NewsTrust - Campaign Reform - 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.

NewsTrust Rating: 3.9 average (not enough reviews) - See Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

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.

NewsTrust Rating: 3.3 average - 4 Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

The 2010 FactCheck Awards

Tue, 02 Nov 2010 00:00:00 -0700

FactCheck - By Jess Henig - Nov. 02 (News Analysis) - Election Day has arrived; every voter has made up his or her mind (or should have, by now). So — just as we’ve done on Election Days past — we offer here some of the ads that we thought deserved special attention, not for the facts they present but for sheer style points (or lack thereof).

NewsTrust Rating: 3.9 average - 5 Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

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.

NewsTrust Rating: 3.9 average (not enough reviews) - See Review » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

NRA Remains The King On The Hill

Wed, 16 Jun 2010 00:00:00 -0700

Huffington Post - By Sam Stein, Arthur Delaney - Jun. 16 (News Report) - Democrats on Monday touted a major breakthrough in campaign finance reform legislation that could drastically alter the shape and course of the 2010 elections. But in the process of securing the necessary concessions, the party confirmed the widespread assumption that special interests can literally write legislation if they have enough clout.

NewsTrust Rating: 4.0 average (not enough reviews) - See Review » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Judicial Watch Obtains New FBI Documents Regarding ACORN Voter Fraud Investigation

Wed, 09 Jun 2010 00:00:00 -0700

judicialwatch.org - By Anonymous - Jun. 09 (News Report) - Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, announced today that it has obtained documents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) related to the 2007 investigation and arrest of eight St. Louis, Missouri, workers from the “community organization” Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) for violation of election laws and voter fraud. The documents include handwritten notes from FBI investigators interviewing canvassers working with Project Vote, an ACORN affiliate. Among the highlights from the FBI handwritten notes: •[ACORN] “Told employees not to talk to the FBI. ‘FBI trying to intimidate you.’” •Fraudulent cards: ◦To cause confusion on election day to keep polls open longer ◦To allow people who can’t vote to vote. ◦To allow to vote multiple times.

NewsTrust Rating: 4.1 average (not enough reviews) - See Review » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Groups push for public financing

Tue, 23 Mar 2010 00:00:00 -0700

publicampaign.org - By Peter Overby - Mar. 23 (News Analysis) - This morning on NPR, Peter Overby interviewed several Fair Elections advocates about pushing for public financing of elections in the wake of the Supreme Court's decision in Citizens United v. FEC.

NewsTrust Rating: 3.7 average (not enough reviews) - See Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

First Corporate Campaign Ads Appear

Tue, 23 Mar 2010 00:00:00 -0700

Huffington Post - By Michael Falcone - Mar. 23 (News Report) - A Texas company recently took out a political ad in several local newspapers, making it one of the first corporations to do so in the wake of a landmark Supreme Court ruling that lifted restrictions on corporate political spending. The Texas Tribune reports that the company, KDR Development, paid for an ad against state Rep. Chuck Hopson.

NewsTrust Rating: 3.8 average (not enough reviews) - See Review » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Higher Corporate Spending on Election Ads Could Be All but Invisible

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 00:00:00 -0800

ProPublica - By Chisun Lee - Mar. 10 (News Report) - The Supreme Court recently freed [1] corporations to spend more money on aggressive election ads. But if businesses take advantage of this new freedom, the public probably won't know it, because it's easy for them to legally hide their political spending.

NewsTrust Rating: 3.8 average (not enough reviews) - See Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Doris Haddock, Campaign Finance Reform Activist, Dies At 100

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 00:00:00 -0800

Huffington Post - Mar. 09 (News) - Haddock was 89 when she walked 3,200 miles to draw attention to campaign finance reform. At 94, she ran for U.S. Senate against Republican Judd Gregg. Haddock's efforts to change the system were profiled in the 2007 documentary film "Run Granny Run." Some of Haddock's thoughts and speeches were uploaded to the film's web site, where they remain today.

