Free Republic

The Legislature was jubilant as it passed SB2471 on Friday, seeking to overturn the effects of the Citizens United decision in Hawai‘i and get big money and outside influences out of our elections. The irony is, Mainland power players were pulling our strings the whole time. The rhetoric on Friday when the Legislature passed SB2471, was triumphant. All but one of the legislators voted for this attempt to nullify the Citizen’s United decision for Hawai‘i, and did so with bold claims. We’re standing up for Hawai‘i! We’re standing against dark money! We’re making history! We’re protecting democracy! These people are...

House Republicans on the Energy and Commerce Committee raised concerns at a Tuesday hearing that White House staffers hold meetings at a nearby Caribou Coffee to avoid disclosure requirements. "White House staff apparently purposely schedule meetings at the Caribou Coffee around the corner from the White House so that those meetings won’t show up on the White House logs," said Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-Calif.), chairman of the Oversight subcommittee. Republicans portrayed the White House as failing to live up to campaign promises on transparency. Stearns pointed to President Obama, who as a candidate said healthcare negotiations would air on C-SPAN,...

Add the National Republican Congressional Committee to the list of conservative groups capitalizing on former White House Deputy Chief of Staff Jim Messina’s secret meetings with lobbyists at a Caribou Coffee near the White House. President Obama has repeatedly promised that his would be “the most transparent administration in history,” but the House Energy and Commerce Committee released a report yesterday showing that high-ranking Obama staffers, including Messina, used private email addresses to bypass these rules and meet with industry lobbyists. “I will roll Pelosi to get the 4 billion,” Messina wrote Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America lobbyist Jeffrey...