A lobbying group promoting a controversial mining project in Minnesota is working with an ad firm that primarily buys ad time for Democratic candidates.
Continue readingState legislatures taking aim at dark money, disclosure
Legislators in nine states are polishing bills aimed at outing the largest donors of politically active dark money operations.
Continue readingSunlight and secrecy in the Upper Midwest
On campaign finance as in other areas of policy, the formerly similar states of Minnesota and Wisconsin are on two different paths. This Upper Midwestern divergence is a microcosmic example of campaign finance politics in the country as a whole.
Continue readingUnions, Obama dark money group press GOP on immigration
A new fight over immigration appears to be brewing, but it likely has more to do with the 2014 elections than with any real chance legislation will be passed.
House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, appeared to close that door on Wednesday, when he ruled out any negotiations over the sweeping immigration law the Senate passed in June. On the same day, Organizing for Action, the dark money committee that grew out of President Barack Obama's campaign, sent an email to supporters calling on them to pressure Republican lawmakers to take up the immigration bill. The committee suggested targeting Rep ...
Continue readingHow Unique is the New U.S. Open Data Policy?
Stanley Cup runneth over with political cash: NHL owners scored big for GOP
According to data from Sunlight's Influence Explorer, National Hockey League owners provided more than $3 million to politicians, PACs and independent expenditure groups during the 2012 election cycle.
Continue readingStart your engines: GOP makes first 2014 ad buys against Democratic House members
(Updated: 2:25 p.m.)
The National Republican Congressional Committee is making its first ad buy of the 2014 season with a blitz against seven vulnerable House Democrats.
Sunlight's Ad Hawk, which allows mobile phone users identify the sources of political advertising, picked up new spots aimed at the incumbents overnight. The early ads underscore the already-intensifying battle for the House, which President Barack Obama has vowed to put back in Democratic control. The president is travelling to the West Coast today for a series of fundraisers benefiting the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. Read the details on Political Party ...
Continue readingHouse passage of Cravaack land swap bill boosts freshman’s profile, fundraising
The Minnesota Education Investment and Employment Act would order the federal government to take 86,000 acres of state land inside the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW), part of the federally protected Superior National Forest, and give Minnesota a similar amount of federal-owned land just outside the wilderness--and its limits on develepment.
Continue readingRevisions to Minnesota Law Concerning Freedom of Information
A timely post by our guest blogger Charlie Leck on the state of FOI in Minnesota. Earlier, Charlie wrote about... View Article
Continue readingSunlight Weekly Roundup: “Initiatives for ‘open government’ either improve access or hinder it.”
While summarizing the changes Texas Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst hopes to implement with the Senate Select Committee on Open Government, Curt Olsen reminds,... View Article
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