NewsTrust - Campaign Finance - Most Recent Stories: News (Independent)

New Evidence of Scott Walker Lying to Congress

Sun, 27 May 2012 00:00:00 -0700

The Nation - By John Nichols - May. 27 (News Report) - there is new evidence to suggest that Walker’s testimony to Congress about when he began preparing his anti-labor legislation—which sparked mass demonstrations and a recall movement that will culminate with a June 5 vote on whether to recall the governor—was not truthful.

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Bachmann’s Fundraising Whopper

Sun, 20 May 2012 00:00:00 -0700

FactCheck - By Robert Farley - May. 20 (Fact Check) - In several urgent fundraising appeals, Rep. Michele Bachmann falsely claims that biased “liberal judges” redrew her congressional district “in retaliation for repeatedly standing up to President Obama.” The truth is that only two of the five judges were Democratic appointees, and Bachmann’s Minnesota district has become even more Republican than … More >>

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SuperPAC Money Infecting Judicial Races

Tue, 03 Apr 2012 00:00:00 -0700

care2.com - By Jessica Pieklo - Apr. 03 (News Report) - These groups are also funneling unprecedented amounts of dark money into judicial races as well, and the impact the campaign cash has on the nation’s judicial system is not good.

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Romney Gave Money to Race-Baiting Anti-Gay Group

Tue, 03 Apr 2012 00:00:00 -0700

care2.com - By Steve Williams - Apr. 03 (News Report) - A state political action committee for Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney gave $10,000 to the National Organization for Marriage, an anti-gay group who it emerged last week had used race-baiting tactics in order to fight marriage equality.

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Players guide 2012 campaign

Sun, 04 Mar 2012 00:00:00 -0800

FactCheck - By Brooks Jackson, team - Mar. 04 (Fact Check) - The 2012 campaign cycle marks the first presidential election since the 2010 Supreme Court ruling that allowed corporations and unions to spend more freely in federal elections. The loosened campaign finance rules, coupled with an intense competition between the two major parties, have served only to embolden independent political groups that hope to influence the 2012 races. Below is a list of most major groups that have been active or expect to be active in the 2012 federal elections. Many of these groups can accept unlimited donations. Others can accept unlimited donations and avoid disclosing their donors. There’s even a new breed of so-called independent groups that advocate solely for a single presidential candidate.

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The .0000063% Election

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0800

nationofchange.org - Feb. 16 (News Analysis) - At a time when it’s become a cliché to say that Occupy Wall Street has changed the nation’s political conversation -- drawing long overdue attention to the struggles of the 99% -- electoral politics and the 2012 presidential election have become almost exclusively defined by the 1%. Or, to be more precise, the .0000063%. Those are the 196 individual donors who have provided nearly 80% of the money raised by super PACs in 2011 by giving $100,000 or more each.

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Secretive Millionaires Funding Online Primary For 'Independent' White House Run

Tue, 13 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0800

AlterNet - By Justin Elliott - Dec. 13 (Special Report) - Here’s what the group is not so upfront about: It’s fueled by millions of dollars of secret money, there is a group of wealthy, well-connected board members who have control over Americans Elect’s nominating process, and the group has myriad links to Wall Street.

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The Remarkable Political Stupidity of the 'Street' - you know, Wall Street

Sat, 10 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0800

readersupportednews.org - By Robert Reich: - Dec. 10 (News Analysis) - 'Wall Street has blanketed America in a miasma of cynicism. Most Americans assume the reason the Street got its taxpayer-funded bailout without strings in the first place was because of its political clout. That must be why the banks didn't have to renegotiate the mortgages of Americans - many of whom, because of the economic collapse brought on by the Street's excesses, are still under water. Some are drowning.' Robert Reich, Robert Reich's Blog

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Half the members of Congress are millionaires

Wed, 16 Nov 2011 00:00:00 -0800

iWatch News - By Amy Biegelsen - Nov. 16 (News Report) - Half the members of Congress enjoys “1 percent” status as millionaires, according to a new study by the Center for Responsive Politics. While the economy at home and abroad has limped along since 2008, Congress’ estimated median net worth remains robust—up about 7.6 percent from 2009 and about 13 percent from 2008.

