July 2012
44 posts
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Anxious Obama campaign plans high-dollar fall... →
“President Obama will host a series of high-dollar fundraisers in the coming weeks and is expected to add more events than usual after the Democratic National Convention.
“The string of upcoming events reflects deep worry in Chicago about competing with the tidal wave of cash being raised by outside groups aimed at electing Mitt Romney.”
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Public Campaign: As For-Profit College Profits... →
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Huffington Post: 'Dark Money' Hits $172 Million In... →
Through July 26, politically involved groups that do not disclose their donors have spent at least $172 million on campaigns that include television, radio and Internet advertising, according to a Huffington Post review of FEC reports, advertising buys, press releases and news stories. Total spending by these groups is likely far greater, since they are required to report only a fraction of their...
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“Our efforts this cycle will be our largest and most aggressive in the Chamber’s...”
– U.S. Chamber of Commerce spokesperson, to the Washington Times, on the group’s 2012 election spending. The big business trade association does not have to disclose its donors.
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New Report: Missouri's Payday Lenders and Their...
Payday lenders in Missouri have been fighting regulation for years—and they’ve been buying access and influence through campaign contributions. It’s all laid out in a new report from Public Campaign: “Indebted: How Payday Lenders Buy Political Influence In Missouri And Hurt Everyday People.”
A few key points from the report:
The payday lending industry has spent...
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“A “Very Eclectic Mix”…”
– Rep. Lee Terry’s (R-Neb.) description of the crowd at a meeting of GOP brass and energy industry lobbyists (there were “a lot of different people up there”) at the RNC headquarters to shape the Republican energy platform. The Hill reported the attendees “included aides with House GOP leadership...
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Mitt Romney Registered As Lobbyist For Salt Lake... →
But when it comes to the retelling of his Olympics story, Romney never mentions the L word. Lobbyist.
Romney wasn’t just the head of the Salt Lake Organizing Committee. Romney was also a registered lobbyist for the organization, Utah state records show.
Romney last worked as a lobbyist on Dec. 31, 2000, according to a spokesman for the state lieutenant governor, who oversees the...
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Obama Rewarded ’08 Fund-Raisers, Barring Some From... →
“When President Obama named Hillary Rodham Clinton secretary of state after the 2008 election, he turned a rival into a loyalist. But he also lost Mrs. Clinton as one of the most popular Democratic fund-raisers for his re-election effort, since the nation’s chief diplomat is not allowed to engage in campaigning.
“The same restriction applies to the State Department’s ambassadors...
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“The Fair Elections Now Act is intended to let lawmakers get back to the work...”
– Congressman John Larson (D-Conn.), on the Fair Elections Now Act reaching 100 co-sponsors in the House.
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“Anyone who’s doing either taxes or health care is walking gold. They are the...”
– Ivan Adler, a lobbying recruiter with the McCormick Group, told Roll Call about the worth of top Hill aides if they decide to become lobbyists.
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GOP mega-donors power pro-Romney super PAC →
Some of the all-time biggest donors in Republican politics powered the pro-Mitt Romney super PAC to a $21-million haul in June – its best month yet.
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It shows that nearly three quarters of its cash – $15 million – came from just seven families, most of whom are repeat donors, or have indicated they intend to continue giving.
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Justice Scalia on Campaign Finance
Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia talked about campaign finance during an appearance on CNN last night. Here’s what he had to say, via TPM (emphasis added, related to this week’s debate on DISCLOSE):
Asked whether the controversial Citizens United ruling, which affirmed unlimited spending to influence elections, has led to an abuse of the political process, Scalia rejected the...
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“Republicans are sending a message that profits for their wealthy campaign...”
– Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.), on House Republicans moving “to block a planned Department of Labor regulation that aims to protect coal miners from the dust that causes black lung disease.”
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“New laws in 10 states requiring voters to show IDs could present serious...”
– Brennan Center report, via Washington Post.
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Poor people have to show ID at the polls. Rich people get to buy elections in secret.
— David Waldman (@KagroX) July 16, 2012
The Senate failed to reach the 60 votes needed to move forward with debate on the DISCLOSE Act today.
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Campaign Finance Advocates: Romney Throwing Stones... →
There’s an added layer of irony. Romney is required by the FEC to release the names of bundlers who are also registered lobbyists — i.e. people whose stated job is to secure favorable treatment from the federal government. Many of them work in industries where Romney could give their clients a boost: Bundler Van Hipp works in military contracting, for example, and bundler Patrick Durkin lobbies...
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John Boehner, the $80 million man →
“Speaker John Boehner is the $80 million man.
“That’s roughly how much the Ohio Republican has brought in for House Republicans and GOP candidates since taking the speaker’s gavel, according to his political team.
“The announcement comes as Boehner’s campaign committee announced that it raised roughly $1.6 million in the second quarter of 2012. Boehner’s political team says all...
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EXCLUSIVE: NRA Threatens Senators Who Support... →
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1200 Bundlers, 25% from Financial Sector
USA Today has a great analysis today on Mitt Romney’s campaign bundlers—we break it down on our blog.
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Via AP: “On Aug. 3, the first lady will attend an afternoon fundraising reception at the Colonial Theatre in Pittsfield. Singer James Taylor will perform, with tickets starting at $150.”
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HP, Deere, CVS, MillerCoors, BestBuy Exit... →
Five more companies, including Hewlett-Packard Co, the No. 1 computer maker, have left the controversial American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) since the Feb. 26 killing of Trayvon Martin, 17, in Sanford, Fla.
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Gatsby or Romney?
The New Republic: “I was hardly the only one who, on reading the reports of Mitt Romney’s three weekend fundraisers in the Hamptons— one hosted by the Koch brothers—was put in mind of a certain classic American novel set amid the pre-1929 excesses and inequality of the Roaring Twenties. To underscore to what an extent Powerboat Mitt evokes the unapologetic upper-crust ethos of Jay’s days,...
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Good:
Senior White House adviser David Plouffe is the only member of President Barack Obama’s administration to attend a fundraiser for a pro-Obama super PAC so far, despite an announcement in February that White House officials and Cabinet members would participate.
Cabinet members appearing at super PAC fundraisers always seemed a bit unseemly.
(Via Roll Call)
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174
Today’s 2 fundraisers bring to174, the number of fundraisers Pres Obama has done since filing as a candidate for re-election last year.
— Mark Knoller (@markknoller) July 9, 2012
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Citizens United: California Becomes Sixth State... →
“One of the largest states in the nation took an official stand Thursday against the Supreme Court’s 2010 decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, which ruled that government restriction of corporation or union spending on political campaigns violated the First Amendment right to free speech.
“California joins Hawaii, Vermont, Rhode Island, Maryland and New...
“I am going to bundle every penny I can bundle.”
– Rodger Young, a bundler at Mitt Romney’s super-exclusive Republicanpalooza for his biggest campaign donors. Unlike Barack Obama (or John McCain or George W. Bush), Romney refuses to disclose any of his campaign bundlers beyond the lobbyist bundlers mandated by law.
Young must have bundled... 