NEWS ROUNDUP:
- Hurricane could impact election: FEMA is guessing Hurricane Sandy could impact the presidential election as it brings high winds and heavy rainfall to the East Coast. Federal law allows states to make their own decisions about whether to delay elections due to emergencies that can disrupt voting. (Politico)
- Jobs report may be delayed due to storm: The last jobs report before the presidential election may be delayed after the federal government was shut down Monday and will continue to be closed Tuesday. The Bureau of Labor Statistics was scheduled to release the report Friday, and officials are still determining whether that deadline can be met. (New York Times)
Unknown donors fund 11th hour ads against Democratic Senate candidates
A GOP-aligned super PAC that formed just three weeks before the election and whose donors remain unknown dropped about $1 million on two key Senate races on Friday, according to recent Federal Election Commission reports.
Freedom Fund North America made the buys opposing two Democratic candidates: Montana Sen. Jon Tester, seen at right, and former North Dakota attorney general Heidi Heitkamp. The super PAC also bought one supporting Rep. Rick Berg, the Republican running against Heitkamp for the state's open Senate seat. The ads do not appear to be available on the web; the group does not have a ...
Continue readingSunlight Open House Postponed
The Sunlight Open House that was scheduled for Tuesday evening is postponed until after Election Day due to Hurricane Sandy.
Continue reading2Day in #OpenGov 10/29/2012
NEWS ROUNDUP:
- Group with Obama ties talks tax breaks with Treasury: A group with ties to President Barack Obama talked to the administration about tax breaks for its clients, according to the Treasury Department. The communications firm was trying to secure tax breaks for offshore revenues. (New York Times)
- Former McCotter staffer sentenced: A staffer for former U.S. Rep. Thad McCotter (R-MI), who resigned from Congress in light of revelations about false petition signatures, was sentenced to 20 days in a work program for involvement in the fraud. Two other former McCotter staffers are still facing sentencing for their involvement. (The Hill)
- WaPo calls for better congressional ethics: A Washington Post editorial called for better policing of congressional ethics in light of an investigation that found many members of Congress could have benefited from legislation they sponsored. The Post suggested increasing the power of the Office of Congressional ethics. (Opinion - Washington Post)
Web of union giving
To view a larger version, click here or the image.
Deep-pocketed corporate moguls have captured most of the headlines this year when it comes to creative campaign giving, but the working class is showing it can play the same game.
The Supreme Court's landmark 2010 decision in Citizens United gave unions, as well as corporations, the right to spend money directly from their treasuries to influence elections. An examination of independent expenditures by labor unions, captured by Sunlight's Follow the Unlimited Money, reveals an interlocking web of donations to a plethora of super PACs, some of them clearly ...
Continue readingFreedomWorks makes rare TV buy against Duckworth
Newly flush with more than $5 million in cash from a mystery donor, FreedomWorks, the libertarian super PAC that touts its grassroots focus, has just made a $1.5 million television ad buy in a competitive Illinois House race.
The ad, which has not aired yet, appears to be a Hail Mary pass to help Rep. Joe Walsh, a freshman Republican who is at risk of losing his job to Democratic challenger Tammy Duckworth. Duckworth, an Iraq war veteran, was up 10 points in a recent poll.
It's an unusual move because FreedomWorks generally steers clear of television ads ...
Continue readingThe $50 million couple: Adelsons lap the field of big donors
In a campaign characterized by big donors, casino mogul Sheldon Adelson and his wife, Miriam, stand out. The couple's latest blizzard of political check writing -- which produced more than $15 million of donations to Republican candidates and causes in a one week period this month -- brought their total political contributions for the 2012 cycle to a whopping $52 million.
The next closest big campaign donor, billionaire nuclear waste entrepreneur Harold Simmons, has given $23 million.
The Adelsons lead a roster of 134 individuals or organizations giving $1 million or more to campaigns in this, the first presidential campaign to ...
Continue readingInbox Influence: Another Tool for the Elections
The folks who enjoy actively researching the influence behind the election turn to Sunlight's tools like Follow the Unlimited Money, Ad Hawk or our Elections hub page. For everyone else, there's Inbox Influence.
Continue readingWeek’s outside spending favors Republicans 2:1
Less than two weeks before the election, outside spending took another big leap last week, jumping to $180 million since last Friday favoring Republicans nearly two-to-one.
Continue readingDark money group attacks Obama on Benghazi
Special Operations Opsec Education Fund, a dark money group that shares an office with top aides to the 2008 campaign of Republican presidential nominee John McCain, is launching an $397,000 ad buy attacking the President Barack Obama and his administration over last September's Benghazi embassy attack, according to disclosures filed with the Federal Election Commission.
The group, which says its members are forrmer members of the Navy SEALs and intelligence officers, already attacked Obama's administration in August for, the group claimed, leaking sensitive intelligence information.
The new ad focuses on the administration's handling of the embassy ...
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