NEWS ROUNDUP:
- Money pours into Senate races: Millions of dollars are pouring into several competitive Senate races in the final stretch of the campaign season. Both parties are trying to sway majority of the Senate their way. (Washington Post)
- Lessons from Citizens United: Roll Call took a look at some of the lessons in the post-Citizens United era. One of the main trends: spending by outside groups, including Super PACs and nonprofits, has soared. (Roll Call)
- Nonprofit contributions leads to increase of dark money: The prevalence of donations by nonprofits to Super PACs this campaign season has contributed to the increase of dark money since 501(c)(4) groups do not have to disclose their donors. (Public Integrity)
The case of the mystery texter
This Halloween mystery all began on a dark and stormy night, when unsuspecting phones were attacked by political ads via text message. What made this message so scary is that when people went to “unwrap” the text, they realized the organization had no face. When they went searching for the sender’s website, it was dead.
Not until the wee hours of the morning, was the privacy of the sender revoked for violating spamming rules. The Atlantic connected the texts to Jason Flanary and ccAdvertising.
This spooky spending looks like it is taking advantage of a legal loophole by emailing ...
Continue readingMayor Mike Bloomberg’s superstorm of 11th hour political donations
With New York City struggling to recover from Hurricane Sandy, Mayor Michael Bloomberg is set to begin airing political ads for his favorite candidates around the country through his newly-created super PAC.
Continue readingRethinking civic participation
What would a 21st century town hall meeting look like? Is there a better way to hold public meetings than to give each person three minutes at a microphone to have their say? The city of Bell, California, might have some of the answers.
Continue readingKeeping Authentication Simple
The point of publishing bulk data is so it can be reused as widely as possible. This is particularly true for government data, which belongs to the public.
Government agencies can sometimes also be concerned with ensuring the authenticity of their legal information - especially when the data might be seen as an official source. It breaks down into two major concerns: integrity (ensuring the text is accurate), and origin (proving it's official). A lot of people are used to the "wax seal" model of authenticity - the experience of opening a PDF and seeing that the document is signed and official. This model quickly breaks down for distributing bulk data.
The goals of ease of reuse and authentication are frequently presented as being in tension, but that tension is just as frequently overstated. There are straightforward approaches to guaranteeing authenticity of bulk data that do not encumber reuse.
Continue readingHalloween special: Scary super PACs and America’s zombie apocalypse
While browsing our super PAC database in the days leading up to Halloween, Sunlight reporters couldn't help but notice the number of committee names that were creepy--even scary. On the other hand, perhaps it's not so surprising given how many operate in shadowy fashion.
Continue reading2Day in #OpenGov 10/31/2012
NEWS ROUNDUP:
- Election lawyers poised to pounce: Lawyers across the country are ready to challenge the election results based on questions that could arise from machine errors, voter suppression, or other illegal activity. Hurricane Sandy has also created concerns that there could be challenges for people trying to make it to the polls next week, which could spawn litigation. (Washington Post)
- Outside groups outspend candidates in 26 House races: Outside groups have spent more than candidates in 26 House races this election cycle, according to an analysis. In Illinois' 17th Congressional District, outside groups have spent some $2.7 million more than the candidates. (Public Integrity)
Americans for Tax Reform spends big on House races
The nonprofit group Americans for Tax Reform is flooding several House races with more than $14 million in independent expenditures this month.
The 501(c)4 lobbying group run by prominent conservative Grover Norquist has spent $1 million in six Senate contests, but its primary focus has been on bolstering Republican candidates for the House. Recent activity by ATR has made it one of the top spenders in a number of tight races, and in some districts the huge purchases have dwarfed all previous outside spending, according to Sunlight's Follow the Unlimited Money tracker.
Continue readingControversial Arizona nonprofit drops $1 million against Obama
In the past week, a GOP-led dark money group from Arizona that had barely spent any money on federal races has dropped more than $1.2 million to oppose President Barack Obama, as well as $60,000 to oppose Utah’s only House Democrat, Jim Matheson.
The nonprofit group, Americans for Responsible Leadership (ARL), organized as a 501(c)4 under the tax code, does not have to disclose its donors under federal law. However, it may be compelled to do so because of a strikingly large $11 million donation to a political organization in California. The state’s Fair ...
Continue readingSunlight Offices Closed Today, Back Tomorrow
Like much of DC and the Eastern Seaboard, the Sunlight Foundation's offices are closed today. We are all working from home so the Sunlight continues to shine, but we may be a tad preoccupied plugging up leaks and keeping roommates, children and spouses from going too stir crazy.
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