Candidates for president offered the first detailed look at their campaign finances yesterday. While Hillary Clinton is running away with the money race for Democrats, the competition for cash is much tighter on the Republican side.
Continue readingDNC paid $4.5 million for events at White House
A new Sunlight analysis of campaign finance records from the Democratic National Committee finds party operatives have made frequent use of the White House grounds during the past four years.
Continue readingObama discloses less about inaugural donors
What a difference four years makes: President Barack Obama, who began his first term with a promise to change the way Washington works, barred corporate donations to his first inauguration, capped individual contributions at $50,000 and began disclosing his donors and bundlers more than a month before his swearing-in.
This time he waited until two weeks before the inauguration to release his first list of donors. The Presidential Inaugural Committee posted the names on its website but without the amount of each donation nor the contributor's occupation and city. Nor was a separate list of bundlers posted.
Moreover ...
Continue readingTurning the Camera on Romney Bundlers
Last week at the Republican National Convention in Tampa, ABC News reported on a private yacht event exclusively for Romney... View Article
Continue readingThere Oughta Be a Law
As the pundits debate what the addition of Paul Ryan to the GOP presidential ticket means for the race, one... View Article
Continue readingTransparency in the State of the Union
Tonight’s State of the Union Address raised even less transparency issues than we expected. (See the text at the end... View Article
Continue readingInfluence Explored: Obama’s Bundler List
Earlier today the Obama campaign released a list of 244 fundraisers who have bundled thousands of dollars in donations to the president's victory fund.
Continue readingAfter FEC Eviscerates Bundling Disclosure Law, Only One Bundler Discloses
According to The Hill, only one political action committee (PAC) reported bundling campaign contributions for a political candidate during the... View Article
Continue readingIn Broad Daylight: Rangel’s Disclosure Discrepancies
Like a man sinking in quicksand, Rep. Charles Rangel continues, with every flailing day, to sink further as more discrepancies... View Article
Continue readingTracking Obama’s earmarks
Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., steered earmarks to some organizations with a board member who is also serving as a top bundler to his presidential campaign, according to the Next Right. This raises what for me is one of the primary questions about earmarks in general. Members of Congress say they know the needs of their states (or districts, in the case of House members). Whence comes this in-depth knowledge? Do they hear about needs from constituents, from their own personal observations, or do insiders--lobbyists, campaign contributors and others--educate them? Because the process is so opaque, in most cases we simply ...
Continue reading