The recent buzz that one of the frontrunners to be Republican presidential contender Mitt Romney's vice presidential pick, Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio, had registered as a foreign agent for the Duvalier dictatorship in Haiti came from American Bridge 21st Century, a super PAC that's spent most of its money not on attack ads, but on opposition research.
The registration was old news: A July 17 Washington Post profile of Portman, seen at right, noted it, along with a Patton Boggs attorney's statement that, though registered, Portman hadn't represented Haiti. But it shows that independent ...
Continue readingWebinar: Learn How to ‘Follow the Money’
Having trouble telling the Patriot Majority USA from the House Majority PAC? Or what makes an independent expenditure different than... View Article
Continue readingA matter of trust? Mystery groups write big checks to super PACs
They may not be the biggest givers of this campaign cycle but they could be the shadiest: So far in this campaign cycle,12 trusts have given super PACs a total of $3.2 million.
Though that amounts to a sliver of the $314 million flowing to super PACs, it represents an extreme in one sense: Trusts are a highly opaque way to facilitate political spending. Trusts act as separate entities that manage assets on behalf of people, corporations, charities, and other entities. They can serve as tax shelters and generally, are more private than traditional charities and corporations because ...
Continue readingSuper PAC Profile: Workers’ Voices the super PAC of the average citizen?
Just four months after the AFL-CIO announced the formation of its super PAC, Workers' Voice, the group has emerged as a major force, ranking No. 10 among super PACs in terms of money collected as of the end of July, with more than $7 million already spent, and the backing of the House of Labor's treasury.
However, the union super PAC weathered a major disappointment in its first outing: It was formed as part of an unsuccessful effort to unseat Gov. Scott Walker, R-Wisc., in a June 2012 recall election.
Since its inception, Workers’ Voice has branded itself the ...
Continue readingSunlight Live to cover Senate hearing on Super PACs and Citizens United
Join us on Sunlight Live as we cover the Senate Judiciary Committee's hearing examining the impact that Super PACs and the Supreme Court's Citizens United decision are having on elections. The hearing, called "Taking Back Our Democracy: Responding to Citizens United and the Rise of Super PACs," will be held by the Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Human Rights and will be covered live today at 2:30p.m. today.
Chariman Dick Durbin, D-Ill., will lead the subcommittee as two panels of witnesses testify to the state of our democracy and the influence of Super PACs ...
Continue readingBusinesses give $33 million to super PACs
Businesses have given more than $33 million to super PACs since the beginning of this campaign cycle, according to a Sunlight analysis of campaign finance reports. Trade unions gave at least $15 million in the same time period.
Republican-aligned super PACs got the lion's share of business contributions, taking in just under $30 million. That dwarfed the $3.8 million that their Democratic-leaning counterparts received from business. Yet the gap may be narrowing ahead of the general election: Left-leaning super PACs raised almost $1.2 million from business in June, while super PACs siding with the GOP raised $4 ...
Continue readingGOP-aligned Super PACs raised $227 million through June 30
Right-leaning Super PACs topped their Democratic rivals by a factor of nearly three-to-one from the start of 2011 through June 30, according to a Sunlight analysis of filings made through midnight Friday. In the first eighteen months of the presidential election cycle, Republican-oriented Super PACs brought in about $230 million while Democratic-leaning super PACs raised less than $80 million.
Continue readingCollege Republican doubles down on super PAC
The college student whose super PAC helped propel a little-known Kentucky Republican to victory with $600,000 in outside spending has doubled down -- and then some.
John Ramsey, a 21-year-old devotee of Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, gave just over $1.7 million to the super PAC he founded, Liberty for All, in the second quarter, according to campaign finance records filed Sunday. That brings Ramsey's total contributions to about $1.9 million--meaning that the economics and finance major at Stephen F. Austin State College in Nacogdoches, Texas is the source of all but about $10,000 of the super ...
Pro-gay GOP super PAC has one donor
Last month, Republican billionaire Paul Singer made news with the announcement of a new, unlikely super PAC: American Unity Inc. It's mission, according to the New York Times, which ran a story about the PAC on June 9, is to "encourage Republican candidates to support same-sex marriage."
The super PAC was officially formed June 19, according to Federal Election Commission records.
Singer has a gay son and has given millions to support gay marriage in New York and elsewhere. He's also given to mainstream Republican causes, including $1 million last year to Restore our Future, the super PAC ...
Continue readingDark money in the 2012 elections (so far)
As the Senate this week takes up the DISCLOSE Act, a bill that Sunlight and other open government groups are... View Article
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