country. -- around the country. c-span is brought to you by your cable or satellite provider. >> next a discussion about the political influence of the nra. steven spalding of common cause was a guest on washington journal. this is 25 minutes. >> steven spalding is with us. you are going to talk about your new report on the nra's political influence. common cause, what are you? >> common cause is a grassroots organization dedicated to upholding american democracy and creating honest and accountable government. we've got 1.1 million members. is former labor secretary robert reich.

ensuring everyone has accessible access to -- keeping our media open, information flowing, upholding ethical standards. lending comes from people across the country who make small contributions to common cause. they send us checks. we have monthly members. we also have foundation support. host: you have large donors with well-known names. guest: we are fortunate to be funded by the democracy fund, by a number of organizations known throughout the country. , our one million members help sustain our 35 state organizations as well. host: why did you decide to do a report on the nra? guest: certainly we have a crisis of gun violence. it is one of the leading causes of death of young people. and of course, this constant barrage of shootings on our streets, in our schools, in communities throughout the

country, is a crisis our leaders are not responding to. what we wanted to do is examine why that is. why democracy seems out of balance, not responding to these crises. there is a lot of talk about the nra being a large funder of candidates and campaigns. it's true that the nra has spent tens of millions of dollars giving money directly to candidates. $23 million directly to candidates since 1989. that's really a drop in the bucket to -- compared to independent spending after citizens united. it spent $53 million on federal elections, and that wasn't money going to candidates, that was spent on independent expenditures, tv ads and what have you. host: here is the chart that shows this from your report. if you look at the blue part of

the graph, independent spending, and the red, direct why spend the so, money this way? the supreme court's decision in citizens united found that corporations, including those like the nra, at a first amendment right to spend unlimited amounts of money on politics. they are spending that to get the attention of officials. more importantly -- or another aspect of this spending, when you have that sort of power, it's the threat of spending. you have elected officials throughout the country who are considering legislation to reduce gun violence or to put more guns on the streets, unfortunately. the nra is able to use the threat of spending in combination with lobbying. 2007ends $1.8 million in on federal lobbying.

just last year they spent over $5 million. it's the combination of lobbying and campaign spending, but also their 5 million members, which i think gets the attention of capitol hill. shows, whilet also they tout their 5 million members, it is clear their position at the nra is out of step not only with american voters but their own numbers. three in for an ra members four nra- three in members support universal back projects. what we have to do is shift power back to people. two voters. inuce the influence of money politics and ensure everybody equal say. host: we want to hear from our viewers.

independents, your line (202) 748-8002. nra members, we want to hear from you. (202) 748-8003. paidound in 2018 the nra $20 million to a single vendor. why? guest: $20 million to engage in building membership. one of their tactics -- and number of interest groups do this, is ranked candidates to give them an a or f on policy. there's a number of activities they offer their members. meanwhile, what they are doing in capitol hill, really on behalf of weapons manufacturers, the gun industry, in ways that are on it -- out of step with their members.

they are doing that on behalf of their membership -- on behalf of their corporate funders. weapons manufacturers. they have been operating as a trade association for gun manufacturers, gun dealers. if you consider some of the policies on capitol hill, when the government was on the brink in december,utdown rather than talking about funding the government, members of the house of representatives were debating a concealed gun permit, bringing guns across state lines. they have unfortunately changed priorities in ways that have blocked conversation about policy that can make our country stronger. host: you write that although no exists,ve number corporate partners of the nra contributed between $19 million and $60 million to the organization with one firearms

dealer reporting it has donated to the institute for legislative action. why should people believe these are accurate? guest: there is been independent analysis. people can go to the report. we have sourced all these numbers. there have been a number of analysts that have looked at their corporate programs, looked at different tiers of corporate membership to the nra. ,15 million from midway usa they tout that on their own website. you can go and see right there, they talk about the $15 million. they had a roundup program where when you purchase a weapon, you can round up your purchase, and that goes to the institute for legislative action, which does not spend money on lobbying. it spends money on politics and hides the sources of funding. host: which is the -- it is

