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In recent months, at least three major newspapers have carried columns attempting to push Chief Justice John Roberts into voting to uphold a grossly unconstitutional federal law. But their cheap distortions and Chicken Little yammering will fail. The chief justice will do his job, and the country will be better off for it. On Sept. 9, the U.S. Supreme Court reheard arguments in the landmark campaign finance and free speech case, Citizens United v. FEC. At issue in this case is whether the McCain-Feingold Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (BCRA) could ban documentaries about candidates when Election Day is approaching. This...

Wis. Democrat Says Obama Would "Have Trouble" With Americans if President Increases Troops in Afghanistan Democratic Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) said on "Face the Nation" Sunday that President Obama would "have trouble with the American people" should he decide to add 40,000 troops to the war in Afghanistan. "It's not about me or any political party; he's going to have trouble with the American people," Feingold told CBS News Chief Washington correspondent and "Face the Nation" anchor Bob Schieffer. "It's not about one party. In fact, I'd say there's a broad majority in this country that thinks it's a very...

(snip) SCHIEFFER: Let me ask you about health care quickly. It looks like that’s coming finally to a head in the Senate. It looks like that the majority leader, Harry Reid, is going to put the government- run insurance option in there, the so-called public option. Do you think at this point that that will pass the Senate?MCCAIN: I think that the Democrats have the votes. I think that Blue Dogs bark but never bite. So I don’t think they have a problem over in the House side.MCCAIN: In the Senate, I think that the Democrats are very aware that...

Yes, he’s doing the job of dictating to companies which took government (read: taxpayers’) money exactly how much they are allowed to compensate their top execs. And next he’s going to look at the paychecks of the smaller fellows, too. Before he does that, however, perhaps he should take a look at the compensation package received by the new CFO of Freddie Mac, Ross Kari.

In the 17 years that Russ Feingold has served Wisconsin in the US Senate, he has visited each county in the state at least once a year. Friday was Oneida County’s turn to tell the Senator what was on their minds. About 50 people showed up in Lake Tomahawk for the listening session, which the Senator opened with a comment on “the largest deficit in American history,” and his own efforts to cut spending. Although he admits he did vote for the stimulus bill, he said, “We can’t keep doing this stuff.” Feingold announced his introduction next week of the...

(snip) LARRY KING: Senator, we're going to begin with a quote from your Senate colleague, in fact, the co-author of one of the most famous bills ever offered in the Senate, Russ Feingold -- you of the famed McCain- Feingold bill. But here is his statement.... How would you respond to that statement by your friend? SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: Well, he is my friend and I have the highest regard for him and he's a man of integrity.(snip)

A top Senate Democrat said just because other presidents have created "czars" to carry out administration policy does not mean President Obama is right to follow their lead - and warned that Congress may have to step in and keep White House appointees in check. Senators say the arrangement goes against the Constitution because many czars are never vetted by Congress, even though they have a major role in making policy.

Senator Russ Feingold, a liberal Democrat from Wisconsin, in a bold and courageous display of bipartisanship, had some harsh words in regards to President Obama's excessive appointment of 'czars'. At a hearing on on "Examining the History and Legality of Executive Branch 'Czars'" scheduled by the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittee on the Constitution, Feingold's opening statement sounded like it came from a conservative member of the President's opposition, rather than a fellow liberal from his own party.

Russ Feingold Takes On "Czars": A Plea For A More Civil Discourse?Posted by Michael Scherer Tuesday, October 6, 2009 at 10:35 am At 1:30 p.m. today, in Room 226 of the Dirksen Building, Senator Russ Feingold, D-Wisc., will hold a hearing on the "History and Legality of Executive Branch Czars." Since Feingold is a liberal Democrat, this raises eyebrows. Why would Feingold embrace a topic--so often distorted and misunderstood--that has been the purview of Fox News and sundry other detractors of President Obama? The answer may be as simple as: Feingold believes we are better than all that. To explain...

Homeland Security: Provisions of the law that spared New York another 9/11 are set to expire Dec. 31. So why do Democrats want to gut this law and remove the immunity telecom companies have for helping protect America? To borrow a British expression from World War II, it was a very near thing. The capture, arrest and indictment of 24-year-old Afghan immigrant Najubullah Zazi before he could set off bombs made from store-bought chemicals prevented a tragedy of potentially devastating proportions. It wouldn't have happened if the critics of Patriot Act had their way. The capture of Zazi was made...

