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Why not? His plan[1] isn't to overturn or defy Citizens United; he wants to modify and enhance public funding of elections so that it doesn't pay (in general) f
by aamar 11y ago
Why not? His plan[1] isn't to overturn or defy Citizens United; he wants to modify and enhance public funding of elections so that it doesn't pay (in general) for Congress to spend time fundraising.
Also, the plan doesn't have broad support in Congress, but it is plausible; there are many in both parties who support it. Some cities and states[2] have viable parallel legislation enacted or in progress.
[1] https://lessig2016.us/the-plan/ https://lessig2016.us/the-plan/
[2] https://www.brennancenter.org/issues/new-york-public-financing https://www.brennancenter.org/issues/new-york-public-financi...
- nostromo 11y agoYour comment is exactly right in identifying the key hurdle: congress. Not the executive branch; congress. Obama would have signed any of these bills as well. But there is no bill to sign, because congress doesn't support such a bill. Replace Obama with Lessig, and you have the exact same impasse we have currently. Lessig's old plan -- to change congress -- made more sense. But it failed.
- aamar 11y agoObama would sign a clean CFR bill, but he almost certainly wouldn't give up the Medicaid expansion or high top-rate taxes to do it. Lessig probably would strike a deal trading away something big; specifying it as his top priority signals this.