In an event at the Chamber of Commerce's headquarters, a diverse group of speakers from government, litigation, consulting and academia convened to tackle the intersecting issues surrounding the business community, campaign finance reform and political speech.
Continue readingTester introduces the SUN Act, gets real about disclosure by nonprofits
Today, Sen. Jon Tester introduced the Sunlight for Unaccountable Nonprofits Act (The SUN Act). Not only are we at the Sunlight Foundation more than a little bit in love with the name, but we also love what the bill does.
Continue readingFixed Fortunes: Biggest corporate political interests spend billions, get trillions
Between 2007-2012, America’s most politically active corporations spent $5.8 billion on federal lobbying and campaign contributions. A Sunlight Foundation analysis suggests, however, that what they gave pales compared to what they got: $4.4 trillion in federal benefits.
Continue readingU.S. Political Finance: Americans spend more on elections, but they lead from behind
Although the U.S. political map turned significantly more red last week, the one unifying color of the midterm elections was green.
Continue readingCorporate donors still prefer the shadows
A Sunlight analysis of corporate giving in the 2014 campaign suggests that many businesses prefer to play politics anonymously. There are, however, some notable exceptions.
Continue readingDouble or something: party committees can raise double the money from donors
Donors beware: New FEC ruling means parties can solicit more cash. Meanwhile, the commission finally moves into the Citizens United era.
Continue readingGOP commissioners quash FEC dark money probe
Republicans on the Federal Election Commission voted to block investigations into two more major political nonprofits that the commission's own staff lawyers argued broke election law in 2010, according to recently released documents.
Continue readingSnap Shot U.S.: It takes a scandal
Overview of the history of campaign finance reform and disclosure in U.S.
Continue readingKoch-affiliated groups gobble up airtime at more than 100 TV stations
As of July 10, according to data from Sunlight’s Political Ad Sleuth, groups linked to Charles and David Koch have bought advertising time at least 106 different stations from Miami to Anchorage, Alaska.
Continue readingWisconsin governor scandal shows states as the new front in fight for dark money disclosure
It's still an open question whether the allegations brought against Scott Walker will end his career, but they could signal the beginning of the end to loopholes that wealthy donors use to keep their names out the public eye.
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