It’s time to reset our congressional fundraising counter! In July 2016, we launched a counter presenting a rough running estimate of how much time members of Congress collectively spent raising money for their campaigns since the start of the 114th Congress. Based on the advice given to members by the Democratic and Republican national party committees, and statements by the
Read More
This op-ed originally appeared in the Wisconsin State Journal. Americans have witnessed another year of divided Washington in action — or should I say inaction. This year the gridlock is over guns and Supreme Court nominees. When I served in Congress it was over whether to raise the minimum wage. The burden of governing is heavy and not meant to be easily
Read More
Congratulations! You’ve just been elected to Congress! If you want to serve on a good committee, never mind your credentials or your expertise. You better start fundraising. Speaking with the Cincinnati Enquirer, Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) has come out swinging with a one-two punch against party fundraising schemes that attempt to price committee seats by requiring large amounts of fundraising
Read More
On Sunday’s 60 Minutes program, two members of Congress blew the whistle on the “shameful” practice of fundraising 30 hours a week. Imagine that. Thirty hours is a full work-week for most white-collar Americans once you subtract lunch breaks, browsing Facebook and chatting in the breakroom. Rather than doing the job they were elected to do—putting our nation’s fiscal house
Read More
While the 2016 presidential election has breached the $1 billion spending mark, less has been made of another, more damaging, part of our out-of-control campaign finance system: congressional “hard money” fundraising. The excerpt below, from the recently released book Nation On The Take, takes a deep dive on “dialing for dollars”—the activity that turns Members of Congress into glorified telemarketers
Read More