Most observers believe that the Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling opened the doors to a flood of new political spending from businesses and unions, and has Congress scurrying to enact enough patches to erect an emergency dike system in time for November of this year. At the same time, interested professionals in Washington are eager to school potential spenders on what the ruling may mean in terms of their own participation in the political process.
Business/legal publisher BNA, the law firm of McKenna Long & Aldridge LLP and the American League of Lobbyists are devoting a full day to school those with an interest in the ins and outs of the situation as it is currently understood.
And they admit that the understanding is imperfect at this point in time. “With the implications still unknown, interested parties are asking: how can groups most effectively and legally participate in the political and public affairs process?”
The complexity of the issue is reflected in the title given to the session: “Political Law Compliance after Citizens Unite: Campaign Finance, Government Contracting, Tax, Lobbying & Ethics Rules.”
That is not stopping them from getting into what issues are worth getting into. A session will be held at BNA’s offices 5/6/10, running from 8AM-6PM. Info is available at BNA’s website.
RBR-TVBR observation: Whether you support restrictions on campaign financing or not, it seems to be almost impossible to throttle the flow of cash into the political system. That is especially true in a national capital that has so many bright, well-educated individuals seemingly at work around the clock to keep the cashflow faucet wide open.
