11 17 15 LECTURE 20 Current Events Paris Attacks 3 teams of terrorists launched coordinated attacks on 6 locations stadiums restaurants theaters 130 people killed 400 injured ISIS claims responsibility Said it is retaliation for involvement in Syria 7 terrorists killed 1 remains on the loose ISIS threatens strike in the U S said they are targeting the U S Capital Who were the Attackers Most were French Belgian citizens 1 Syrian posed as a migrant using fake passport Still at large o Abaaoud Belgian citizen 27 who has fought for ISIS believed to be mastermind o Abdeslam French citizen 26 whose brother also participated Russian Airliner Downed on 10 31 over Sinai Egypt 225 Russian vacationers killed ISIS has been claiming responsibility but didn t offer proof o Claims it is retaliation for Russia s involvement in Syria Russia has been bombing Syria since September But many of the territories they ve hit are controlled by anti Assad rebels not ISIS Independent test confirms ISIS s involvement Putin and Hollande working on more coordinated military campaign Now What French has redoubled their involvement in Syria Hollande France is at war Conducted their largest bombing campaign French Defense Minister invokes EU clause that attack against one is attack against all o 28 EU member states have voted to support France but unclear on what that means President rejects ground troops in Syria o Favors airstrikes drones o Plans to continue with airstrikes o Already about 50 special operations advisors on the ground What to do with Syrian refugees o So far 2000 refugees accepted into the US S o 10000 more are going to be admitted o Ryan calls for a pause on all refugee program We need to engage in more security screenings Unclear if it will pass in the senate and subject to presidential veto Governors of 26 U S States refuse Syrian refugees o Who are the refugees About 50 50 men and women Can states do this o Probably not Refugee Act 1980 gives president authority to admit refugees o Would need to change the law Cruz has introduced bill to Congress that would reject Muslim Syrian Refugees LECTURE Soft Money Huge loophole that was abused by both parties 527 loophole Parties corporations interest groups unions spent millions on issue advertising that often had a clear campaign purpose o Avoided regulation by not specifically urging a vote for or against a candidate By 2002 the use of soft money had exploded o 1992 soft money 86M o 2002 soft money 500M Soft money issue advocacy Prompted McCain Feingold Law BCRA o New set of reforms passed in 2002 to replace FECA o Main purpose ban soft money spent by corporations unions and parties o Increased hard money contribution limits Contributions to the candidate campaign from individuals parties and PACs Money like water seeks an outlet Rise of 527s o Non profit organizations Examples rightchange com Moveon org o Exempt from paying income taxes o Use money for issue advocacy to promote defeat a candidate 527s make Played a big role in the 2008 and 2012 presidential elections o Made more controversial statements than the candidate campaign were willing to o Exaggerated the facts play on candidates fears are the strong imagery or use emotions Overall the BCRA has not been effective in limiting influence of money in campaigns o Citizens United v FEC 2010 repealed laws that had prohibited unions and corporations from engaging in independent expenditures 60 before the GE Back to the soft money system unions and corporations can spend unlimited amounts of money as long as they are uncoordinated with campaign And Supreme court went further now can engage in expressed advocacy It means they can now say vote for or vote against Gave rise to Super PACs McCutcheon v FEC Hard money contribution limits Court struck down overall limits on hard money contributions by individuals o Plurality opinion o Coalition of 5 in agreement about the outcome o But 1 of 5 felt that court should strike down all contribution limits Thomas Since McCain Feingold individuals could contribute 2600 to a candidate for a max of 48000 o Can contribute the maximum to 20 candidates o But what if you want to give to 21 candidates o Court struck down the overall limit but preserved the 2600 per candidate Campaign finance reform Proponents say o Money is a megaphone o Voices of ordinary Americans are not heard o Members of congress are responsive to special interest groups not their voters Critics say o Hindered grass roots involvement o Infringed on first amendment rights o Protected entrenched incumbents
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