Cuomo v. Citizens United | The Compost Bin | Forums

will be interesting to see how this works out, not a fan of Cuomo but I support this.

The Supreme Court’s 2010 decision in Citizens United, which opened the floodgates to the buying and selling of elections, is a ruling Democrats love to deplore but nobody ever seems able to do anything about. Yet an intriguing idea came from a most unexpected quarter on Wednesday afternoon, when Gov. Andrew Cuomo, as part of his latest speech on cleaning up government, suggested that New York State could take the lead in attacking one of the ruling’s most pernicious effects.

Citizens United permits essentially unlimited political spending by groups acting independently of candidates and campaigns. In practice, candidates wink and nod and devise ways to coordinate with these supposedly independent groups, rightly believing that hapless federal regulators won’t act to punish them. Mr. Cuomo argues that New York and other states can step in to clarify and expose the ways that “independent” political-action committees work hand-in-hand with candidates, thus evading spending limits.

The core of Mr. Cuomo’s idea was detailed by his legal counsel, Alphonso David, in a two-page opinion on Wednesday. Mr. David listed some obvious red flags — if an “independent” spending group hires a candidate’s former staff members or relatives, or discusses strategy with a campaign — that need defining and codifying, so prosecutors could get to work. Mr. Cuomo’s office said that legislation to do this was still being worked on Thursday night, and that the governor intends to get it passed within the week.

It will be necessary to examine the bill for loopholes, and to see how well it will withstand any free-speech challenge. This plan may well join the long list of reform promises Mr. Cuomo has made, largely without effect, since he took office in 2011.

But the principle of cracking down on collusion is a good one. It has been made forcefully by good-government groups, like the Brennan Center for Justice, and by Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont, who has sponsored a bill making similar suggestions. Senate Democrats on Thursday proposed a package of campaign reforms targeting Citizens United as well.

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