The campaign of super committee member Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., took in more than twice as much money in the third quarter of 2011 as it did in the second, newly released Federal Election Commission records show. Overall, two of the six House members of the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction--popularly known as the "super committee"--reported increased fundraising totals in the third quarter.
Van Hollen and Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, the other lawmaker whose campaign committee saw an uptick in money coming in, collected $153,278 and $471,259 respectively for the third quarter. Hensarling, the super ...
Continue readingMeet the first “Corporate” Super PAC
Today came a moment campaign finance watchers have been waiting for: the first corporate "Super PAC"--that is a PAC whose sole source of funding is corporate money--filed its paper work with the U.S. Federal Election Commission (FEC).
However, the PAC, known as American Phoenix, is not necessarily what people have been fearing after the U.S. Supreme Court, in its Citizens United decision, permitted corporations and unions to give unlimited amounts to Super PACs. As reported by Dan Eggan at The Washington Post, the source of funding is a Florida firm known as Deep Sea Burial Corp., which ...
Continue readingWhat happens in Vegas helps determine the Republican presidential nominee
Texas Gov. Rick Perry may be slipping in the polls, but his fundraising prowess is keeping him among those to watch at Tuesday night's Republican debate in Las Vegas.
Perry raised $17 million during the third quarter, which ended Sept. 30, beating frontrunners Mitt Romney and Herman Cain. Romney, the former governor of Massachussetts, raised $14 million, while Cain, the former CEO of Godfather's Pizza and Chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, raked in $2.8 million.
Those three will take the stage Tuesday night during a debate sponsored by CNN and the Western Republican ...
Continue readingLongtime lobbying campaign pays off for South Korea with recent trade deal
Trade agreements stem from long-winded talks, some heavy handed diplomacy and, as it turns out, a substantial amount of lobbying. The newest trade deal between South Korea and the U.S. was a massive operation which cost the Koreans $39.9 million in lobbying and PR fees in 2010 alone.
The Department of Justice shows nineteen international contracts currently operating with South Korean entities. Four of those contracts are primarily for lobbying. Four deal with public relations. Three promote trade. Another three offer policy consultation. Other firms provide tourism promotions and distribute broadcast material. In 2009, the Korea lobby spent ...
Continue readingOnline poker lobby gives timely donations to pair of congressmen pushing its cause
Congressman Joe Barton, who is now lobbying the special deficit panel to legalize Internet poker, got some not so subtle nudges from the Poker Players Alliance when he introduced his own online poker bill in June.
On June 20, just days before Barton, R-Texas, brought his bill to the floor, the PPA’s PAC gave Barton’s campaign committee $2,500, according to the group’s Federal Election Commission report. Four days later, Barton, the second-ranking Republican on the Energy and Commerce Committee, introduced the measure. The PPA applauded the bill.
On June 28, the PPA’s PAC sent another ...
Continue readingBarack Obama’s other billionaire: How George Kaiser turned Oklahoma into his personal tax haven
It's unlikely that President Barack Obama will be naming any tax proposals after George B. Kaiser. An investment by the Tulsa billionaire's family foundation in Solyndra, whose bankruptcy may leave taxpayers on the hook for $535 million in federal loans, has raised speculation that the administration acted in part to aid a financial supporter. But the impact on taxpayers of Kaiser's career goes far beyond the $535 million loss. Kaiser has built his fortune in part through shrewdly playing the Internal Revenue Code. In one six year period, during which he increased his net worth enough to ...
Continue readingSEC ‘revolving door’ data online but useful information redacted
The revolving door has been swinging rapidly for employees leaving the Securities and Exchange Commission to work in the private sector to represent big companies in actions brought by the agency. But while the commission gathers post-employment information from former employees, it does not make this information readily available.
Even when these records of the SEC's so-called “revolving door” are requested through the Freedom of Information Act, they tend to be incomplete and heavily redacted, according to a report by the Project on Government Oversight.
If an employee leaves the SEC and within two years and decides to work ...
Continue readingSunlight Live Team Prepares for Oct 11 Debate
Tuesday, Oct. 11, will mark the 9th Republican presidential debate, two weeks after a string of debates in Florida, California and South Carolina. Sponsored by Bloomberg News and the Washington Post, this next matchup of Republican rivals will take place at Dartmouth University in New Hampshire. The Sunlight Live team will once again provide a live video feed, as well as real-time analysis, fact checking and context to help keep viewers informed.
The organizers say this debate will specifically address fears about the economy, jobs and a possible double-dip global recession.
Since the last debate, held Sept. 22 in Florida ...
Continue readingBig PACs contribute $83,000 to super committee members
The political action committees of Lockheed Martin, the National Association of Realtors, Pfizer and Chevron all reported making contributions to members of the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction--better known as the super committee--in the roughly 20 days of August after House and Senate leadership appointed them to the panel.
PACs for 19 of the biggest political donors in the country, as determined by Center for Responsive Politics, have reported contributing more than $83,000 to 10 of the 12 members of the super committee or their leadership PACs, Federal Eelection Commission filings show. It's the first glimpse available ...
Continue readingSolyndra investor had three White House meetings on energy policy
George B. Kaiser, the Obama campaign bundler and Tulsa oilman whose foundation's investment in Solyndra has raised questions of whether political influence played a role in the now-bankrupt solar panel company's winning $535 million in federal loans, had three White House meetings to discuss energy policy from Dec. 2009 to April 2011.
While Kaiser was a frequent caller at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., his foundation issued a statement stating that the Tulsa billionaire "did not participate in any discussions with the U.S. government regarding the loan." Obama administration officials told ABC News that the purpose of his contacts ...
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