and sign it into law. In March 2002, the Senate voted 60-40 in favor of campaign finance reform.

A copy of the letter and signatories and press release are available.