NewsTrust Rating: 3.8 average (not enough reviews) - See Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

The Man Who Took Down Campaign Finance Reform

Fri, 22 Jan 2010 00:00:00 -0800

Mother Jones - By Stephanie Mencimer - Jan. 22 (News Analysis) - Thursday's Supreme Court decision striking down limits on corporate spending in elections marks the latest in a remarkable string of victories for a Republican lawyer in Terre Haute, Indiana. James Bopp Jr. did not argue Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission before the high court, but the case was entirely his brainchild.

NewsTrust Rating: 3.8 average - 4 Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

The personhood of corporations

Fri, 22 Jan 2010 00:00:00 -0800

SCOTUSblog - By Lyle Denniston - Jan. 22 (News Analysis) - Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens may have had his tongue in his cheek, or perhaps wanted merely to taunt the majority, when he wrote in Thursday’s opinion on the role of corporations in national politics: “Under the majority’s view, I suppose it may be a First Amendment problem that corporations are not permitted to vote, given that voting is, among other things, a form of speech.” It is a tantalizing notion.

NewsTrust Rating: 3.7 average - 9 Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Reform Groups Call On Obama To Change Campaign Finance Laws

Fri, 07 Nov 2008 00:00:00 -0800

Mother Jones - By Nick Baumann - Nov. 07 (News Report) - Barack Obama has only been President-elect for 36 hours, but seven major government reform groups are already making demands. In a joint press release Thursday morning, the Brennan Center for Justice, the Campaign Legal Center, Common Cause, Democracy 21, the League of Women Voters, Public Citizen and US PIRG set out a "government integrity reform" agenda for the next Congress.

NewsTrust Rating: 3.8 average - 6 Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

The Notoriously Cheap Democratic Senate

Thu, 30 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Huffington Post - By Thomas B. Edsall - Oct. 30 (News Report) - While sitting on more than $100 million in donations and most facing no contest this year, the Senate's 51 Democrats have given the party's key Senatorial Campaign Committee, the DSCC -- headed by Chuck Schumer (D-NY) this year -- $11.3 million, or just over $220,000 apiece on average. Some 21 members have contributed less than $100.

NewsTrust Rating: 2.9 average (not enough reviews) - See Review » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

At OpEdNews: Our Place in the World

Mon, 22 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Op Ed News - By Mark Overt Skilbread - Sep. 22 (News Analysis) - Pretty Close to what John Lennon would say today if he was still walking this Planet.

NewsTrust Rating: 5.0 average (not enough reviews) - See Review » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Return of the FEC

Tue, 03 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Washington Independent - By Matthew Blake - Jun. 03 (Special Report) - ...if the FEC does return to business, the government watchdog will continue its tradition of commissioners with strongly partisan ties. The president, with Congress, seem to have again ensured that during an election year the FEC probably won't bite McCain, or any politician.

NewsTrust Rating: 4.2 average - 5 Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

118 Days Later, Fox News Finally Identifies Rove As Informal Adviser To McCain - Video

Tue, 03 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0700

AlterNet - By Satyam Khanna - Jun. 03 (News Analysis) - As ThinkProgress has noted with our repeated use of the "The Rove Watch" clock, Fox News has failed to properly identify Karl Rove as an informal adviser to Sen. John McCain (R-AZ). Since signing on as a "Fox News contributor" in February, Rove, a maxed-out donor to McCain, has provided electoral maps to the campaign, admitted learning about insider information in a "private gathering" with the senator, and repeatedly shilled for McCain on the network.

NewsTrust Rating: 3.9 average - 3 Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

McCain Economic Policy Shaped by Lobbyist

Tue, 27 May 2008 00:00:00 -0700

TruthOut - By Jonathan Larsen, Keith Olbermann - May. 27 (News Report) - Swiss bank paid McCain co-chair to push agenda on US mortgage crisis. Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain's national campaign general co-chair was being paid by a Swiss bank to lobby Congress about the U.S. mortgage crisis at the same time he was advising McCain about his economic policy, federal records show.

NewsTrust Rating: 4.6 average - 3 Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Show Me the Money

Tue, 22 Jan 2008 00:00:00 -0800

TruthDig - Jan. 22 (Special Report) - The issue of campaign financing was raised once again during Monday's debate between the Democrats, so we thought we'd check the numbers and see how much the candidates are getting and from whom.

