Part of the Series
Moyers and Company
Reviews of the effectiveness of Federal Election Commission — mandated by Congress back in 1975 to regulate campaign finance — have never been stellar, but lately the word most commonly used to describe it is “dysfunctional.”
In an April editorial, The New York Times wrote that the FEC was “completely ossified as the referee and penalizer of abuses in national politics.” And The Boston Globe recently condemned it as an agency plagued “with leaders who rarely speak outside the confines of formal meetings, a staff of investigators who are routinely ignored, and a mandate that is rarely fulfilled.”
Deadlocked along party lines and riven by internal bickering, the commission has been unable to get much of anything done at a time when political spending is at a record-breaking high but less and less is known about where all the money’s coming from.
Despite this inertia, the Federal Election Commission has come under fire from both ends of the political spectrum. The right attacks it for regulatory overreach – allegedly impeding freedom of speech by trying to clamp down on campaign spending. The left has gone after it for “regulatory capture,” accusing the commission of being in the pocket of the very politicians and fundraisers it’s supposed to police.
Now the FEC is in the news with reports that Republicans on the commission are trying to force changes that would neutralize it even further – “a cynical move,” the Los Angeles Times’ editorial board opined, “giving candidates and special interests even more freedom to thumb their noses at campaign finance law.”
Meanwhile, President Obama has appointed two new FEC commissioners, their confirmation awaiting approval by the Senate. Some hope it could ease the FEC’s longtime gridlock. So it seemed like a good time to talk again with Matea Gold. After several years at the Los Angeles Times, she recently joined the Washington Post as a staff writer covering money and politics. The Federal Election Commission is part of her beat.
HIGHLIGHTS
On Commissioner Don McGahn
“Don McGahn has been the most outspoken Republican on the commission in its current form. He has served on the commission for a long time now and in that course of time has been very vocal in clashing with the Democrats on the commission and — he feels — in trying to stop what he sees as overly zealous implementation of or overly aggressive interpretation of campaign finance rules. He is scheduled to be replaced by one of the two new FEC nominees that Obama put forward last month and their nominations are currently pending before the Senate.”
Truthout Is Preparing to Meet Trump’s Agenda With Resistance at Every Turn
Dear Truthout Community,
If you feel rage, despondency, confusion and deep fear today, you are not alone. We’re feeling it too. We are heartsick. Facing down Trump’s fascist agenda, we are desperately worried about the most vulnerable people among us, including our loved ones and everyone in the Truthout community, and our minds are racing a million miles a minute to try to map out all that needs to be done.
We must give ourselves space to grieve and feel our fear, feel our rage, and keep in the forefront of our mind the stark truth that millions of real human lives are on the line. And simultaneously, we’ve got to get to work, take stock of our resources, and prepare to throw ourselves full force into the movement.
Journalism is a linchpin of that movement. Even as we are reeling, we’re summoning up all the energy we can to face down what’s coming, because we know that one of the sharpest weapons against fascism is publishing the truth.
There are many terrifying planks to the Trump agenda, and we plan to devote ourselves to reporting thoroughly on each one and, crucially, covering the movements resisting them. We also recognize that Trump is a dire threat to journalism itself, and that we must take this seriously from the outset.
After the election, the four of us sat down to have some hard but necessary conversations about Truthout under a Trump presidency. How would we defend our publication from an avalanche of far right lawsuits that seek to bankrupt us? How would we keep our reporters safe if they need to cover outbreaks of political violence, or if they are targeted by authorities? How will we urgently produce the practical analysis, tools and movement coverage that you need right now — breaking through our normal routines to meet a terrifying moment in ways that best serve you?
It will be a tough, scary four years to produce social justice-driven journalism. We need to deliver news, strategy, liberatory ideas, tools and movement-sparking solutions with a force that we never have had to before. And at the same time, we desperately need to protect our ability to do so.
We know this is such a painful moment and donations may understandably be the last thing on your mind. But we must ask for your support, which is needed in a new and urgent way.
We promise we will kick into an even higher gear to give you truthful news that cuts against the disinformation and vitriol and hate and violence. We promise to publish analyses that will serve the needs of the movements we all rely on to survive the next four years, and even build for the future. We promise to be responsive, to recognize you as members of our community with a vital stake and voice in this work.
Please dig deep if you can, but a donation of any amount will be a truly meaningful and tangible action in this cataclysmic historical moment.
We’re with you. Let’s do all we can to move forward together.
With love, rage, and solidarity,
Maya, Negin, Saima, and Ziggy