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Tag Archive: Investigations

Penn State’s powerful political influence

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(photo credit: flckr drocpsu)

Penn State University, targeted for unprecedented penalties after NCAA officials concluded that top university officials covered up child sex abuse by an assistant football coach has received more than $6 million in federal earmarks in recent years -- a sign of the school's aptitude at the political influence game.

Some critics have contended that aptitude may have enabled the scandal to go on longer than it otherwise might have. In 2008, Pennsylvania's state legislature debated whether to require the school to disclose police records, email, phone records--information that might have led to earlier detection of ...

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Businesses give $33 million to super PACs

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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 ...

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On the floor of Congress, lawmakers lionized Penn State’s Joe Paterno

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How quickly a hero rises--and sometimes keeps rising, despite a fall--as was the case with Joe Paterno, who today was posthumously stripped of his record for the most wins for victories for college football coaches thanks to scandal surrounding convicted former coach Jerry Sandusky's child abuse.

Once the hero in his home state and beyond, a search of  mentions of the name "Joe Paterno" on Sunlight's Capitol Words shows the peak at 88 in November 2001, soon after the coach led Penn State to break the record for NCAA division I-A victories, reaching the 324 mark, defeating Ohio ...

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GOP-aligned Super PACs raised $227 million through June 30

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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.

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Gun interests spend millions to influence lawmakers

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photo of gun aiming at targetIn the wake of the Batman movie massacre, Colorado's second mass killing in recent memory, much is being written about the unlikeliness of the tragedy leading to the kind of gun control legislation that might have prevented another troubled young man from amassing a huge arsenal. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg was quoted in the New York Times on Saturday venting his frustration at the inertia of both major party's presidential candidates.

The gun lobby is one of the most influential in Washington -- as well as state capitals -- and figures available on Sunlight's Influence Explorer describe ...

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Super PACs raise $55 million in June

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Super PACs had their biggest month ever, raising over $55 million in June.

That impressive haul brought super PAC's total fundraising since Jan 1. 2011 to more than $313 million. As of around June 30, super PAC's had about $110 million in the bank (that total includes groups filing reports due between June 27 and July 13).

Monthly filers reporting the biggest June takes were Restore Our Future ($20.7 million), which backs Mitt Romney; Priorities USA ($6.2 million) which backs Barack Obama; and American Crossroads, ($5.8 million) lead by GOP strategist Karl Rove.

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College Republican doubles down on super PAC

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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.Thomas Massie in image on Liberty for All website

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 ...

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Pro-gay GOP super PAC has one donor

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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 ...

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Survey Says… House Republicans Schedule Bevy of Critical Dodd-Frank Hearings

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House Republicans are on an anti-Dodd-Frank blitz, but with a populist twist, leading up to the financial reform law’s second birthday later this week.

The Republican-controlled Financial Services Committee has launched an "online survey," which asks users a series of questions about how Dodd-Frank affects “you, not Wall Street.” The survey comes as the committee has scheduled a half dozen hearings over a two-week period focusing on such topics as Dodd-Frank's impact on home mortgages, consumer choice, and access to credit and municiple finance.

We'll be covering one of those hearings — titled "Who’s In Your Wallet ...

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GOP senators benefiting the most from NO DISCLOSE

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Among the Republicans voting Tuesday to block a bill requiring disclosure of donors underwriting political ads were many who have benefited from the contributions of groups that don't disclose their donors.

Seven GOP senators who benefited from close to $1 million in dark money during the 2010 campaign all voted against the DISCLOSE bill. Here is a list of them, along with the amount of dark money spent to help their campaigns:

  • Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H.: $3.7 million
  • Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo.: $2.9 million
  • Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla.: $2.7 million
  • Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis.: $2 ...

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