Another week, another poor attempt by a New York Times columnist to be contrarian. Last week it was Frank Rich... View Article
Continue readingPaper trail shows ties between newly registered ‘Super PAC,’ other groups
Earlier this month, Partnership for America's Future filed a letter with the Federal Election Commission declaring that it will take contributions of unlimited amounts and spend them on independent expenditures. According to its website, the organization is "dedicated to supporting efforts designed to elect Republican candidates to office during the 2010 election cycle." In the process, the recently-minted Super PAC is supporting and supported by a web of Republican operatives and institutions that have played an outsized role in the 2010 elections.
Even before it registered as a Super PAC, Partnership for America's Future was active in the ...
Court rulings change elections, independent spending dwarfs party spending in midterm
Outside spending by independent groups is dramatically changing the face and shape of elections in the United States in the... View Article
Continue readingThe DCCC picks up spending as Election Day nears
In just three days, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has spent nearly $7 million in independent expenditures—doubling their spending in this arena to $14 million. On Monday, it was reported that the DCCC had spent only $7 million in IEs for the entire election cycle to support its party's attempt to maintain power in congress.
In total, 43 republicans running for the House and Senate were opposed by the DCCC. The money bought TV, radio, print and internet ads to promote thier agenda.
Editor’s Notebook: Following the muddled money
Over the weekend, I came across a new group in our Follow the Unlimited Money tool called CSS Action Fund. I googled the group and didn't find anything about it; by Monday they'd set up a website. Curious, I asked Ryan Sibley, who's been all things post-Citizens United for us, to see what she could find out about the group.
When I sat down to edit her investigation into the 501(c)4 organization, which can run all kinds of political ads without revealing its donors, my head started to spin. There's a D.C ...
Continue reading‘Grassroots’ group grows mainly in offices of D.C. law and PR firms
A political committee called Citizens for Strength and Security Action Fund--usually abbreviated as CSS Action Fund--claims to be active across the country promoting the best solutions to America's problems, but the limited disclosures available about the group suggest that it's a creature of the beltway. The organization, which made its first noise in the 2010 mid-term elections by spending $640,000 supporting Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash in late September, shares a Washington, D.C. address with similar advocacy groups and lists political pros as its main players.*
CSS Action Fund lists a Southeast Washington, D.C., address ...
Continue readingPoligrafting the News: Tech CEOs and the Obama Administration
Politico has an excellent round-up of the many Silicon Valley executives who orbit around the White House giving advice on... View Article
Continue readingNRCC spends big, flexes power
The National Republican Congressional Committee reported spending more than $800,000 on one day, Friday Oct. 1, in opposition to 30 Democrats. The NRCC has spent almost $13.7 million in independent expenditures to oppose Democrats so far this election cycle, tops among all groups as of this writing.
Though Super PACs or independent expenditure-only committees--groups set up to take unlimited funds from any source in order to influence elections--have garnered a great deal of media attention of late, it's worth noting that the traditional players like the NRCC are still very powerful when it comes to influencing elections ...
Continue readingUnderstanding Elections and the Language that Defines Them
Each election cycle spawns new terms that the public and press have to make sense of, like soft money, express... View Article
Continue readingGM’s Political Contributions
General Motors Campaign Contributions 2010 Blunt, Roy (R-MO) $5,000 Brown, Sherrod (D-OH) $2,000 Camp, Dave (R-MI) $5,000 Cantor, Eric (R-VA)... View Article
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