allowed to do why? guest: citizens united, even though that was a 5-4 decision, eight justices did say americans have a right to know who was trying to implement their views. unfortunately, the court was naive in assuming our transparency laws were up-to-date. they talked about finding this information. our laws have not kept pace as the supreme court has deregulated our campaign-finance system, our transparency laws have not kept pace. a lot of this money, to the tune of $800 million, has been undisclosed. host: let's turn to our viewers. dennis is in indiana. a republican. you are on the air. caller: i have a question for the gentleman. are you going to do the same study about the influence of teacher union money? i have

another question. how much money did you receive from george soros? the clinton foundation, and michael bloomberg? guest: i appreciate that question. there are a number of special interests in washington, d.c. that are able to move their agenda and are able to do that because of money they are able to amass. and again, attract the attention of officials when they are in power and running their elections. in terms of common cause, we are proud of the small donors that support us in addition to some of the foundations. i'm not aware of george soros giving common cause any money recently. certainly not since i have been a common cause since 2009. we are proud of our supporters who are working to advance open government and hold elected officials to the highest ethical standards. we believe that people should have the power in our democracy.

not those with the deepest egg accounts -- bank accounts. host: readve the opportunity to the common cause report yet. i missed if it is out or is coming out, but my question out, but my question is if you are talking abou if you are talking about the influence of the nra over congress, isn't that the revenue being generated by the industry? the nra people defend based on principles, when it seemed like it is really money that is driving this, and i'm wondering if you call any attention to that, and then i had a quick follow-up. host: ok. guest: absolutely. to your first question, the report is available at

takingthenra.org. we put in the report is a number of solutions that could rebalance the conversation in washington first and foremost, we are everyone to register and vote. election day is the one day where we as americans are all equal -- we all have equal power. there are policies there that make legislation, the voting process even more fair, accessible, inconvenient. we recommend preregistration of 16 and 17-year-olds. there are 13 states that have that program. we recommend reforms like automatic voter registration, and the reform is out of date. automatic voter registration is the process by which our governments, when they interact with americans, they put them on the rolls. they automatically register them. it makes the list more accurate. it makes them more secure. i said it is out of date because just yesterday maryland's

legislature passed automatic voter registration. this enjoys bipartisan support and that will bring more people into the process and make voting more accessible. finally, the power, the money of the nra, as we mentioned, it is true the nra has quite a bit of power with independent expenditures and the money and gives candidates, lobbying, and it's supposedly 5 million members. there are other ways we can empower small donor constituents. you are hearing from a very tiny segment of the population that funds our campaigns -- 1% of 1%. if we can pass solutions that empower donors, the sort of reforms we had in connecticut, for example, where more than two thirds of the connecticut small cute raises divisions that are meshed with public funds to a grant program, we can ensure elected officials are listening to us, the voters, not the lobbyists and special interests, and make legislature more reflective.

in connecticut, where the program is successful and common cause is proud to have played a role in a vomiting and pushing for the program -- connecticut, in the wake of the new town massacre, passed a number of reforms. they banned more than 120 assault weapons, strengthened background checks, and the homicide rate has gone down in connecticut. if we can shift power back to people, we can see real fixes to this broken system. bloomberg, "the main reason we don't have more restrictive gun rights on the books is people who oppose them are more likely to vote on the issue than people who support them." guest: there have been studies has done studies on this about gun owners in particular who are voting, but we have seen to the leadership of the young the marchesrkland, -- i was down there this weekend. it was incredibly inspiring on pennsylvania avenue. people are motivated to vote. they know it is the one that we

are all equal. we have to pass reform to ensure people can do that. when we talk about our country, caregivers, first responders -- people that cannot vote, have the time on a tuesday, whatever time to vote, we need to ensure they make their voices heard. early voting is one form. ballotpeople can cast a on the weekend or a week before voting. ensure that people can vote by mail and surgery station or other jurisdictions. if we can make voting more accessible we will have more people making their voices heard on election day. host: we will go to dave, in boston, a democrat. caller: it is still my call. host: that's right could you wanted to follow up. caller: just a point about voter registration. the more voters the better, and you should target that a local school boards because that is what policy gets set.

