With the supercommittee's deadline only five days away, the special deficit-cutting panel's chances of reaching a deal appear to be in doubt. And if no agreement is reached, more than one trillion dollars in cuts would be set in motion starting in 2013. That is, if the Congress and president allow the automatic trigger to take effect.
All of this is predicated on budget forecasting, a notoriously inaccurate art. As the CBO pointed out in a September report, an analysis based on projected baseline budgets and economic projections are “subject to a considerable degree of uncertainty.” Indeed, we ...
Continue readingNew Super PAC inspired by Stephen Colbert
Comedian Stephen Colbert, who started his own ironic-sounding and controversial Super PAC earlier this year, has also inspired at least one other man to form his own Super PAC.
Ken Davis, a former state House candidate in Arizona, this week launched perhaps one of the loftiest-named Super PACs yet: A Promise to Our Children.
Davis said he did not know that forming a Super PAC, or independent expenditure-only committee, would be so easy until Colbert explained the process. Earlier this year, the comedian demonstrated how to fill out a form to start such a committee. Later, he went to the ...
Continue readingFor Clues About Who They’re Meeting, Check Lobbyists Tweeting
Companies, politicians, celebrities and journalists have all taken to Twitter to promote their brands. But based on a search of Twitter’s API for the names... View Article
Continue readingTop lobbyist hones his craft on Twitter
Lobbying may be lagging behind other industries in its use of Twitter, as lobbyists favor more confidential communications, but that... View Article
Continue readingVan Hollen’s alternate fundraising vehicle wakes up
After being dormant for all of 2011, Congressman Chris Van Hollen's joint fundraising committee woke up in the third quarter, with most of the over $180,000 in funds coming after he was tapped for Congress’s powerful deficit-cutting committee in early August.
As a result, Van Hollen, D-Md., one of the most prominent Democrats on Capitol Hill, raised much more in the quarter than was previously reported. His campaign raised a total of about $254,000 in the period, more than tripling his bounty from the previous quarter. And he collected about 50 percent more than he did ...
Continue readingOnline poker lobby gives timely donations to pair of congressmen pushing its cause
Congressman Joe Barton, who is now lobbying the special deficit panel to legalize Internet poker, got some not so subtle nudges from the Poker Players Alliance when he introduced his own online poker bill in June.
On June 20, just days before Barton, R-Texas, brought his bill to the floor, the PPA’s PAC gave Barton’s campaign committee $2,500, according to the group’s Federal Election Commission report. Four days later, Barton, the second-ranking Republican on the Energy and Commerce Committee, introduced the measure. The PPA applauded the bill.
On June 28, the PPA’s PAC sent another ...
Continue readingLobbyists golfing with Clyburn have friend on Super Committee
In early August, Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., a member of the newly created congressional super committee, held his annual charity golf tournament, welcoming nearly 600 golfers to spend the weekend in Santee, South Carolina.
Prior to the tournament, the charity’s website posted a list of golfers signed up for the tournament, which raises money for college scholarships for needy students. Among those golfers, we identified 34 lobbyists, many of who represent companies with a stake in the decisions of the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, a 12-lawmaker body tasked with trimming at least $1.2 trillion from the ...
Continue readingCompanies pay to honor Clyburn, other Super Committee members, at charity events
Lobbyists can not only attempt to influence members of the deficit-cutting super committee by donating to their campaign, but they also have another tool: giving to good causes that honor them.
Companies, advocacy groups and their lobbyists have spent at least $715,000 to honor and cover meetings costs for the 12 members of the super committee during the first half of the year, according to lobbying disclosures filed this month with the Senate Office of Public Records. In some cases, these payments were made in honor of many members of Congress—not only those on the Super Committee.
The ...
Continue readingSlew of lawmakers probed by OCE try to undercut body
This morning, the House voted on an amendment to slash the budget of Congress’s independent ethics panel by 40 percent.... View Article
Continue readingDemocrats opposing contractor disclosure backed by corporate donors
Last Friday, the House passed a measure that aims to block any executive order regarding disclosure of political donations. Eighteen... View Article
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