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Emails Suggest Obama FBI Knew McCain Leaked Trump Dossier Mexican Hospital Overrun by COVID-19 Closes Near Busy U.S. Crossing Court Orders Maryland to Release Complete Voter Registration Records Our Campaign for Clean Elections Emails Suggest Obama FBI Knew McCain Leaked Trump Dossier We are getting more insight into the thinking of the corrupt FBI officials involved in the plot against Donald Trump – in particular what they knew and when they knew about the smear/leak operation using the shady “dossier.” Our new understanding comes from 138 pages of emails between former FBI official Peter Strzok and former FBI attorney...

I’ve been noticing every time I access my banks account online, or my water bill, and particularly by cell phone bill, I am compelled to jump through more hoops than Alex the cat, ‘for my own good’ they insist. Yet at the same time banks beef up their security, force you to create cheat sheets to remember half a dozen passwords just to access your account in an effort to protect your privacy, our elected officials clear the way for your vote to be stolen. Way to go! Yesterday, Colorado Senate Democrats nixed a proposal to ask voters whether people...

The Institute for Justice will find out soon if the U.S. Supreme Court will hear its case against Arizona’s “Clean Elections” Act, which basically serves as welfare for politicians. Haven’t heard of “Clean Elections” before? Well, you may not be in a state that plays that dirty game. Consider yourself lucky. IJ explains: "Arizona’s “Clean Elections” Act gives public money to politicians to run for office and squelches the free speech of independent groups, as well as candidates who choose to forgo taxpayer dollars and instead raise their own funds for their campaigns. For every dollar an independent group opposing...

Hightower’s New World by: Bethany Stotts, May 07, 2008 As reported in an earlier Accuracy in Academia article, the famous populist Jim Hightower is attempting to inflame college students against the evil American corporations and restrictive consumerist expectations. Promoted by the progressive Campus Progress (a program of the Center for American Progress), Hightower’s new book Swim Against the Current encourages readers to break with corporate and “right-wing politico” traditions and adopt more values-oriented positions including • opposing the Iraq War; • mass organization against evil corporations and the Powers That Be; • government-subsidized elections; • fighting climate change in the...

In February, a Tucson-area physicians group argued before the Ninth Circuit that Arizona’s Clean Elections system is unconstitutional, and a decision is expected this summer. Several Arizona policymakers, including State Treasurer Dean Martin, argued that the current system of financing campaigns restricts free speech. On the face of it, one might think that more money would expand political speech. However, the plaintiffs believe their First Amendment rights are being violated. Under Clean Elections, each time an organization sends a donation to a candidate who has refused government money, the opposing candidate who is taking government money receives an equal sum...

Taking special interest money of politics has proven to be very tough even on a very limited basis in a pilot program that may or may not ever be expanded. On Monday, the 2007 Clean Election Pilot Program bill failed in a State Senate voting session. Yesterday it was posted again and was also up for consideration in the General Assembly. It finally passed both Houses but not without some closed-door arm-twisting and cajoling. "If we really want to see reform down here in the State House," says State Senator Shirley Turner, the bill's sponsor, "we've got to get the...

The Clean Elections Commission shouldn't determine what qualifies as news What started as a simple political endorsement in March by J&G Gun Sales has resulted in a state investigation. In its regular catalog, J&G outlined its support for Republican primary gubernatorial candidate Len Munsil, because he supports the constitutional right to own and carry firearms. The investigatory hubbub centers around how to interpret the endorsement under Arizona's Clean Elections Act. The Citizens Clean Elections Commission will decide whether the endorsement is deemed an "independent expenditure," which might trigger matching funds, or a press expenditure, which would be exempt from regulation....

Government- Without - the Consent of the Governed by Bob Haran Arizona State Representative David Burnell Smith has made history by becoming the first legislator in America to be removed from office for violating a campaign finance law. Smith has finally paid a price for overspending on his 2004 taxpayer funded campaign for the Arizona House of Representatives. The people that elected Smith to represent them have also paid a price. Smith has been forced from the office the people of his legislative district had elected him to serve in. It seems that the American principle of, government by the...

PHOENIX - An Arizona legislator has been removed from office for overspending during his 2004 primary race, making him the first lawmaker in the country to be ousted for violating a state's public campaign financing system. After a five-month court battle, the Arizona Supreme Court on Thursday ordered first-term Republican Rep. David Burnell Smith to leave office at midnight. "I will no longer exercise any duties as a representative," the 64-year-old lawyer said Friday. Under Arizon's 1998 Clean Elections Law, candidates who voluntarily participate must collect a set number of $5 contributions from voters to qualify for public funding. In...

PHOENIX (AP) - An initiative to dismantle Arizona's system for publicly funding state campaigns was knocked off the November ballot by the state Supreme Court. In a brief order Thursday, the justices upheld a lower court ruling that Proposition 106, the so-called "No Taxpayer Money for Politicians" initiative, violated the state constitution's ban on including more than one subject in a proposed constitutional amendment. In a July 1 lawsuit, opponents of the initiative had argued it violated the single-subject ban by both prohibiting public funding of candidates and by depriving the state agency overseeing the system of funding for its...

Republican Matt Salmon came out firing in a gubernatorial debate Tuesday night, saying Democrat Janet Napolitano "should come clean" on raising taxes and calling her views on abortion "extreme." Napolitano, who now enjoys a slight lead in several statewide polls, shot back by accusing Salmon of "sucking $500 million" from public schools when he served in the Arizona Legislature during the 1990s. She said Salmon's tax-cutting philosophy as a state senator helped put Arizona in a huge fiscal crisis. After the one-hour debate that was broadcast live on Channel 8 (KAET), the two leading candidates took turns blasting each other...

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - The Iraqi parliament approved Saddam Hussein's nomination for another seven-year presidential term, paving the way for Iraqis to go to the polls Oct. 15, state-run TV reported Sunday. The National Assembly's ratification of his nomination was announced in a presidential decree signed by the Iraqi leader. Last month, the Revolutionary Command Council, Iraq's top decision-making body, nominated Saddam. Iraqis on Oct. 15 will be asked to vote on whether they do or don't accept Saddam's presidential nomination. The last referendum was in 1995, and Saddam received 99.96 percent of the vote to continue as president. The...

<p>BOSTON -- House Speaker Thomas Finneran went to court Monday to save his sofa.</p> <p>Advocates for the voter-approved Clean Elections law are trying to auction his office furniture, including his desk, sofa and love seat, to pay for the law, which he staunchly opposes.</p>