In the past two years, JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America have donated tens of thousands of dollars to a Florida nonprofit where congresswoman Corrine Brown, D-Fla., serves on the board of directors. Yet JPMorgan disclosed this contribution in a lobbying report while Bank of America did not.
There is nothing illegal about the bank’s non-reporting, experts and the megabank say. That’s because disclosure of Bank of America’s gifts—since they came from the bank’s charitable foundation—are not mandated under a law that requires all lobbying entities to report their honorary contributions to the secretary ...
Continue readingGraphic: Lobbyists’ Honorary Gifts to Federal Officials
Companies and organizations can donate an unlimited amount of money to honor officials, sponsor their conferences, and donate to their pet charities, so long as these donations are reported to the Senate. The Sunlight Foundation analyzed these filings from 2009 and 2010 and found about $50 million in honorary gifts and meeting costs. These donations can all be viewed in the interactive display below by company making the donation or by official being honored.
Viewers can filter the data by the type of honoree (executive branch officials and members of Congress, for example) and can further narrow the display to ...
Continue readingIRS halts audits of donors to political committees
The head of the Internal Revenue Service's enforcement division advised colleagues to shelve open audits of donors for 501(c)4 organizations--some of which, like Crossroads GPS and Moveon.org Civic Action, have been active in political campaigns.
The IRS had previously released a statement saying it was investigating five donors to political 501(c)4s, which do not disclose their sources of funds to the public, to determine if their contributions to the organizations should trigger additional gift taxes.
Steven T. Miller, deputy commissioner for services and enforcement, sent the letter to his colleagues, stating that, "This ...
Continue readingHelp us identify the lobbyists
On May 11, the Senate Judiciary Committee's Antitrust Subcommittee held a hearing on the proposed AT&T and T-Mobile merger. Titled "Is Humpty Dumpty Being Put Back Together Again?" the hearing was concerned with possible antitrust issues, questions of competition, access to wireless service, rising costs and the loss of jobs.
Of course, Washington lobbyists had their own concerns and not surprisingly, the room was packed. In concert with National Journal, we at Sunlight decided to turn the cameras around 180 degrees to see who was watching the hearing. Our hope is that you can help us identify D ...
Continue readingFEC allows candidates to solicit limited contributions for Super PACs
The Federal Election Commission voted unanimously Thursday to allow federal candidates and party officials to solicit limited contributions for Super PACs, groups that have changed the campaign-finance landscape in the past year by raising and spending unlimited amounts from indivuals, corporations and labor unions.
The draft Advisory Opinion that the commission approved says candidates and party officials can solicit up to $5,000 from individuals and other PACs.
The vote came in response to a request by two Democratic Super PACs -- Majority PAC and House Majority PAC -- which asked the FEC whether candidates could solicit unlimited contributions on their behalf ...
Continue readingNatural gas proponents powered by industry donations
An investigation by the New York Times this week raised questions about whether the natural gas industry has had too much influence on policymaking by federal agencies, and whether that sway has led investors, members of Congress and others to be overly bullish about the energy source.
The article focused on the Energy Information Agency, the research arm of the Department of Energy, which writes annual reports on the industry that are considered authoritative. Ian Urbina wrote that, in its reports, the EIA has:
Continue reading[S]teadily increased its estimates of domestic supplies of natural gas, and investors and the oil ...
One out of ten investment advisers disciplined
Throughout his career as a broker-dealer, Anthony Gerard Manaia has been fired twice. He’s been the subject of 18 complaints by disgruntled investors, most of whom accused him of putting their money in risky investments without their knowledge. He’s currently under investigation for his role in a scandal around offerings by a medical financing company that a federal agency has accused of misappropriating investor funds.
In July 2010 Manaia gave up his broker-dealer registration. Five months later, in January 2011, he hung out his shingle as an investment adviser. His website targets “high net worth individuals” and says ...
Good investor data are hard to find
In a recent report to Congress, mandated by the Dodd-Frank financial overhaul law, the SEC maintained that "because selecting a broker-dealer or investment adviser is one of the most important decisions that investors face, information to help them make this choice should be easy to find, easy to use, and easy to understand."
But if you do a simple google search for the name of your broker or investment adviser and “disciplinary action” or “fine” you are unlikely to come up with much. While the information on broker-dealers and investment advisers is all a matter of public record, you need ...
Continue readingFEC set to vote on Super PAC fundraising by candidates
Two new draft Advisory Opinions from the FEC's legal staff leave open the possibility that the commission will allow candidates and party officers to raise money — possibly without limits — for Super PACs.
The opinions, which were posted on the Federal Election Commission's website Tuesday and which are expected to be voted on by the commissioners Thursday, differ from a draft posted last week. That draft said candidates could appear at Super PAC fundraisers but could not solicit unlimited contributions. It did not address the possibility of raising limited amounts.
One of the drafts posted Tuesday, a revision of ...
Continue readingLawmakers seeking laxer mortgage rules backed by housing industry dollars
Legislators leading the push against a proposed mortgage lending regulation are among the biggest beneficiaries of campaign dollars from the industries decrying the rules.
Industry groups such as the National Association of Realtors, the National Association of Home Builders, along with consumer advocates, have opposed the rule--required by the Dodd-Frank legislation and intended to prevent financial institutions from writing risky mortgages and then selling them to other investors--since they were unveiled in March.
Recently, an unlikely coalition of advocates and industry groups has formed, calling itself the Coalition for Sensible Housing Policy and issuing a white paper criticizing the ...
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