The Center for Public Integrity has an important story today on Organizing for Action’s money in politics problem: Organizing for... View Article
Continue readingImmigration: Give me your poor, your tired . . . your lobbyists?
Long before the last election put new political momentum behind the stalled efforts to enact a comprehensive update of the nation's immigration laws, Washington's influence industry was teed up to make it a titanic battle, an analysis of lobbying disclosures by the Sunlight Foundation shows.
Amidst widespread reports that bipartisan groups of lawmakers in the House and Senate are hoping to unveil immigration proposals after Congress's upcoming spring recess, research shows there is an army of lobbyists ready for action. More than 3,000 people were listed as lobbyists in forms which cited immigration as an issue ...
Continue readingOFA Should Disclose Contributions and Expenditures in Real Time
Less than a week after Organizing for Action chairman and former Obama campaign strategist Jim Messina assured the public that... View Article
Continue readingOFA–A Dark Money Group by Any Other Name
Organizing for Action (nee Obama for America), the campaign committee that morphed into an outside money haven, is trying change... View Article
Continue readingMore Money in Politics is Not the Answer
It’s axiomatic that the Sunlight Foundation believes transparency can deter corruption, foster accountability and increase the public’s participation in government. ... View Article
Continue readingObama visits GOP givers to make a point about sequestration
When President Barack Obama travels Tuesday to the historic Newport News Shipbuilding facility to make a point about the potential damage from the looming sequestration axe, he'll be making a political point in more ways than one.
In a sense, he's reminding Republican budget hawks that they could be biting a hand that feeds them. The employees and political action committee of Newport News Shipbuilding have given more generously to Republican politicians than to Democrats over the years, the company's profile on Sunlight's Influence Explorer shows.
A search for contributions to the president's campaigns by ...
Continue readingObama Versus Campaign Finance Laws
There’s a certain conventional wisdom that President Obama wants stronger campaign finance laws, and to protect our democracy from the... View Article
Continue readingTransparency in the State of the Union 2013
In years past, we have celebrated or analyzed the transparency, ethics, and money-in-politics themes from State of the Union addresses.... View Article
Continue readingWhat big donors would like to hear in the State of the Union
Though we can't predict the rhetorical tropes--not the thematic structure or the memorable lines or phrases that will fall flat--a look at the world of influence might tell us some of the issues President Barack Obama will touch on in his fourth State of the Union address. If a part of politics is rewarding your friends while giving your opponents good government, then the 2012 contest--which featured history's first billion-dollar presidential campaign (Obama's), first billion-dollar-plus outside spending campaign, plus oodles of special interest cash flowing to congressional candidates--leaves a lot of ground to cover.
Sunlight combed through ...
Continue readingInfluence profile: Interior nominee Sally Jewell
Interior Secretary-designate Sally Jewell has donated $57,000 to political groups and candidates since 1996 -- including $2,300 to President Barack Obama, who on Wednesday nominated her to join his Cabinet.
But the man who will be her boss if the Senate confirms Jewell is not her chief beneficiary: Data downloaded from Sunlight's Influence Explorer shows that Jewell has given more to two home-state Democrats: $5,300 to Gov. Jay Inslee and $4,800 to Sen. Patty Murray.
Jewell, the chief executive of outdoor retailer REI, also gave to politically active trade groups, including the Retail Industry Leaders Assocation ...
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