Dairy farmers are pressing federal antitrust regulators to investigate why large food companies are making hefty profits while farmers are going broke. The average dairy farm in the state lost about $100 per cow per month this summer, according to the Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation. With more than 1.25 million cows in the state, it means the industry is losing roughly $4 million a day. ~~ Snip ~~ Feingold said he wants the Justice Department to reconsider the 2001 Dean Foods merger with Suiza Foods that helped make Dean the nation's largest milk processor and distributor. He also wants antitrust...

On Tuesday, Najibullah Zazi, a 24-year-old Afghan immigrant who was a teenager in Queens during the Sept. 11 attacks, pleaded not guilty to federal terrorism conspiracy charges in New York. This is a scary story. Police stopped and searched Zazi's rented car on the George Washington Bridge on Sept. 10, as the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks loomed and President Obama was about to join world leaders at a U.N. confab. According to the U.S. attorney's office, Zazi flew to Pakistan in August 2008 to receive bombmaking instructions, returned to use the Internet and nine pages of handwritten bombmaking...

SNIPPET: "Last week we reported on Senator Feingold's proposed JUSTICE Act. Specifically, we highlighted Section 502's proposed requirement that the government prove that resources given to a terrorist organization were given with the specific intent that they be used for acts of violence. Although we focused on the negative repercussions for criminal "material support" prosecutions, it is important to consider the effect that this bill would have on civil lawsuits brought by victims of terrorism." SNIPPET: "Motley Rice properly recognizes that not only will the proposed legislation effectively eviscerate criminal prosecutions of terrorist supporters, but it will also damage the...

For years, many of us in the blogosphere have argued that the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act, better known as McCain-Feingold, violates the fundamental Constitutional exercise of free speech, especially in politics, which the founders expressly intended to protect. The Supreme Court failed in its duty to protect the First Amendment when it had the chance, as did George W. Bush when he signed the legislation into law. Finally, a federal appellate court has recognized the insult to the Constitution that the BCRA represents: A federal appeals court overturned hard-fought campaign finance reform regulations in a ruling on Friday that will...

The First Amendment, as rewritten under the McCain-Feingold campaign finance law: "Congress shall make no law ... abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, except if it is funded by a corporation, unless it is a media corporation, or if the speech occurs just prior to an election, unless it is in the form of a book, which, even though the law covers books, too, the Federal Election Commission would never apply that law to books because we say so, though we said something entirely different a couple of months ago." In an apoplexy of righteous indignation over...

WASHINGTON.Last March, during the Supreme Court argument concerning the Federal Election Commission's banning of a political movie, several justices were aghast. Suddenly and belatedly they saw the abyss that could swallow the First Amendment. Justice Antonin Scalia was "a little disoriented" and Justice Samuel Alito said "that's pretty incredible." Chief Justice John Roberts said: "If we accept your constitutional argument, we're establishing a precedent that you yourself say would extend to banning the book" -- a hypothetical 500-page book containing one sentence that said "vote for" a particular candidate. What shocked them, but should not have, were statements by a...

Hillary Clinton may end up the accidental heroine in the battle to reassert First Amendment rights over restrictions on political speech. Yesterday, the Supreme Court heard a historic reargument in the case of Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, and the Justices have a chance to revisit two of their greatest offenses against the Constitution. The case involves a political documentary made during last year's Presidential primaries about then-Senator Clinton called "Hillary: The Movie." It wasn't what you'd call a glowing portrayal. Funded by a group called Citizens United, the film was intended to be shown on cable TV during...

The Supreme Court on Wednesday will hear arguments from campaign finance reform advocates and opponents in a case many insiders say will be the most significant decision in more than 35 years. The case the court will hear, Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, has the potential to overturn key elements of campaign finance law that prevent corporate spending on elections, a move that would open the door to millions of dollars that could not be spent previously. “This is the biggest case in campaign finance law, really, since Buckley v. Valeo in 1976,” said Rob Kelner, a partner at...

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court appears poised to wipe away limits on campaign spending by corporations and labor unions in time for next year's congressional elections in a case that began as a dispute over a movie about Hillary Rodham Clinton. The justices return to the bench Wednesday — nearly a month early — to consider whether to overrule two earlier decisions that restrict how and when corporations and unions can take part in federal campaigns. Laws that impose similar limits in 24 states also are threatened. The court first heard arguments in March in the case of whether...