NewsTrust Rating: 3.3 average - 5 Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Clinton Allies May Dump Millions Into Anti-Obama Group

Tue, 08 Jan 2008 00:00:00 -0800

Huffington Post - By Thomas B. Edsall - Jan. 08 (News Report) - A panicked and cash-short Clinton campaign is seriously considering giving up on the Nevada caucuses and on the South Carolina primary in order to regroup and to save resources for the massive 19-state mega-primary on February 5.

NewsTrust Rating: 2.9 average (not enough reviews) - See Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Will the GOP Election Theft Machine Do It Again in 2008?

Wed, 24 Oct 2007 16:46:13 -0700

The Free Press - By Bob Fitrakis, Harvey Wasserman - Oct. 24 (News Analysis) - With record low approval ratings for the Bush/Cheney regime and the albatross of an unpopular war hanging from the GOP's neck, do you think that a Democratic presidential candidate will win the White House, get us out of Iraq, and end our long national nightmare? Think again - the mighty election theft machine Karl Rove used to steal the US presidency in 2000 and 2004 may be under attack, but it is still in place for the upcoming 2008 election.

NewsTrust Rating: 4.1 average (not enough reviews) - See Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

The Worst Clinton Contributor Ever?

Sat, 06 Oct 2007 07:44:27 -0700

News For Real - By Stephen P. Pizzo - Oct. 06 (Special Report) - Admittedly Azima is a bit of a different kind of problem since he's never been charged or convicted of any crimes,as Hsu had. But, as you will see if you read on, there might be a reason for that, a quite extraordinary reason. Still a few Google searches would net the curious reporter some pretty startling allegations -- and lots of them. Sure it's just smoke, but so much smoke it would trigger a five-alarm response from any fire department worths it's salt.

NewsTrust Rating: 3.8 average (not enough reviews) - See Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

'Granny D' Pushes 'Politics of Love'

Tue, 10 Apr 2007 17:38:45 -0700

Common Dreams - By Larry Mitchell - Apr. 10 (Special Report) - Haddock called for action against the "giant beast" of unrestrained capitalism. "A century ago, the ordinary people of America joined together to tie down this giant," she said. "The robber barons remained tied down for a time. Now, loosed again, these giants have taken over the television networks and most of our newspapers." The new laissez-faire philosophy, which she called "neoliberalism," creates wars and drains money from vital government functions, like police, fire protection, schools and health care, she said. The solution is publicly funded political campaigns, she suggested.

NewsTrust Rating: 4.6 average (not enough reviews) - See Review » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

FDA Considers Mislabeling Irradiated Food

Tue, 03 Apr 2007 12:02:09 -0700

Common Dreams - By Food, Water Watch - Apr. 03 (News Report) - The Food and Drug Administration announced today that it may allow irradiated food to be mislabeled with alternate terms such as 'pasteurized.' This move by FDA would deny consumers clear information about whether they are buying food that has been exposed to high doses of ionizing radiation. "Consumers have been reluctant to buy irradiated food, and rightly so. Irradiation damages many foods and can ruin their flavor, odor, and texture. The process destroys vitamins, protein, essential fatty acids and other nutrients - up to 80 percent of vitamin A in eggs and half the beta carotene in orange juice, the FDA has noted.

NewsTrust Rating: 4.6 average (not enough reviews) - See Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Blowback from Ohio's 2004 Stolen Election is Escalating

Tue, 20 Mar 2007 23:51:35 -0700

Common Dreams - By Bob Fitrakis , Harvey Wasserman - Mar. 20 (News Report) - In a bold move "to restore trust to elections in Ohio," Ohio's newly-elected Secretary of State, Jennifer Brunner, has requested the resignation of all four members of the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections. The two Democrats and two Republicans were formally asked to resign by the close of business on March 21. Cuyahoga County includes the heavily Democratic city of Cleveland. Brunner is a Democrat who was elected to be Ohio's Secretary of State in November, 2006.

NewsTrust Rating: 4.3 average (not enough reviews) - See Review » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer