Wake Up To Politics Podcast: Explaining campaign finance
Wake Up To Politics Podcast: Episode #4
Super PACs. Contribution limits. FEC reports.
The world of campaign finance can often be complex — but as spending ramps up for the 2020 elections, it has never been more important to understand.
In the latest episode of the Wake Up To Politics Podcast, star reporter Michelle Ye He Lee of the Washington Post and I break down everything you need to know about money in politics. We discuss the history of campaign finance regulations (and how many of those reforms are unraveling), share some key terms to understand (super PACs, "dark money," and more), and even go through an FEC filing so you can follow how much money the 2020 candidates are raising for yourself.
The episode is packed with interesting information, and I'm really hope you learn a lot by listening to it. You can listen (and subscribe) now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Play, or Stitcher! As always, if you have any feedback on this episode or topics we should cover next: please reply to this email or leave a review on the podcast platform of your choice.
Some further reading on money in politics:
- In the last segment of the episode, Michelle and I go through Bernie Sanders' FEC report from January and walk through how to read it. You can find that report here and follow along as we explain it!
- Michelle has done a lot of great reporting this cycle on campaign finance. Some of her recent stories put Michael Bloomberg's campaign spending perspective, illustrate Elizabeth Warren's evolution on accepting money from super PACs, and share some takeaways from the January fundraising filings. Another fascinating story of hers was this one from September on Amazon's announcement that political donations can now be made with an Alexa.
- One of the post-Watergate reforms that we discuss in the episode is public financing of presidential elections: here is a story from The Atlantic last year on the downfall of that program.
- And we close by talking about the effective shutdown at the Federal Election Commission, which has lacked a quorum for months. Dave Levinthal of the Center for Public Integrity is a great reporter to follow for more on the machinations of the FEC: here is his story from August on how that shutdown came to be and what it means for campaign finance.
Happy listening!
