Nick Nyhart

Almost all of the campaign finance stories many of us have heard about lately have to do with super-PACs, billionaire casino moguls, and a debate about whether corporations are people. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D-N.Y.) is taking leadership this year, however, to show that we can do better and...

Professor Larry Lessig's op-ed in the New York Times yesterday, "More Money Can Beat Big Money," gets the problem with our political system absolutely right -- our elections should be "of the people," not "of the funders."

While I disagree with Lessig that a constitutional amendment to overturn...

The National Journal reported Tuesday that an increase in political spending by outside groups "has stirred favorable rumblings about a campaign finance proposal once favored only by GOP lawmakers: unlimited donations and full transparency."

While proposals like this have been floating around for a while, one stuck out:...

On Thursday, September 23rd, the House Committee on Administration will vote on the Fair Elections Now Act, historic legislation that would make our elected officials accountable to everyday Americans.

And with voter anger at Washington, D.C. raging, it's never been more necessary. New polling from the

It was anything but politics as usual in Connecticut's primaries last night. For the first time, candidates for Governor and other statewide offices joined General Assembly candidates in having the option to run under the state's Citizens' Election Program. The program allows them to qualify for competitive campaign funding by...

We've just learned that Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-N.Y.) won't be facing the ethics committee for trial, though that doesn't mean Republicans will stop attacking him as a sign of Democratic corruption.

But to say that Rangel is the only one mixed up in the unsavory combination of...

One thing's clear after last night -- voters are going to continue to vote for change until they get it. Anti-Washington and anti-establishment fervor is at a high and members of Congress must respond boldly, or they'll risk their jobs come November.

Last night's election should not be narrowly cast...

One of the major points of contention in the regulatory reform debate is how to deal with derivatives, "the complex and opaque products used to hedge risk and bet on fluctuations in the financial markets." Some of the major Wall Street firms are now teaming up with Big Oil,...

Many Americans will spend the day putting the finishing touches on their tax returns -- I just hit the send button myself -- but we're not the only ones totaling up money numbers. Candidates for Congress must file their campaign finance reports for the first quarter of the year with...

One year ago, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Reps. John Larson (D-Conn.) and Walter Jones (R-N.C.) introduced the Fair Elections Now Act, legislation aimed at ending Congress' reliance on special interest campaign cash. After an election cycle that saw fundraising records smashed time and again, the bill had never been...

The New York Times reported last night, "If anyone knows the burdens of political fund-raising, it is the biggest political donors -- the rich partisans who field the constant calls from elected officials pressing for checks to fill their campaign coffers."

That's why this morning a letter signed...

Recent debates over health care and financial industry reform have demonstrated the power that special interests currently wield in Washington. And today, by a narrow majority, the Roberts' Court has given these powerful interests even more say in the political process

In its decision, the Court has erased...

It's not that Democrats tried to do too much or got too arrogant, it's that they surged into Washington, D.C. on a ticket of changing the way Washington works--and they didn't. The majority didn't get too liberal, it got too Washington.

Last night's special election victory in deep blue Massachusetts...

As the CEOs of big Wall Street firms testify before the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission this week, Public Campaign has joined with Common Cause to ask Commission Chairman Phil Angelides to explore the role campaign contributions from the financial industry to members of Congress played in weakening the...

The Roberts' Court may release its long-awaited decision tomorrow or Wednesday on Citizens United v. FEC. With the court's increasingly hostile attitude toward campaign spending restrictions, it's expected that the court will side with Wall Street and other wealthy interests. The decision could kick open the door to...

Since Sen. Chris Dodd's (D-Conn.) announcement on Wednesday that he will not run for re-election, many observers have noted that passing legislation to overhaul our financial system will now become easier.

This isn't because he can ignore an angry base or bad polling, but because Sen. Dodd no longer...

"The banks run the place."

That's a quote in the New York Times today from U.S. Congressman Collin Peterson, (D-Minn.), chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, explaining why he's had to change a bill before his panel to suit bank lobbyists. They want less regulation of derivative markets,...

Understandably, Americans are deeply angry about the country's current fiscal crisis. In response, many of our elected officials in Washington D.C. are pointing fingers at the executives of the failed companies. The White House forces General Motors C.E.O. Rick Wagoner to step down. The U.S. House of Representatives, in a...

Gov. Rod Blagojevich's (D-Ill.) indictment this week was astonishing in the depth and breadth of the alleged personal corruption. Blagojevich treated the governor's office like a store -- selling political favors for various forms of financial gain.

But more than the personal corruption, this is also a story about...

As roughly a thousand Congressional candidates file their third quarter fundraising totals this week, their chances for victory will be handicapped by the amount of money they've brought in and have left for the final weeks leading to the November 4th election.

While political insiders are focused on the more...