Last week Senator Russ Feingold was heard to lament that there would be no Obamacare bill to vote on before Christmas. The liberal Feingold even said he wondered if there would ever be a bill at all because the divisions were so deep. Well, only six days later, Senator Feingold is playing a different tune. Suddenly he's quite upbeat and jubilant about the bill saying how he'll work hard to get Obamacare passed and that he's sure it's all just over the horizon. Gone is the gloomy guss of a week ago and in is the happy Russ for this...

Looks like the Democrats are getting downright depressed: U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold told a large crowd gathered for a listening session in Iron County last week there would likely be no health care bill before the end of the year - and perhaps not at all. It was an assessment Feingold said he didn't like, but the prospect of no health care legislation brought a burst of applause from a packed house of nearly 150 citizens at the Mercer Community Center."Nobody is going to bring a bill before Christmas, and maybe not even then, if this ever happens," Feingold said....

U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold told a large crowd gathered for a listening session in Iron County last week there would likely be no health care bill before the end of the year - and perhaps not at all. It was an assessment Feingold said he didn't like, but the prospect of no health care legislation brought a burst of applause from a packed house of nearly 150 citizens at the Mercer Community Center. "Nobody is going to bring a bill before Christmas, and maybe not even then, if this ever happens," Feingold said. "The divisions are so deep. I never...

Feingold: No health care bill before Christmas Large Mercer crowd opposes reform plans Richard Moore Investigative Reporter Tuesday, August 25, 2009 U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold told a large crowd gathered for a listening session in Iron County last week there would likely be no health care bill before the end of the year - and perhaps not at all. It was an assessment Feingold said he didn't like, but the prospect of no health care legislation brought a burst of applause from a packed house of nearly 150 citizens at the Mercer Community Center. "Nobody is going to bring a...

Sen. Russ Feingold D-WI says bring'em home regarding the troops in Afghanistan, cites a lack of strategy and believes that increase in troops is not a wise idea. Today, in a meeting with the editorial board of The Post-Crescent in Appleton, Wis., Sen. Feingold called for a flexible timetable to bring our troops out of Afghanistan. Per an e-mail announcement, Feingold said: "After eight years, I am not convinced that simply pouring more and more troops into Afghanistan is a well thought out strategy. And I have raised this issue with the President, with the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs...

The Republican National Committee is asking a federal court to restore the ability of national parties to raise unlimited amounts of money and to spend it to help elect state-level candidates. The case focuses on hotly contested governor’s races in New Jersey and Virginia. The 2002 McCain-Feingold campaign financing law (PL 107-155) does not allow national parties to give money directly to state candidates. The RNC wants to change that so it can expressly back the party nominee for governor, advertise and send out mailings on behalf of state or local Republican candidates and make get-out-the-vote calls. The law also...

<p>Decades of lawmaking and court decisions restricting the flow of cash into U.S. elections are on the verge of coming undone, placing President Barack Obama in the unexpected position of presiding over the possible demise of the modern campaign finance regime.</p>

The campaign finance dream team of Sens. Russ Feingold and John McCain is reuniting to block President Barack Obama’s first appointment to the Federal Election Commission and to push him to shake up the embattled agency. In a surprising move that invokes memories of a bitter skirmish during Obama’s annihilation of McCain in last year’s presidential election, Feingold (D-Wis.) and McCain (R-Ariz.) have placed a hold on the FEC nomination of Democratic labor lawyer John Sullivan, POLITICO confirmed Tuesday. Their hold could reverberate in Congress, the White House, the 2010 midterm elections and beyond. In a statement issued in response...

WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court ordered new hearings in a case challenging McCain-Feingold, the law that aims to restrict political spending at election time, signaling the possibility it is considering a more sweeping approach to the question. The court had been expected to rule Monday on a narrow question on whether McCain-Feingold applied to electioneering materials delivered through video-on-demand services. The case before the court involves a critical documentary about Hillary Clinton released during the presidential primary. The question before the court was whether it should be considered a campaign ad and regulated as such. Instead, the court asked the...

<p>Republicans are trying to pass legislation in the next few weeks to kick off the commemoration of the 100th anniversary of Ronald Reagan’s birth, and the only hurdle appears to be Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.), who is refusing to let the Senate vote on the bill.</p>

Republicans are trying to pass legislation in the next few weeks to kick off the commemoration of the 100th anniversary of Ronald Reagan’s birth, and the only hurdle appears to be Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.), who is refusing to let the Senate vote on the bill.

