NEWS ROUNDUP: Government Changing environment at the Chamber: Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK), ranking member of the Environment and Public Affairs Committee,... View Article
Continue readingSens. Warner, Portman Reintroduce DATA Act
Before the Senate recessed on Friday, Senators Warner and Portman reintroduced the DATA Act, which would transform how the federal... View Article
Continue readingOutside groups spending millions on state level elections, ballot initiatives
A six year battle between the state of Michigan and a local billionaire will come to a head this November, when voters decide whether to build the first public bridge between Detroit and Windsor, Canada. The ballot initiative will be voted on despite an agreement Michigan Gov. Richard Snyder, a Republican, reached with the Canadian government earlier this year which, Snyder says, can't be overturned by the referendum.
The billionaire, Manuel Maroun, has spent at least $2.19 million bankrolling a nonprofit organization, The People Should Decide, via his company DIBC Holdings. Over the past two years, the ...
2Day in #OpenGov 9/24/2012
NEWS ROUNDUP: Government DoJ issues transparent guidance: New FOIA guidance issued by the Department of Justice should make the process more... View Article
Continue readingGross Political Product: Outside campaign spending tops 2010 total
In a campaign that's supposed to be about an ailing economy, there's just one financial indicator that remains consistently robust: Call it the Gross Political Product.
The latest signal of just how profitable a business politics remains is available on Sunlight's Follow the Unlimited Money, which shows outside spending at nearly $465 million as of Sunday evening. That's more than the total for the entire 2010 campaign, the first that took place following the Supreme Court's landmark Citizens United decision, which allowed corporations and unions to give in unlimited amounts.
This cycle's outside spending ...
Continue readingKing of fundraising: Obama leads Romney by $242 million
While the most recent Gallup poll shows registered voters equally split, at 47 percent a piece, in the money race President Barack Obama has an unassailable lead.
In the 2012 campaign cycle, Obama's campaign, the Democratic National Committee and two joint fundraising committees supporting them have collectively raised $743.5 million. The campaign of former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, his joint fundraising committee and the Republican National Committee have raised $500.6 million. Because the joint fundraising committee, Romney Victory Inc., files quarterly, its total had to be estimated from media accounts of the campaign's August fundraising totals ...
Continue readingFederal election commissioners versus the Federal Election Commission
In an odd twist even for a federal agency known for its fecklessness and divisiveness, some commissioners are challenging their own commission. Typically they merely oppose each other--along partisan lines.
Bizarrely, a group suing the Federal Election Commission submitted a statement supporting its case in court this week by Republican commissioner Donald McGahn. Which means McGahn is backing a suit against the body on which he serves.
The rigmarole started in June but came to a head Thursday, when a complicated case involving obscure aspects of campaign finance law landed at the Eastern District Court of Virginia. Judge T.S ...
Continue readingGovernor gets hacked, Politwoops gets it all on record
No one is immune from Internet predators looking to hack private accounts and have lots of fun at the account... View Article
Continue readingThe money bombers: Which outside spenders have the most for the homestretch?
Heading into the final stages of the 2012 campaign, the super PAC in position to have the biggest impact, by far and away, is American Crossroads, Sunlight's Follow the Unlimited Money tracker shows.
Of all the outside spenders who filed monthly reports Thursday with the Federal Election Commission, the super PAC founded by veteran Republican strategists Ed Gillespie and Karl Rove, has by far the biggest stockpile of cash: more than $32 million. The intriguing question: Will Crossroads, which has spent $25 million so far opposing President Barack Obama's reelection, continue to invest in the presidential race, or ...
Continue reading2Day in #OpenGov 9/21/2012
NEWS ROUNDUP: Government Federal FOIA response is a mixed bag: 9 out of 99 federal agencies subject to FOIA earned top... View Article
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