Jack Mumby Posts

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The 2012 election, the first presidential race since Citizens United, was the most expensive in history. It had more ...

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When the Supreme Court opened the floodgates to unrestricted campaign spending in its Citizens United decision, eight of ...

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Affordable and fast broadband is key to economic development, next generation medicine and enhancing educa...

Right now, all a Senator has to do to shut down a bill is declare a filibuster, then walk away. There’s absolutely nothing to stop partisans from filibustering almost every bill—and that’s exactly what we saw in the 112th Congress, the least productive in history.

According to a new poll, 70% of Americans think senators should have to hold the floor and talk during a filibuster, just like Mister Smith in the famous movie. This shouldn’t come as a surprise—the silent filibusters of the current Senate have turned that body into a laughingstock and essentially shut down the entire Congres...

Section 5 requires that states with a history of racially motivated voter suppression get approval from the Department of Justice before changing their election laws.

I just came back from the first hearing for Common Cause’s lawsuit to overturn the filibuster. It was great to hear such an important issue discussed in such detail—U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan presided, and he had tough and incisive questions for both sides.
Common Cause staff and counsel gathered at the courthouse with our co-plaintif...

What do the DREAM Act, the public option, and the Employer Free Choice Act have in common? They’d all be the law of the land today, if it weren’t for the filibuster.
The Washington Post has a new feature up, profiling 17 bills from just the past four years that had majority support, but not enough votes to reach the Senate’s arbitrary 60-vote threshold.
Arguments over the filibuster tend to devolve into relatively esoteric debates about minority rights and majority rule. But let’s ground this conversation in real-world consequences: In the a...

A new national poll has found that more Americans than ever agree that it’s time to take a second look at our election laws. Eighty-eight percent of respondents said that they’d support national standards establishing who can vote, polling hours, ballot design, and more; 50% said they’d be very supportive of these measures.

In a press conference yesterday, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi announced that she’d seek another term leading House Democrats, citing her desire to help the President implement his agenda and to continue her advocacy for women’s rights.
Pelosi also called attention to the growing problem of money in politics...

Campaign 2012 was a giant economic shot in the arm for America’s broadcasters, as more than $850 million was spent on TV advertising in the presidential race alone. Hundreds of millions more went into ad buys for congressional and state races.
This raises some serious questions about whether the media can serve as an effective watchdog in our post-Citizens United politics. Because if

Last Tuesday night, newly-reelected President Obama gave a shoutout to voters across the country who had waited hours to cast their ballots, and said of the long lines that many Americans were stuck in, “By the way, we have to fix that.” For

Because many of the candidates backed by mega-donors like Sheldon Adelson and Super PACs like Karl Rove’s American Crossroads came up short this election, it’s tempting to conclude that big money in elections is nothing to worry about.
That’s a mistake. Here’s why:
First of all, even though superPACs couldn’t...

Back in the spring, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid turned heads when he said that if his Dems held the Senate, they’d make a serious effort at reining in filibuster abuse. Arguing for reform, he told MSNBC’s Ed Schultz “I don’t want to get rid of the filibuster… I want to change the rules and make t...

Voters affected by Hurricane Sandy have one less thing to worry about this Election Day, now that New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has issued an executive order allowing New York voters to cast ballots by affidavit at any polling location. New York has joined is neighbor New Jersey in making this accommodation, which will go a long way towards ensuring that every eligible voter will be able to cast their ballots.
This might not have happened if it were...

Civil rights and voter protection advocates have been keeping a close eye on Tea Party associated groups’ plans to mobilize a million “poll watchers” this Election Day. As we get closer to the election, reports that these groups are arming volunteers with misinformation and

Communities all across the East Coast are still reeling from Superstorm Sandy, which displaced thousands and left even more without power. With only two days left before Election Day, the lights are still out at polling places, and for many voters, casting their ballot is the last thing on their minds.
Fortunately, the Election Protection Coalition’s 866-OUR-VOTE hotline is making special efforts to accommo...

Voting rights advocates won a significant victory in Pennsylvania when Commonwealth Court Judge Robert Simpson put the state’s controversial voter ID law on hold. Unfortunately the state’s slow response to the decision has enabled a concerted dis-information campaign, creating a climate of fear around voting that will have the same effect as the initial law—depr...

When the Supreme Court issued its disastrous ruling in Citizens United, Common Cause and other good government advocates warned that the decision would let wealthy individuals exercise disproportionate influence on elections.
Now, a Missouri investor, Rex Sinquefield, is among many proving us right, using his deep pockets to demonstrate just how much power one man can wield when nobody’s keepi...

The Toxic Substances Control Act, passed in 1976 to protect Americans from dangerous and untested chemical products, is in dire need of an update. Unfortunately, as a new Common Cause report details, that’s unlikely so long as the chemical industry i...