Show:
Wisconsin By the Numbers
Pay to Play
Wisconsin Campaign Finance Laws
National Campaign Finance Laws
Famous Quotes
100
What is $44 million?
The amount of money spent on the 2011 summer recall elections.
100
What President rewarded donors with meals, coffees, golf outings, morning jogs with him and overnight stays in the Lincoln bedroom?
President Bill Clinton
100
What progressive campaign finance law was passed in 1906?
A ban on corporate contributions.
100
After what scandal was the Federal Election Commission established?
Watergate
100
Who proclaimed "today, we put liberty on layaway," when the FEC approved his Super PAC?
Stephen Colbert. His Super PAC is called "Making a Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow."
200
How much money can a PAC contribute to a political party per year?
$6,000
200
For what charge was former state Senate Majority Leader Chuck Chvala indicted?
He was indicted on charges of laundering campaign contributions through a union-backed political action committee (PAC) in violation of state law.
200
In what year did Wisconsin enact a comprehensive campaign finance reform law that created a system of partial public financing of state election campaigns?
1977
200
What is the Tillman Act?
The Tillman Act prohibits corporations and national banks from making direct donations to federal candidates. It was passed in 1907
200
Who said,"I think I can say, and say with pride, that we have some legislatures that bring higher prices than any in the world."
Mark Twain
300
What is $37 million?
The amount of money spent on the 2010 Governor's race.
300
Name three of the five senators who were part of the Keating 5 in the S&L scandal
Alan Cranston (D-CA), Dennis DeConcini (D-AZ), John Glenn (D-OH), John McCain (R-AZ), and Donald W. Riegle, Jr. (D-MI). These 5 senators were investigated in 1989 as part of the Senate Ethics Committee investigation after being accused of improperly intervening in 1987 on behalf of Charles H. Keating, Jr., chairman of the Lincoln Savings and Loan Association.
300
What law created full public financing for state Supreme Court candidates who agree to limit their spending?
Impartial Justice Act
300
What Supreme Court decision allows corporations and unions to use their general treasuries to pay for political advertisements that expressly call for the election or defeat of a candidate.
The Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission decision. It became law in 2010.
300
In what movie were two reporters advised to "follow the money" in their investigation of the Watergate break-in.
All the President’s Men
400
What is $10,000?
The amount of money an individual can donate to a Gubanatorial candidate.
400
What president said, "anybody who wants to be an ambassador must at least give $250,000?"
President Richard Nixon
400
What was the name of law adopted in 1998 that required electronic filing of campaign finance reports?
A "Citizens Right to Know" law.
400
In 1947 what Act made the ban on contributions from unions, corporations and national banks permanent, and extended the rule to primaries?
The Taft-Hartley Act
400
Who said, "all contributions by corporations to any political committee or for any political purpose should be forbidden by law?"
President Teddy Roosevelt in the first years of the 20th century, when he was also proposing public financing of federal election.
500
What is the number of ballot questions proposing a constitutional amendment in Wisconsin from 1849 to 2008?
174 1849–1888 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 1889–1928 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 1929–1968 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 1969–2008 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
500
What do the Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce, American Federation for Children, the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce, Pfizer and Eli Lilly have in common?
They spent millions of dollars to get Scott Walker elected and were rewarded for their contribution. For WM&C, American Federation for Children and MMAC are supporters of Milwuakee's school choice program. Walker proposed increasing state spending on school choice by $22.5 million while cutting state aid to K-12 public schools by about $840 million in his budget. For Pfizer and Eli Lilly, Walker’s proposed legislation that would give pharmaceutical companies and medical device manufacturers immunity from lawsuits by people injured by a product approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
500
The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of what organization, saying the state's $10,000 annual limit on campaign contributions was an unconstitional restriction on free speech?
Wisconsin Right to Life's political action committee
500
What did America's first federal campaign finance reform law prohibit?
It prohibited anyone working in government from soliciting money from naval yard workers and made it illegal to pressure workers at naval yards for political contributions. It was a provision in the Naval Appropriations Bill.
500
Who said, “The question will arise, and arise in your day though perhaps not fully in mine: 'Which shall rule--wealth or man? Which shall lead--money or intellect? Who shall fill public stations--educated and patriotic free men, or the feudal serfs of corporate capital?”
Edward G. Ryan, WI Chief Justice, 1873