Updated: 6:12 p.m.
In a town where he now owns one of the biggest megaphones, Jeff Bezos has kept a low political profile.
The Amazon founder, who on Monday announced that he's buying the Washington Post, has made relatively few political contributions, most of them in the other Washington -- Washington state, where he makes his home. But Bezos has made up in size what his influence profile lacks in quantity.
Last year, he gave $2.5 million to Washington United for Marriage, a group that successfully defended a state law allowing same-sex nuptials, singlehandedly underwriting one-fifth of ...
Continue readingA-Rod’s political picks
Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani made his reputation as a take-no-prisoners prosecutor, but he's showing an uncharacteristic soft spot for at least one alleged miscreant who happens to wear pinstripes.
Turns out that Alex Rodriguez, whom Giuliani is urging fans not to boo when the New York Yankees slugger returns to the diamond tonight after a long injury rehab and under an enormous legal cloud, is one of hizzoner's political benefactors.
Rodriguez, who faces a potential lengthy ban by Major League Baseball over charges that he's a repeat user of performance-enhancing drugs, maxed out in ...
Continue readingTale of the tape: Political giving by the Fed frontrunners
The Federal Reserve's Open Markets Committee opens two days of meetings Wednesday amid growing speculation about whom President Barack Obama will nominate to steer the nation's financial policy after Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke's term ends early next year.
The two presumed frontrunners, former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers and Fed Vice-Chair Janet Yellen, both have active rooting sections. And there's plenty of handicapping about which one is in a better position to win favor of the president -- and the senators who must confirm the appointment. From our perch at Sunlight covering the political influence game, however, there ...
Continue readingObama visits Chattanooga: Land of GOP votes and Democratic bucks
President Barack Obama, who lately has been doing a lot of worrying aloud about the decline of the middle class, on Tuesday takes his rolling conversation about the economy to Tennessee, where local Republicans have prepared a not-so-welcome wagon.
The 30-second ad seen above, produced by the Tennessee Republican Party, showed up over the weekend in Ad Hawk, Sunlight's database of political advertisements. It credits the Volunteer State's economic successes to conservative policies, including one that makes it harder for unions to organize. In fact, however, Tennessee is not a bright spot when it comes to jobs: The ...
Continue readingPolitical ad watch: Now starring Steve King
Rep. Steve King has a starring role in a Democratic ad blitz that seeks to hang the Iowa Republican's latest controversial remarks about immigrants around the necks of Republicans trying to appeal to constituencies with heavily Hispanic votes.
The political powerhouse labor union SEIU has just released a Spanish-language ad that targets seven Republican House members, challenging them to say whether they agree with comments that "insult our families" or support legislation that would provide millions of immigrants now living illegally in the United States with a pathway to citizenship. Sunlight spotted the new campaign on Ad Hawk, our ...
Continue readingDatafest project opens Uncle Sam’s daily ledger
Michael Keller shows off Treasury.io site at Sunlight offices.
McConnell opponent opens $29K air war
Political rookie Matt Bevin got national press attention earlier this week when he launched a political ad war within hours of announcing his primary challenge to Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell. But we now know the would-be Kentucky giant killer is prepared to put some serious money where his mouth is.
Contracts captured by Sunlight's Political Ad Sleuth show that Bevin already has dropped $29,375 at two Louisville TV stations to buy TV spots over the next two weeks. The figure is the first indication of the financial resources of the GOP challenger: As a just-declared candidate, Bevin ...
Continue readingWyoming showdown: Enzi v. Cheney likely to set off a money scramble
The race between two well-connected Republicans will put big donors in a bind in Wyoming.
Continue readingIs a super PAC in Rick Perry’s future?
Rick Perry got permission last year to convert leftover presidential campaign funds to a super PAC, which could help the Texas governor win the kinds of friends he needs to mount a second bid for the presidency in 2016.
Continue readingTexas State Sen. who filibustered abortion bill also a fundraising force
The dramatic one-woman filibuster that kept Internet geeks spellbound into the wee hours of Wednesday morning and the Texas state Senate from enacting one of the most restrictive anti-abortion laws in the nation highlights the passionate -- and well-funded -- liberal streak that runs through one of the most Republican states in the union.
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