S787 Clean Water Restoration Act changes (I HATE THAT WORD NOW) SEC. 4. DEFINITION OF WATERS OF THE UNITED STATES. ... (3) by adding at the end the following: `(25) WATERS OF THE UNITED STATES- The term `waters of the United States' means all waters subject to the ebb and flow of the tide, the territorial seas, and all interstate and intrastate waters and their tributaries, including lakes, rivers, streams (including intermittent streams), mudflats, sandflats, wetlands, sloughs, prairie potholes, wet meadows, playa lakes, natural ponds, and all impoundments of the foregoing, to the fullest extent that these waters, or activities...

Sen. Feingold seeks to restore with unlimited powers the Clean Water Act(CWA). The new CWRA (s.787) will extend the federal government power to regulate all interstate waters, including non-navigable waters leaving property owners vulnerable to federal land grabs.

WASHINGTON — A quirky case about a slashing documentary attacking Hillary Rodham Clinton would not seem to be the most obvious vehicle for a fundamental re-examination of the interplay between the First Amendment and campaign finance laws. But by the end of an exceptionally lively argument at the Supreme Court on Tuesday, it seemed at least possible that five justices were prepared to overturn or significantly limit parts of the court’s 2003 decision upholding the McCain-Feingold campaign finance law, which regulates the role of money in politics.

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Months after its debut, "Hillary: The Movie" faces nine of the nation's toughest critics: the Supreme Court. The justices' review of the slashing documentary financed by longtime critics of Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton could bring more than just a thumbs up or thumbs down. It may settle the question of whether the government can regulate a politically charged film as a campaign ad. David Bossie, a former Republican congressional aide who produced the Clinton movie and another describing then-Sen. Barack Obama as an overhyped media darling, said his films are about important moments in American politics. "The outcome...

Sen. Russ Feingold, carrying the liberal mantle as he so often does, is reintroducing legislation calling for the abolishment of the death penalty. Feingold’s Federal Death Penalty Abolition Act of 2009 would put an immediate halt to federal executions and forbid the use of the death penalty as a sentence for violations of federal law. The bill follows New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson’s move this week to abolish the death penalty. “Gov. Bill Richardson and the New Mexico Legislature’s action to abolish the death penalty in that state adds to the growing momentum behind ending the death penalty in this...

Senator John McCain is not giving up his fight against earmarks, even though the Senate rejected his attempt on Tuesday to strip them from the spending bill going through Congress. The Arizona Republican and former presidential candidate announced yesterday he's teaming with Democratic Senator Russ Feingold of Wisconsin to introduce legislation to give the president a line-item veto to block earmarks. McCain said earmarks, which critics call pork barrel projects, represent a "corrupt practice" that has consumed Congress. Feingold said he believes this legislation would pass constitutional muster because Congress would have to vote whether to agree to the earmark...

Two Wisconsin lawmakers from opposing parties are joining former GOP presidential nominee John McCain in pushing to give President Barack Obama line-item veto power. Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Middleton, and Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Janesville, are teaming up with the Arizona senator for what they say is a strategy to hold the line on federal spending and prevent wasteful earmarks. They plan to introduce the bill tomorrow.

It seems that White House press secretary Robert Gibbs, Sen. John McCain (R), and Sen. Russ Feingold (D) are on the same page. The issue: All three want a presidential line-item veto to curb earmarks and spending. A line-item veto gives the president the power to veto particular items of a bill without having to veto it in its entirety. During the Clinton administration, Congress gave the power to Clinton, but it was later revoked in 1998 when the Supreme Court ruled that the measure overreached presidential powers. Today, at the daily White House press conference, one of us asked...

A simple apology would have sufficed. Instead, Sen. Russ Feingold has decided to follow his McCain-Feingold evisceration of the First Amendment with Feingold-McCain, more vandalism against the Constitution. The Wisconsin Democrat, who is steeped in his state's progressive tradition, says, as would-be amenders of the Constitution often do, that he is reluctant to tamper with the document but tamper he must because the threat to the public weal is immense: Some governors have recently behaved badly in appointing people to fill U.S. Senate vacancies. Feingold's solution, of which John McCain is a co-sponsor, is to amend the 17th Amendment. It...

