The House Republican Steering Committee voted on Tuesday to name all committee chairman for the incoming Congress. Their choice to head the House Financial Services Committee, the committee in charge of overseeing the financial sector and the government's implementation of new financial reforms, happens to be the member of Congress most reliant on contributions from the financial sector.
Contributions from the finance, insurance and real estate sector accounted for 62.5 percent of all contributions received by Rep. Spencer Bachus, the incoming House Financial Services Committee chairman, during the 2010 election cycle. These contributions amounted to $1.23 million out of a total $1.97 million that Bachus' campaign and political action committees raised.
Rangel may have more bad days to come
The title of his autobiography is And I Haven’t Had A Bad Day Since, but Rep. Charlie Rangel may still... View Article
Continue readingDemocratic activists, donors plan separate paths for disclosed and undisclosed money in 2012 election
Just announced chairwoman of Democratic Super PAC American Bridge Kathleen Kennedy Townsend: “American democracy has to be based on transparency,... View Article
Continue readingSunlight Urges Congress to Pass Streamlined DISCLOSE Act During Lame Duck
Because the Senate failed to pass the DISCLOSE Act before the 2010 election, American voters do not know the full... View Article
Continue readingRightChange.com Inc. funded by pharmaceutical industry figure
Fred Eshelman, CEO of North Carolina-based Pharmaceutical Product Development, has given $3.38 million to RightChange.com, an organization taking part in the onslaught of outside spending this election cycle, according to documents filed with the IRS. Almost all of the money going to RightChange comes from Eshelman; the organization is a vehicle for him to air his political views, which happen to align with the GOP's.
The documents also show that, in addition to Eshelman's support, RightChange.com received $105,000 from a group sharing its name, RightChange II. The ultimate origins of that money was not ...
Continue readingSurprise! The National Education Association funds the National Education Association Advocacy Fund
The National Education Association Advocacy Fund, a Super PAC which has spent $4.2 million to influence the 2010 election cycle so far, receives all of it's funding from the National Education Association, a labor union—or a 501c6—and also its parent organization. No individual donors are listed.
While one can probably safely assume the NEA's money comes from members dues, this is an example of the ability influential nonprofit groups have to completely hide who funds their political agendas. In cases like this, money is shifted from the parent group to its advocacy fund or action ...
Continue readingTake Transparency Offline…and into Your Mailbox
Election season is in high gear, as you’ve no doubt noticed. With it comes the normal barrage of ads, phone... View Article
Continue readingHydra of independent groups fuels Republican side
Outside groups aligned with Republicans are dominating spending on independent expenditures in the run-up to the 2010 midterm elections. As... View Article
Continue readingDark money: Super PACs fueled by $97.5 million that can’t be traced to donors
Of the $189 million spent so far by Super PACs, non-profits and labor unions to influence the 2010 mid-term elections, $97.5 million has come from groups that do not disclose any donors, an analysis of Federal Election Commission contribution records shows. That is, about 52 percent of the money spent so far on everything from political ads to phone banks to fliers promoting or opposing federal candidates has come from groups that don't disclose the sources of their funds.*
Of the 218 non-party committees that have spent money on independent expenditures or electioneering communications, only 100 have disclosed ...
Continue readingDead end disclosure: Super PAC’s biggest giver is a shadowy nonprofit with links to Sarah Palin
Citizens for a Working America PAC, a political organization that's spent $250,000 to oppose the reelection of Rep. John Spratt, D-S.C., discloses its contributions to the Federal Election Commission. Its contributor (it has only one) is New Models, a Virginia-based non-profit organized under section 501(c)4 of the Internal Revenue Code, that doesn't disclose its donors.
Call it another wrinkle in the wide open world of 2010 money in politics: Disclosed donors can be anonymous too.
Citizens for a Working America PAC filed a statement of organization with the FEC on Sept. 2, 2010; about ...
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