Television stations in the nation's top 50 markets will have to begin putting information about political ad buys online next week under a court order issued late Friday by a panel of federal judges.
In a terse three-sentence order, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit denied an the National Association of Broadcasters' effort to block a Federal Communications Commission order that requires the stations to begin posting the ad information on Thursday.
UPDATE: The NAB will continue to fight the decision in the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, though it seems they will ...
Continue readingPut brakes on political nonprofits? Not so fast, taxman says
Today a federal tax official provided House Ways and Means Committee members some details about how the Internal Revenue Service will review whether the political activities of shadowy nonprofit groups conflict with their exempt status.
The answer: slowly, according to the IRS Deputy Commissioner for Services and Enforcement Steven Miller, one of the witnesses at the hearing.
He said the IRS has decided to consider whether it would issue new guidance to the groups. And if the agency investigates groups, it looks at an entire year's worth of activity before determining whether an organization has violated tax laws, Miller ...
Continue readingColorado politicians magnets for gun contributions
Despite suffering two of the worst gun killings in the nation's history--Columbine and now the "Batman" shootings--Colorado, with its cowboy swagger and reputation for independence, has long been home to supporters of gun rights. And its politicians, mostly Republicans, but some Democrats as well, have been magnets for contributions from gun rights groups, benefiting from more than $3.8 million in political spending since 1989, according to a search on Influence Explorer.
In contrast, gun control groups have spent $140,342 in the state for federal and state campaigns. Of that amount, $48,000 came from the ...
Continue readingPro-gay GOP super PAC has one donor
Last month, Republican billionaire Paul Singer made news with the announcement of a new, unlikely super PAC: American Unity Inc. It's mission, according to the New York Times, which ran a story about the PAC on June 9, is to "encourage Republican candidates to support same-sex marriage."
The super PAC was officially formed June 19, according to Federal Election Commission records.
Singer has a gay son and has given millions to support gay marriage in New York and elsewhere. He's also given to mainstream Republican causes, including $1 million last year to Restore our Future, the super PAC ...
Continue readingGOP senators benefiting the most from NO DISCLOSE
Among the Republicans voting Tuesday to block a bill requiring disclosure of donors underwriting political ads were many who have benefited from the contributions of groups that don't disclose their donors.
Seven GOP senators who benefited from close to $1 million in dark money during the 2010 campaign all voted against the DISCLOSE bill. Here is a list of them, along with the amount of dark money spent to help their campaigns:
- Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H.: $3.7 million
- Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo.: $2.9 million
- Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla.: $2.7 million
- Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis.: $2 ...
The black hole of political disclosure
Our Sunlight Foundation colleague, Lee Drutman, has written elsewhere about the amount of dark money -- political donations that come without donors attached -- flowing into this year's campaign. But what about the conduits? As the Senate debates the DISCLOSE Act this week, a measure that would take modest steps towards adding a little transparency back into the campaign finance system, it's worth taking a look at the entities that are taking advantage of the loopholes that allow them to avoid disclosing -- sometimes just donors, sometimes just about everything.
The groups run the gamut from long established organizations with a ...
Continue readingMcCain campaigns for Romney, transparency or not
Political irony: That's probably the best definition for what happened Monday when when Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., probably the only GOP lawmaker to express interest in the Disclose Act, rallied Michigan on behalf of GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney, who has turned his back on requests to be more open with his campaign finance. 
McCain is the father of modern campaign finance reform. He was the coauthor of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002, popularly known as the McCain-Feingold Act. And he hasn't been shy about criticizing this year's conduits for big money, even if it ...
Continue readingDark money in the 2012 elections (so far)
As the Senate this week takes up the DISCLOSE Act, a bill that Sunlight and other open government groups are... View Article
Continue readingWhat You Should Know about the DISCLOSE Act Part 2: How does the DISCLOSE Act Shine a light on Super PACs and Dark Money?
As we wrote yesterday, the Senate will vote on the DISCLOSE Act on Monday. In a series of blog posts... View Article
Continue readingWhat You Should Know about the DISCLOSE Act Part 1: What is the DISCLOSE Act?
The Senate is expected to vote soon on the DISCLOSE Act, a bill that will shine a light on the... View Article
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