Greetings, We're writing today because Russ's 56th birthday is just two weeks away. Traditionally Russ's supporters in Wisconsin come together to celebrate his birthday, and this year we'd like to give you an opportunity to celebrate along with us. We've created a virtual card for you to sign. You can leave Russ a message and we'll make sure he gets everyone's well wishes on his birthday. Help Us Celebrate - Sign Russ's Birthday Card! Thanks for helping us make Russ's 56th birthday special. Sincerely, The Feingold Campaign Team http://www.russfeingold.org/get-involved/birthdaycard.html

A motley crew of Republican and Democratic lawmakers announced Wednesday that they are backing a constitutional amendment requiring special elections be held to fill all Senate vacancies, putting an end to the gubernatorial appointments that have sparked such controversy in recent months. Unusually for a constitutional amendment, the proposal has attracted a bipartisan, bicameral group of supporters. Joining forces at Wednesday's press conference were two Democrats -- Sen. Russ Feingold (Wis.) and House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers (Mich.) -- as well as three Republicans -- Judiciary ranking member Lamar Smith (Texas), Rules ranking member David Dreier (Calif.) and Rep. James...

WASHINGTON (AP) - After campaigning on the promise to end one war, President Barack Obama is preparing to escalate another.

Democratic National Committee files motion to intervene in RNC v. FEC WASHINGTON, Jan. 29 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Today the Democratic National Committee announced that it filed a motion to intervene in the case of the Republican National Committee v. FEC, in which the RNC is seeking to dismantle the soft money provisions of the bi-partisan McCain Feingold campaign reform act (BCRA) of 2002. After a bruising defeat in November 2008, the RNC filed suit in the District of Columbia, challenging the constitutionality of the central tenet of BCRA - the ban on national party soft money. In its suit, the RNC...

Obama to reverse Bush executive orders By: Ben Smith and Lisa Lerer January 12, 2009 06:15 PM EST President-elect Barack Obama is expected to move swiftly to reverse executive orders regarding torture of terror suspects, the military prison at Guantanamo Bay and other controversial security policies, sources close to his transition said, in dramatic gestures aimed at reversing President Bush’s accumulation of executive power. Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI) said he’s been informed that President Obama will support his proposed legislation to make public some opinions from the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel, which issued some of the Bush Administration's...

Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) are renewing their longtime reform partnership to launch an aggressive attack on earmarks. McCain, back to the daily Senate routine after his failed White House bid, joined Sens. Feingold, Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) and Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) on Wednesday to unveil a landmark bill they will try to add as an amendment to the economic stimulus legislation.

An unpardonable use of power By Sen. Russ Feingold Nov. 20, 2008 | If President Bush cares about his place in history, he should think twice before issuing pardons that call his judgment, and the integrity of the rule of law, into question. A departing president probably can't help thinking about the judgment of history. At the end of eight years, President Bush likely isn't any different. With the nation's attention focused on his successor, it may seem as if there is little opportunity left for the current president to affect how he will be viewed. But there is one...

MIAMI The Republican Party will file federal lawsuits Thursday seeking to overthrow the McCain-Feingold federal campaign finance regulations, Republican National Committee Chairman Robert M. "Mike" Duncan revealed Wednesday night at a private dinner with the nation's Republican governors. The move is considered a slap in the face of the Republican Party's failed 2008 presidential candidate, Sen. John McCain of Arizona, who was dramatically outspent by Democrat Barack Obama, and of President Bush, who signed McCain-Feingold into law in 2002. "We will bring two federal suits tomorrow to strengthen the Republican Party," Mr. Duncan told The Washington Times. Mr. Duncan said...

Sarah Palin's allies are pushing back against a stream of accusations leaking out of John McCain's campaign, and Palin herself has called her critics "cowardly." Palin insisted she never asked for the expensive wardrobe purchased for her use on the presidential campaign. "I never asked for anything more than a Diet Dr. Pepper once in a while," Palin said as she returned to the governor's office from her two-month odyssey as the GOP vice presidential nominee. Her comments follow FOX News' reports that McCain aides anonymously claimed the Alaska governor was incompetent during the run-up to the election. Palin spokeswoman...

Vice President-elect Joe Biden leaves an open chairmanship on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that could end up being filled by one of the most outspoken critics of the Iraq war. Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wisc.), among the chamber’s most liberal members, is the fourth Democrat in line on the committee, behind Biden, Sen. Chris Dodd (Conn.) and Sen. John Kerry (Mass.). Dodd said Thursday he plans to stay on as chairman of the Senate Banking Committee. Kerry is reportedly lobbying to be President-elect Barack Obama’s Secretary of State. That leaves Feingold, an unapologetic champion of civil liberties and a staunch...