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Occupy Oakland Prepares for General Strike as War Veterans Organize Day of Action at Occupy Camps

Wed, 02 Nov 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Democracy Now - By Amy Goodman - Nov. 02 (News Report) - Protesters in Oakland, California, are launching a citywide general strike today that will include an attempt to shut down the nation’s fifth-busiest shipping port. The strike is expected to draw thousands of people to downtown Oakland, many responding to police attacks last week on nonviolent protesters with Occupy Oakland, including two-time Iraq War veteran Scott Olsen.

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Political Advertisements May Face Disclosure Requirement

Fri, 28 Oct 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Huffington Post - Oct. 28 (News) - WASHINGTON -- Everyone is used to seeing a flood of political advertising, whether they are vicious attack ads or saccharine puff pieces, in the months...

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Ron Paul nets over $2.7 million in "money bomb" campaign

Sat, 22 Oct 2011 00:00:00 -0700

OpenGlobe - By Tempodivalse, OpenGlobe contributors - Oct. 22 (News Report) - US presidential candidate Ron Paul has raised around $2.7 million for his campaign over the past three days, in one of his signature "money bombs".

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9 Policies Conservatives Were For Long Before They Were Against Them

Thu, 22 Sep 2011 00:00:00 -0700

AlterNet - By Joshua Holland - Sep. 22 (News Analysis) - Journalist Steve Benen noted that while "the record here may be inconvenient for the right ... it's also unambiguous: the mandate Republicans currently hate was their idea." It was championed by the Heritage Foundation ... Nixon embraced it in the 1970s, and George H.W. Bush kept it going in the 1980s. For years, it was touted by the likes of John McCain, Mitt Romney, Scott Brown, Chuck Grassley, Bob Bennett, Tommy Thompson, Lamar Alexander, Lindsey Graham, John Thune, Judd Gregg, and many other ... notable GOP officials.

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Outside groups spend $1.65 million on House races in Nevada, New York

Wed, 14 Sep 2011 00:00:00 -0700

iWatch News - By Aaron Mehta, Josh Israel - Sep. 14 (Investigative Report) - Outside groups and national party committees spent $1.65 million on the special congressional elections in New York and Nevada, according to an analysis by iWatch News . Just under half the total poured into the races in the final week. In both races, the Democratic Party nominees have led in terms of direct campaign contributions. In Nevada, Kate Marshall (about $748,000 reported) has out-raised Republican Mark Amodei (about $659,000), while in New York David Weprin (about $684,000) has more than doubled the campaign cash of his opponent Bob Turner (about $323,000). But in a possible harbinger of campaigns to come, the two Republican candidates received a huge boost from spending by outside groups, partially making up for what the candidates could not raise in direct contributions. Both Republicans won.

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Mitt Romney Raised More Campaign Cash From Lobbyists Than All Other 2012 GOP Candidates Combined

Wed, 10 Aug 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Huffington Post - By Paul Blumenthal - Aug. 10 (News Report) - While other GOP presidential candidates race to win Saturday's Ames Straw Poll, Mitt Romney is quietly racking up support among Washington power brokers and heavyweights in the Republican party. His early lead in fundraising with lobbyists, Wall Street donors, and bundlers who raised money for George W. Bush and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) is testament to this strategy. According to disclosure reports filed at the end of July, 61 registered lobbyists and five lobbyist-linked political action committees contributed $137,650 to Romney's campaign between Jan. 1 and June 30, 2011. The former Massachusetts governor raised more money from lobbyists during this period than all of his competitors combined.

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Obama groups raise $4-5 million in first two months

Mon, 27 Jun 2011 00:00:00 -0700

iWatch News - By Peter H. Stone - Jun. 27 (News Report) - Two Democratic groups seeking big bucks to boost President Obama’s re-election have tapped several high-powered fundraisers to help rope in $4 million to $5 million in the first two months. They’ve also snagged pledges for two to three times those sums towards their joint goal of raising at least $100 million.

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How the press fared covering the post-Citizens United landscape, and stories to do now

Sun, 23 Jan 2011 00:00:00 -0800

Columbia Journalism Review - By Liz Cox Barrett - Jan. 23 (News Analysis) - On the eve of the one year anniversary of the Supreme Court's controversial decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, CJR's Liz Cox Barrett spoke with Richard L. Hasen, a visiting professor at University of California Irvine School of Law and an expert in election law and campaign finance regulations, about Citizens United, its effect on the 2010 midterm elections, how the press fared in its coverage of it all, and what reporters should focus on now and in the run-up to 2012.

