What President Obama Can Do About Campaign Finance Reform Without Congressional Approval [View all]

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Source:
TalkingPointsMemo.com
July 8, 2015

A FEDERAL COURT JUST THREATENED CITIZENS UNITED
Yesterday, the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington ruled 11-0 that a ban of federal campaign contributions by individuals who contract with the government is constitutional.
After a wave of controversial decisions by the Supreme Court that have unleashed a flood of big money into politics, this appeals court decision sends a clear message: Sometimes more money in politics can be a very bad thing.
Americans agree.
According to a poll from the New York Times, some 85 percent of the American people believe that the way political campaigns are funded needs either "fundamental changes" (39 percent) or "a complete rebuild." (46 percent)
Link to complete article:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10026951789


Contained in the above referenced article from TalkingPointsMemo,
(July 8, 2015, by David Schultz)
is the following:

"So can anything be done?
Actually yes....All is not lost..And yesterday's court decision is a step in the right direction.
America need not wait for Congress or the Supreme Court to come around.
The President and various federal agencies have the power to make several small but important reforms.
Here are four:
1) The President could issue an executive order to require federal contractors to disclose all political contributions they make and to bar contractors from bidding on federal contracts for two years if they spend too much to influence a federal race or a member of Congress.
Yesterday's ruling upholds a ban on "pay to play" contributions to prevent conflicts of interest or undue influence.....A new order could be built on that ruling.
2) The Securities and Exchange Commission could make a rule requiring publicly traded companies to disclose all expenditures of money for political purposes and to obtain shareholder assent to use money for these purposes.
3) To reduce candidates' need for costly commercials, the Federal Communications Commission could require broadcasters to provide reasonable free air time to all House, Senate and Presidential candidates....The public owns the airwaves, so there is nothing to stop the FCC from doing this.
4) The IRS could require that non-profits whose major purpose is political advocacy register with the Federal Elections Commission and disclose their donors and expenditures."