Rep. Paul Ryan, whom Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney reportedly will name as his running mate Saturday, is a prolific fundraiser whose most ardent backers are a curious mix of the conservative elite and the blue collar plebian.
Since winning election to the House in 1998, the Wisconsin Republican has attracted more than $11 million in donations, Sunlight's Influence Explorer shows. Among Ryan's most generous backers: the beer wholesalers, Koch industries -- headed by conservative bankrollers David and Charles Koch -- and the Carpenter and Joiners union. Over the years, Ryan also has received steady support from the Laborers union ...
Continue readingPoliticians win Olympic gold too
All eyes are on London for Friday's official opening of the 2012 Olympic Games, but the medal stands won't be the only place you'll find Olympic gold.
Since 1997, Olympic organizing groups in the United States have spent more than $10 million lobbying Congress. Some members of U.S. Olympic Committee's 15-member board of directors have also been generous political donors. Here's Sunlight's look at some of the top finishers in the influence Olympics:
- The US Olympic Committee (USOC) spent more than $2.7 million on lobbying since 1997, according to Sunlight's Influence ...
Putting Romney’s tax returns in presidential context
The controversy over what’s hiding in Mitt Romney’s unreleased tax returns continues. But even without the missing filings, putting his 2010 and 2011 tax numbers in context is strikingly informative. It dramatically shows what an outlier Romney is on a few basic tax and income dimensions.
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 readingRomney surging, but Obama well ahead in campaign cash
For Mitt Romney, the magic number is $158 million. That's how much he'll have to outraise President Barack Obama over the last four months of the campaign to surpass the president, the record holder for campaign fundraising.
Obama's advantage has been lost in media reports highighting the Republican nominee's $106 million June haul. Even Obama's campaign, including the president himself, has downplayed its financial advantage when it warns of being outspent by Romney and the Republican National Committee. For that to happen, Romney would have to best Obama by $39.5 million a month for ...
Continue readingDid mystery Romney donors also play in Texas?
A subsidiary of the Reynolds and Reynolds Company--which was apparently behind $1 million in contributions to the super PAC backing Mitt Romney through three shell companies last month--also gave at least $250,000 to super PACs earlier this election cycle through another subsidiary.
Yesterday we noted that three contributions for about a third of a million dollars each that originated from the same post office box in Dayton, Ohio on May 22 all seemed to be related to Reynolds and Reynolds. The company provides software and other services to car dealerships and related businesses. Chief Executive Officer Robert T ...
Continue readingMitt Romney makes an early appearance in lobbying filings
It's not surprising that a Republican stalwart like Bob Dole, the party's 1996 presidential candidate and, prior to that, the Senate Majority Leader, would have occasion to speak with current GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney. But the context is: Dole's firm, Alston and Bird, disclosed that he's started to lobby Mitt Romney on behalf of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office of the United States (TECRO), the diplomatic mission of Taiwan to the United States.
Filings made to the Justice Dept. under the Foreign Agents Registration Act show that Dole has reached out to many ...
Continue readingFacebook in Washington: Baby steps of a giant
Facebook, which has set off a frenzy of market speculation with its plans go public as early as Friday, isn't just raising its profile on Wall Street. As the social networking giant prepares for its initial stock offering, Sunlight decided to take a look at how Facebook is doing when it comes to political networking. Our finding: The company with the famously hoodied CEO is beginning to grow up, at least in the ways of Washington.
In the first quarter of this year, Facebook spent $650,000 lobbying Congress, according to a report filed with the Senate Office of ...
Continue readingStealthy Wealthy: Jerry Perenchio speaks softly, carries a big checkbook
It may be easier to get the famously closemouthed mega-donor Jerry Perenchio to open his checkbook than to get him to talk to a reporter. The octogenerian former chairman of Univision and his wife Margaret are major players in this year's election, having underwritten American Crossroads to the tune of $2 million so far. Perenchio also gave half a million dollars to Restore America, the Super PAC that supports Mitt Romney, and $100,000 to the super PAC that supported Jon Huntsman's now-defunct presidential campaign.
That's just the latest in the more than $50 million Perenchio and ...
Continue readingOops, Never mind! Newt to endorse Romney but can’t erase attack ads
GOP presidential candidate Newt Gingrich is set to officially exit the race Wednesday in Arlington, Va. and is telling USA TODAY that he'll soon endorse Mitt Romney. But can the former speaker make voters forget the millions of dollars worth of attack ads that he and the super PAC supporting him launched against the man Gingrich now says will be the next president?
We have compiled a highlight -- or should we call it lowlight? -- reel of the ads that ran in early primary states when Gingrich was Romney's main rival. It underscores how the intense negativity of this ...
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