A public interest group plans to file suit against the FEC for failing to take action against Crossroads GPS, a conservative nonprofit group that never registered as a political committee.
Continue readingFEC lawyers: Reason to believe Crossroads broke law
The FEC's lawyers believe Crossroads GPS likely violated election law, according to a little-noticed legal report quietly released late last Friday.
Continue readingIRS takes aim at $300 million campaign influence industry
Updated: 11/26; 6 p.m.
Tuesday's surprise announcement that the Internal Revenue Service intends to take aim at campaign spending by so-called social welfare non-profits could substantially alter the political landscape -- if the tax agency's proposed new regulations eventually take effect. That's a big if given the lengthy and, given the stakes involved, highly contentious path ahead.
Outside groups organized as non-profits poured at least $305 million into the 2012 elections, according to Federal Election Commission figures compiled by the Sunlight Foundation. Those figures likely represent the tip of the dark money iceberg as the groups ...
Continue readingAmerican Crossroads targeting vulnerable Senate Democrats — and passing the hat
American Crossroads, the big-spending Republican super PAC that's been relatively quiescent since posting a less-than-impressive return on investment in the last election cycle, has resurfaced with some advertisements targeting some of the Senate's most vulnerable Democrats -- and an ask for money.
The ads, which surfaced on Political Ad Hawk, Sunlight's mobile app for linking political advertisements with the sources of their funding, are nearly identical and attempt to discredit three Democrats up for reelection next year -- Mark Begich of Alaska, Kay Hagan of North Carolina and Mary Landrieu of Louisiana -- over the controversial new health care law ...
Continue readingStealthy Wealthy: A Texas donor plays state PACs
W.E. "Ed" Bosarge Jr. isn't a household name, but the $2 million he gave in federal contributions and the $1.2 million more he chipped in to state level political action committees--much of it in his home state of Texas--in the 2011-2012 election cycle have made him well known to politicians. So well known, in fact, that a pair of bills pending in the Texas House or Representatives would commend him and his wife Marie Taylor Bosarge on their accomplishments.
A financial wizard who got his start working flight control systems for Saturn rockets, Bosarge has interests beyond ...
Continue readingCrossroads GPS pushes Congress to pass immigration overhaul in web video
Crossroads GPS, the nonprofit co-founded by Karl Rove that backs GOP candidates, has released an online video to push Congress to pass immigration reform as the Senate moves closer to a final vote on the overhaul.
Continue readingIRS creates big stir targeting small fry
Lost in the widening scandal over the IRS targeting of conservative political groups: The fact that most of them were not the big political players of 2012.
Continue readingIRS-gate: Picking on the little guys
As often happens, Washington’s big story of the moment--that the Internal Revenue Service targeted dark money groups that filed for nonprofit status if they had the words "tea party" or "patriot" in their monikers--misses the big point. Of course the IRS should never be used for political purposes; it should apologize for giving an extra scrutiny to groups requesting non-profit status if they appeared to be Tea Party affiliates. Our question is: Why did they pick on the little guys when they’ve got so many larger, more legitimate targets for scrutiny?
Continue readingPlanned Parenthood targets Mitch McConnell
Planned Parenthood has become the latest big-spending political group to try to erode the political base of Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., more than a year before his next election.
A new ad that surfaced this morning in Ad Hawk, Sunlight's searchable database of political advertising, paints the five-term Republican as opposing the interests of women. Because the ad does not explicitly call for a vote for or against McConnell, Planned Parenthood's expenditure does not have to be reported to the Federal Election Commission, but a contract on file in Political Ad Sleuth, Sunlight's database for ...
Continue readingOutside spenders’ return on investment
--Updated Dec. 18--
Outside groups spent more than $1.3 billion in independent expenditures to influence the outcome of the election, we now get to see just what all that money bought them -- or didn't. Turns out some of the smart money wasn't so smart after all when it came to making political bets. This year, the pro-business GOP Crossroads fundraising combine and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce weren't as good at picking winners as the labor movement, which appears to be one of the surprise winners of Election Day.
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