Latest News
“The real problem in Washington today is there’s too much money in the political process. We need to go to public financing of elections.”
“At less than $1 billion per year for all congressional elections, a Fair Elections program could prove the best investment ever made with public money given the $87 billion in annual corporate welfare subsidies to major contributors.”
- Christine Todd WhitmanFormer Governor of New Jersey
ACR Advisory Board Member
Latest News
Response to Supreme Court Decision on Arizona
Tuesday, June 28th, 2011
McComish Release
Simpson Takes On George Will
Tuesday, May 17th, 2011
I was proud to testify at the April 12 hearing on Sen. Dick Durbin’s campaign finance bill about which Will wrote last week. I spoke in support of reform that has everything to do with values he has long espoused: free speech, citizen participation and accountable government.
Boehlert/Houghton: Restore ethics to Albany through voter-owned elections
Monday, April 18th, 2011
As former members of Congress, we were honored to represent the people of upstate New York in Washington, D. C., for many years. But as we look at our politics today, we are deeply troubled by the corrosive role that private money has come to play in Congress and Albany alike.
ACR Chairs Call for End to Special Interest Funding of Campaigns
Thursday, April 7th, 2011
Former Senators Bill Bradley (D-NJ), Alan Simpson (R-NH), Bob Kerrey (D-NE), and Warren Rudman (R-NH), co-chairs of Americans for Campaign Reform (ACR), joined Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) and actor Alec Baldwin in calling for a sweeping overhaul of congressional campaign finance today.
Bipartisan Former Senators Urge Court to Uphold 1st Amendment Constitutionality
Wednesday, March 30th, 2011
WASHINGTON, DC – Former Senators Larry Pressler (R-S.D.) and Timothy Wirth (D-Colo.), amici in the Supreme Court case of McComish v. Bennett, today attended oral arguments in the case and spoke to press outside the Court on the importance of upholding the free speech constitutionality of Arizona’s voluntary public funding law as a precedent for other states and the federal government.
ACR Files Amicus Brief with Supreme Court
Friday, March 4th, 2011
WASHINGTON, DC – A bipartisan committee of former U.S. Senators, Representatives, and Governors representing Americans for Campaign Reform today filed an amicus brief in the Supreme Court case of McComish v. Bennett defending the constitutionality of voluntary public funding of state elections in Arizona.
Video: Dan Weeks On The Young Turks
Wednesday, January 26th, 2011
ACR President Dan Weeks talks about money and politics on The Young Turks, a web broadcast hosted by Cenk Uyger.
Election Analysis: 2010 Midterm Bankrolled By Less Than 1% Of Americans Representing K Street, Wall Street Special Interests
Wednesday, January 26th, 2011
CONCORD, NH – Americans for Campaign Reform (ACR) today released a study of campaign contributions in the 2010 midterm election showing an extreme concentration of giving at the top, according to campaign finance disclosures newly released by the FEC. The data show that less than one out of 400 Americans, most of them affiliated with major corporate interests, made itemized donations ($200 or more) to federal candidates or PACs in 2010, a drop of 50% since 2008 and the lowest level in at least ten years in spite of record spending. The research does not cover the estimated $300 million in independent expenditure campaigns financed by unlimited and often undisclosed private donations.
Election Analysis: In Spite Of Record Spending In 2010, Money Did Not ‘Buy’ House Elections
Wednesday, January 26th, 2011
CONCORD, NH – Americans for Campaign Reform (ACR) today released an analysis of candidate, party and independent spending in 2010 House races which challenges conventional wisdom that money is the determining factor in candidate success. The bipartisan reform group, which is chaired by former U.S. Senators Bill Bradley (D-NJ), Bob Kerrey (D-NE), Warren Rudman (R-NH), and Alan Simpson (R-WY), argued that changing the source of money is necessary to restoring confidence in government, not changing the amount. ACR advocates for a broad-based system of citizen-funded congressional and presidential elections.
Whitman: Too much money in politics
Tuesday, January 11th, 2011
As a lifelong Republican concerned about government accountability, electoral competition and freedom of speech, I can think of no more urgent need for Congress today than citizen-funded elections. Making Washington work for the American people is at least one issue both sides can get behind.