you can capture the students just as they become eligible to vote. that is where the governance that actually matters happens. i would encourage you to target that, and since it is baseball opening day, if either of you have it reduction of what the red sox could do this year. [laughter] host: exactly. texas. independent. caller: my name is zach. i have a question about citizens united. i am 19. i am not very old. in my opinion, the nra, the whole money in politics thing -- we are turning into an oligarchy. that worries me. ofee no other way to get rid that than to vote out people that take money -- any type of money from any corporate interest. since citizens united basically stated that money equals powerm, and money equals

in the electoral process, i was wondering if there is any other way besides voting every single one of these people out to fix that problem? guest: zachary, that is an excellent question. citizens united was decided in 2010. even if we were two sets of fully there successfully overturn citizens united, -- even if we were to overturn citizens united, it would take us back to 2009 and i think we had a broken system. a lot of exciting reforms are happening at the state level while congress is incredibly gridlocked. organization,my we have folks in every single congressional district, and stefan more than two dozen states moving these reforms. are innovative. empowering small donors with programs like matching public funds, tax incentives, a voucher program in seattle -- there is a lot of experiment station happening at the state level that ensures candidates are

listening to constituents and voters, and not just the wealthy, special interests that are organized on the outside. transparency in spending, following the money -- that is a basic democratic value in our country. americans have the right to know who is trying to influence their votes and their views. california, rhode island, massachusetts -- a number of states -- delaware, maryland, have passed reforms to ensure americans can follow the money and see, again, who is behind our elections, because we have a right to know that. even though things can look pretty grim right now on capitol hill -- they certainly are. there are reforms happening and i think that change will bubble up from the bottom. your elected officials need to hear from you -- at town hall meetings, letters to the editor, calls to congress to balance the system. host: fox news had this headline. "nra's political fund sees donations spike in february

after the florida shooting." "supporters of the second amendment donated about seven and 70 $9,000 to the nra's marking a more- than threefold increase compared to january when the pack received more than $250,000 in donations. will we be able to see who donated that money? guest: just yesterday, the nra sent a letter to senator wyden because my question has reported there is a common-connected russian tycoon that has been trying to -- kremlin-connected russian tycoon trying to influence -- whether they try to influence, again, the 2016 election to the tactic of using the national rifle association. letter toden sent a thethat's what they say. , they have not been

updated. they hide the source of a lot of this money. we have a federal election commission that is notoriously dysfunctional due to the ideological opposition to our campaign finance laws by several of the republicans who sit on that commission that could pass regulations, that could investigate. so unfortunately we don't know where a lot of that money is coming from until we modernize and update some of our disclosure laws. host: but the fbi is investigating a possible russian money donated to the nra? guest: that has been reported by both mcclatchy and npr. host: independent in northland, texas. you are on theguest: that has by both mcclatchy and npr. all right. let's go to air, thomas. ted in cleveland, ohio. republican. all right. let's try ted in cleveland, ohio. you are on the air. caller: can you hear me?

guest: you are on the air. good morning. caller: i was wondering why they don't have more people requesting personal responsibility. further actions. .- for their actions didn't he have a responsibility? in the floridaty high school have some kind of personal responsibility? i get confused. as far as gun violence, guns don't kill people. people kill people. thank you. host: stephen spaulding. guest:people kill people. thank you. thanks for that question. i think our elected officials have responsibility to respond to these massacres that are happening all throughout the country. whether it was the virginia tech massacre, whether it was columbine, the pulse nightclub where 49 lgbtq and allies were shot to death. whether it was 500 people injured in las vegas.

whether it was the 17 people injured in parkland. whether it was a number of these massacres including on capitol hill when we had congresswoman debbie giffords -- cabbage giffordshot -- gabby shot at a meeting great. we had stevens police shot at a baseball game. scalise shot at a baseball game. our government is absolutely nothing. that is an embarrassment, an abomination, a corruption of a political process. our government has not been responsive to these crises when 90% of americans support universal background checks for all gun sales. scalisebanning assault weaponss super majority support in this country but our congress is not responsible -- responsive. republican and nra member.

good morning. caller: good morning. i have two comments. freudianeman had a slip when he talked about the membership. the membership of the nra endorses the policies and political activity of the nra. the other comment i would say is the roundup program that he talked about, that retailer gathers money on behalf of its customers. pathere are simply a through involved with it. guest: no question. the nra talks about its 5 million members. i think many of its members are law-abiding americans who see some benefits in nra membership. they have a number of programs, magazines, training programs. really it's the leadership at the nra that has ratcheted up its political involvement by spending money in elections. betweeners, $23 million

