When Money Learned to Speak
CAMPAIGN FINANCE · CORPORATE INFLUENCE · ELECTIONS
May 27, 2026
Hawaii just asked the forbidden question.
A corporation can own property, sign contracts, sue, borrow,
merge, outlive its founders, and shield its owners from personal
liability because the state allows it to. But does that
state-created creature also get to spend corporate money to shape
the elections that govern the state?
In May 2026, Hawaii said no.
The law may die in court. But its question will not. For fifteen
years, American campaign-finance law has mostly asked whether
corporations have a right to speak. Hawaii moved the question
back one step: who gave them the voice?
To see why that matters, start with a whiteboard.
Katie Porter built her political identity around one. In
congressional hearings, she wrote numbers where everyone could
see them: drug-company profits, bank fees, CEO pay, the cost of a…
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When Money Learned to Speak

Campaign Finance · Corporate Influence · Elections
May 27, 2026

Hawaii’s 2026 law challenges corporate political spending by questioning whether state-created corporations inherently possess the right to influence elections.

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At the Library, the Border
Came Back
BORDER POLICY · CROSS-BORDER RELATIONS
May 27, 2026
The Haskell Free Library,
straddling the U.S.-Canada
border, has introduced separate
national entrances amid
security concerns, ending its
historic shared access.
The Story

At the Library, the Border Came Back

Border Policy · Cross-Border Relations · Public Institutions
May 27, 2026

The Haskell Free Library, straddling the U.S.-Canada border, has introduced separate national entrances amid security concerns, ending its historic shared access.

The Story
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