For President Obama, there's gold in the Golden State. According to the California News Service, he's making his 15th trip to the state as president, trips that have included 35 fundraisers. Many of those have oscillated between two important fundraising constituences for the president -- Hollywood and Silicon Valley. With Obama's three fundraisers today and tomorrow, this time it's NorCal's tech community that is getting the chance to shower multi-thousand dollar checks to the president.
There are conflicting signs about which community can be a bigger fundraising draw for the president and his allies. The vast ...
Continue readingSuper PACs spent almost $1 million in Tuesday’s primaries
Super PACs and other independent groups spent almost $1 million in Kentucky and Arkansas, the two states that held primaries on Tuesday.
So far this year, super PACs have spent at least $16 million on congressional races, a fraction of what they've pumped into the presidential campaign. But the smaller amounts spent in congressional races have sometimes produced big results, pushing a few candidates to primary victories. So far, super PACs and other independent group have spent on 88 races.
In Kentucky the big spender was the Liberty for All super PAC,which run by a few twenty-something supporters ...
Private equity invests in lawmakers
Whether or not the much-in-the-news private equity industry has been the bane of the economy or a job creator, one fact remains uncontested: it has been very, very good for political fundraising, for Republicans and Democrats alike.
With $22 million contributed this election cycle alone, according to Influence Explorer, top recipients look like a who's who of powerful politicians. House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, and Republican Whip Eric Cantor, R-Va., have collected large amounts, along with Sen. Bob Menendez, a New Jersey Democrat who recently served as chairman for his party's senatorial campaign committee and is himself facing ...
Continue reading2Day in #OpenGov 5/23/2012
NEWS ROUNDUP Government April showers bring May sunshine? There is plenty of government information that should be made public. POGO... View Article
Continue readingSunlight and Allies to Department of Labor: No Website Scrubbing
The following letter was just sent to the Department of Labor, on behalf of Sunlight and a number of our... View Article
Continue readingSupport Free Access to Publicly-Funded Research
The federal government spends over $60 billion annually on research, but the resulting scientific articles are often only available behind... View Article
Continue readingBroadcasters sue to keep political ad files offline
The nation's broadcasters sued the Federal Communications Commission Monday over a rule that requires them to post political ads bought at some stations online.
At risk: a ruling designed to make information about political ad buys available via the Internet in time for the fall election. Sunlight has calls into both the FCC and the National Association of Broadcasters, the group suing the agency, for comment. So far, no response.
But Corie Wright, senior policy counsel for Free Press, and a longtime advocate of the ad buy rule, called the lawsuit "nothing more than an attempt by the NAB ...
Continue reading2Day in #OpenGov 5/22/2012
NEWS ROUNDUP Campaign Finance Super PACs get Congressional: As Super PACs shift their focus to Congressional races more conservative groups continue... View Article
Continue readingLobbying Reform in Delaware: One Step at a Time
Last week, the Delaware legislature sent an interesting bill to Governor Jack Merkell: SB 185, a short, targeted piece of... View Article
Continue readingSuper donors provide bulk of money to super PACs
Super PACs have broken the $200 million mark in donations and $100 million in spending, with much of the money coming from a few donors with deep pockets whose largesse has changed the dynamics of political campaigning.
Some of the big players in the current cycle, many of whom have been big donors for decades, made their first super PAC contributions to support one of the major presidential candidates, then shifted focus to Congressional contests, with some pledging millions for tight races.
Harold Simmons, a major contributor to conservative super PACs, has been in the spotlight for his $13.5 ...
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