1989 and 2016. two federal candidates. 2016illion alone in this federal elections. about 60% of that money came it did not ila where disclose the source of that money. in research we were able to track some of that money is in fact coming from gun manufacturers themselves and that is why i mentioned that they are really in essence a trade association for corporations that manufacture weapons and guns. host: andrew is on the line for democrats. what i'm talking about is like in chicago they have some of the toughest gun laws in this country. the problem is with the gun laws. they could go across state and by guns at least pacific gun shops-- these pacific gun

who will sell to the same people over and over again. and everybody knows which stores they are. should end up in jail if those guns are used in a armed robbery and why don't they pass a law? if you keep on selling guns to the same people, handfuls at a time and they keep on coming back and buying more, those people should go to jail in that gun shop. guest: thanks for your comment. there are solutions to our broken system when it comes to how guns are sold, trafficked and used. in order to fix our gun laws nationally we have to fix the laws that govern our democracy and the role of money in politics and our elections.

a number of elected officials are just not responsive to the needs of voters and that's because we have already talked about this morning the money from these industries but also gerrymandering. how elected officials are choosing their voters rather than voters choosing their representative. there is a lack of responsiveness because of the money and because frankly, our elections just have not been as competitive as they should be or as we hope that they would be in american democracy where the power of ideas with -- win, not the wealth and power that comes with money. host: bob is in jackson, tennessee. republican. good morning. caller: good morning. i have a question for your guest. but i member of the nra am for background checks 100%. i think we ought to get rid of some of these assault rifles.

i realize that. let's say we take every gun out of this country and know for a fact there is none. how long will it take the drug cartels and criminals such as that to refinish this country weeks?ns in a matter of to the drug cartels is pocket change. how many illegal weapons could they bring in with that amount of? -- money? bringsi think the caller up a point here. you're a member of the nra and your support universal background checks is something that is not shared with the leadership of the nra is making strategic decisions about how it's going to get involved in elections and sending lobbyist into state capitals throughout the country and forestalling action. paul in minnesota.

independent. caller: i was raised in a house with myself and five sisters. we had guns everywhere. we were taught never to touch them. she had me hunting by 6-year-old and in class learning guns by nine. the thing that seemed to change is like with his machine gun style guns and stuff i think they should be left to the service people. i don't know why people think you have to take a machine gun to go kill a deer were dropping bear or even square hunting. -- squirrel hunting. guest: i think your views are shared by tens of millions of americans. host: you can read more about the common cause's report at their website. also if you go to twitter.

-- on moonshine drivers and the origins of nascar and the sunday at 8:00 a.m., landscape historian jonathan place get about the annual white house easter egg role which began in 1878 and the changes that have been made along the way. this weekend on the c-span networks. >> next week is the 50th anniversary of martin luther king junior's assassination. join us for live coverage from memphis on c-span and american c-span3 come on

c-span tuesday at 1:00 p.m. eastern, we are live from the university of memphis holiday in with pulitzer prize winner taylor branch. wednesday, beginning at 4:30 p.m. eastern, live coverage of the outdoor service outside the moraine hotel, site of the assassination. and on american history tv on c-span3 tuesday at 8:00 p.m. eastern. walter cronkite and announcing the assassination and portions of his funeral in atlanta. wednesday, beginning at 8:00 eastern, civil rights leaders past and present, including marian wright edelman, diane tamika mallory. the 50th anniversary of the assassination of dr. martin luther king jr. live next tuesday and wednesday on c-span and american history tv on c-span3. the university of colorado

boulder hosted a discussion on documenting conflicts and war. iraq." i -- embedded in speakers included victor blue, a photojournalist and michael utterback, a retired lieutenant colonel who became a war reporter covering conflict and disaster. this is an hour and a half. >> hi, everybody. it is good to see you all. my name is ross i'm appreciate -- i appreciate you coming out here. we are grateful. this is i never know what the attendance will be. i really appreciate your interest in such a topic. we are really fortunate to have some really talented people some -- talented people who have covered some of the most intense