Using our trackers Sunlight makes it easy to track the advertisements, money and fundraisers in 2014's most pivotal races. Follow the money to see who is influencing your vote — and how much they're paying.
Continue readingPolitical advertisers and TV stations ignore disclosure rules
A decade after the Supreme Court predicted the McCain-Feingold campaign finance law would help promote transparency by making public information on campaign ad buys, most political advertisers and TV stations aren't providing the information at all.
Continue readingChristmas come early? US Chamber spends $750k in one week
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce spent $750,000 in the past week on ad buys for mainstream Republican candidates in four races, including Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. and Senate hopeful Rep. Shelly Moore Capito, R-W.V.
Continue readingWho’s going to blink? Influence profiles of eight who could end the shutdown
If the government shutdown is going to be resolved, it's going to take compromise by some key players who so far haven't shown much willingness to bend. So who might influence these influentials? Sunlight decided to examine some of the monied interests behind key figures in the debate.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, in many cases the special interests are closely aligned with their beneficiaries' positions in the standoff, which largely revolves around the health care debate.
Here's a closer look:
Barack Obama
The president is the most prodigious fundraising weapon in the Democrats' arsenal. His campaign's success in ...
DeMint leads from afar in Obamacare fight
"I personally believe I can do a lot more on the outside than I can on the inside," former Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., (pictured right) told reporters concerning his decision to leave his Senate post for the helm the conservative Heritage Foundation in December of last year.
While he may no longer claim a seat on the floor of the upper chamber, the 62 year old who was a tea partier before there was a Tea Party is still very much at the center of the congressional scrum over the Affordable Care Act and budget negotiations.
In his time ...
Continue readingMcConnell opponent opens $29K air war
Political rookie Matt Bevin got national press attention earlier this week when he launched a political ad war within hours of announcing his primary challenge to Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell. But we now know the would-be Kentucky giant killer is prepared to put some serious money where his mouth is.
Contracts captured by Sunlight's Political Ad Sleuth show that Bevin already has dropped $29,375 at two Louisville TV stations to buy TV spots over the next two weeks. The figure is the first indication of the financial resources of the GOP challenger: As a just-declared candidate, Bevin ...
Continue readingSenators who write farm bill fine print reap agribusiness campaign cash
As senators cast their votes today on the 1,139-page, $955 billion farm bill, the unseen backdrop is the more than $26 million in campaign cash that agribusiness has pumped into their political campaigns. All but two members of the current Senate have received money from these donors who represent every possible agriculture concern, from sugar growers to dairy farmers to chemical manufacturers and more.
It’s an axiom of agriculture politics that agribusiness interests concentrate their generosity on members of key committees who write and fund the farm bill. As the graphic below shows, the current Senate is no ...
Continue readingIn the Kentucky Derby of political giving, one horse laps the field
While bettors will be spending big on the thoroughbreds racing to win Saturday's 139th Kentucky Derby, many of the horses' owners have been making their own high-stakes bets — the kind that could pay off in much more than roses.
Continue readingA Mockery of the Law: IRS and DOJ Fail to Enforce Laws Against Dark Money Groups
Neither the IRS nor the Department of Justice have prosecuted flagrant violations of campaign finance and related tax laws, despite... View Article
Continue readingIs the U.S. Backtracking on Political Finance Transparency as Others Move Forward?
I recently returned from Croatia, where I was invited to speak about what works and what doesn’t in terms disclosure... View Article
Continue reading
59063