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The One-Person Funded Super PAC: How Wealthy Donors Can Skirt Campaign Finance Restrictions

Fri, 22 Oct 2010 00:00:00 -0700

Huffington Post - By Amanda Terkel - Oct. 22 (News Report) - With many outside political groups able to raise and spend unlimited amounts of money in the wake of the Supreme Court's Citizen United decision, a new type of independent expenditure has popped up: ones bankrolled completely by just one donor. These funds allow wealthy contributors to dump large amounts of money into whichever races they choose -- often with very little transparency -- essentially rendering the old rules limiting individual political contributions a joke. Take the Concerned Citizens for a Working America.

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Justices Scalia And Thomas's Attendance At Koch Event Sparks Judicial Ethics Debate

Wed, 20 Oct 2010 00:00:00 -0700

Huffington Post - By Sam Stein - Oct. 20 (News Report) - Reports that two Supreme Court Justices have attended seminars sponsored by the energy giant and conservative bankroller Koch Industries has sparked a mild debate over judicial ethics. On Tuesday evening, the New York Times reported that an upcoming meeting in Palm Springs of "a secretive network of Republican donors" that was being organized by Koch Industries, "the longtime underwriter of libertarian causes." Buried in the third to last graph was a note that previous guests at such meetings included Supreme Court Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas, two of the more conservative members of the bench.

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Obama's Focus On Election Funding Spurs Guarded Optimism Among Campaign Finance Reformers

Wed, 20 Oct 2010 00:00:00 -0700

Huffington Post - By Sam Stein - Oct. 20 (News Analysis) - The intense focus placed on the money being spent in the 2010 elections has had an unexpected impact within the small the world of campaign finance reformers. While the delicate system of fundraising constraints born in the wake of Watergate has crumbled -- allowing for the unprecedented flow of corporate and even anonymous funds -- the chaos has also created a modicum of opportunity. The current climate, campaign finance reformers say, may be one of the most opportune moments to spur the reform of the system.

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MoveOn Puts Out Closing Ad, Casting Corporate Donors Against Average Citizens

Wed, 20 Oct 2010 00:00:00 -0700

Huffington Post - By Sam Stein - Oct. 20 (News Report) - In the last round of ads it will run before the election, the progressive advocacy group MoveOn.org is going back to the well, raising the specter of well-resourced corporations overwhelming the vote of regular citizens.

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Campaign Cash: The Independent Fundraising Gold Rush Since Citizens United Ruling

Thu, 07 Oct 2010 00:00:00 -0700

Democracy Now - By Amy Goodman - Oct. 07 (News Report) - A pair of campaign finance watchdog groups have called for a probe of a new non-profit formed by Karl Rove to spend over $50 million this election cycle to help elect Republican candidates. The Center for Public Integrity reports Republicans and Democrats each now boast ten or so deep-pocketed independent groups with plans to spend collectively, some $500 million dollars or more. The groups are all taking advantage of this year's Supreme Court ruling in the Citizens United case that cleared the way for unlimited spending by corporations, unions and other interest groups on election ads. We speak to journalist and author Peter Stone of the Center for Public Integrity.

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Corporate Hijacking of Our Elections Is Well Under Way, with Foreign Companies Chipping in to Destroy Our Democracy | Civil Liberties

Thu, 07 Oct 2010 00:00:00 -0700

AlterNet - By Joshua Holland - Oct. 07 (News Report) - This week, an investigation by the ThinkProgress revealed that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce -- once just a conservative-leaning business group that’s been transformed into a heavy political cudgel for the corporate Right under the leadership of president Thomas Donohue -- has been raising money from overseas companies to defeat American candidates.

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Ed Schultz Takes On The Chamber Of Commerce's 'Anti-American Money Bomb' (VIDEO)

Wed, 06 Oct 2010 00:00:00 -0700

Huffington Post - By Ed Schultz - Oct. 06 (News Report) - "Ed Show" host Ed Schultz took on the powerful U.S. Chamber of Commerce Wednesday night in the wake of allegations that the business lobby is spending foreign money on political attack ads in violation of federal election laws.

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Chamber Of Commerce Thrust Into Political Firestorm

Wed, 06 Oct 2010 00:00:00 -0700

Huffington Post - By Sam Stein - Oct. 06 (News Report) - The U.S. Chamber of Commerce's $75 million campaign effort for the 2010 elections is being threatened by allegations that the business lobby receives funds from foreign entities to use on electioneering. On Tuesday, the liberal blog Think Progress published a report detailing how international sources are contributing to the Chamber's massive and largely secretive pool of campaign funds.

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