Sunlight Foundation Reporting Group

A half-billion in outside influence: What else could the money buy?

A little less than six weeks shy of Election Day, we've crossed another campaign spending Rubicon: Sunlight's Follow the Unlimited Money tracker has now recorded more than $500 million in a spending on the 2012 campaign by outside interest groups.

Do business groups' pre-election forecasts follow their campaign money?

Housing prices and consumer confidence are up but several business groups that have been in town this week have been delivering a distinctly gloomy view of the economy. While the groups have blue-chip reputations in the business world, what's less apparent is their track record of political giving -- one that raises some questions about the forecasts they are presenting six weeks before Election Day.

Buzzfeed's five surprising charts show impact of Citizens United

Buzzfeed offers five surprising charts about political money in the 2012 election cycle, feeding off of this recent release from the Federal Election Commission tallying up contributions and spending through June 2012. What they show--by omission--is how much Citizens United and subsequent court decisions and FEC rulings have changed the way campaigns raise and spend money. A few examples:

No close call here: NFL's political donations tilt Republican

The National Football League bigwigs who early this morning conceded defeat in an ongoing labor dispute -- after a week in which their internal politics have been on embarrassing display -- like to play politics themselves, and tend to favor the party with the most adversarial relationship with unions.

In Ohio ad wars, the Democrats are on top

In Ohio, which is playing host to both presidential campaigns today, Democrats appear to be pulling ahead in the money race -- and in the polls -- an analysis by the Sunlight Foundation has found.

Todd Akin on the November ballot: Will he have any serious money?

Outside groups spending millions on state level elections, ballot initiatives

A six year battle between the state of Michigan and a local billionaire will come to a head this November, when voters decide whether to build the first public bridge between Detroit and Windsor, Canada. The ballot initiative will be voted on despite an agreement Michigan Gov. Richard Snyder, a Republican, reached with the Canadian government earlier this year which, Snyder says, can't be overturned by the referendum.

Gross Political Product: Outside campaign spending tops 2010 total

In a campaign that's supposed to be about an ailing economy, there's just one financial indicator that remains consistently robust: Call it the Gross Political Product.

King of fundraising: Obama leads Romney by $242 million

While the most recent Gallup poll shows registered voters equally split, at 47 percent a piece, in the money race President Barack Obama has an unassailable lead. 

Federal election commissioners versus the Federal Election Commission

In an odd twist even for a federal agency known for its fecklessness and divisiveness, some commissioners are challenging their own commission. Typically they merely oppose each other--along partisan lines.

The money bombers: Which outside spenders have the most for the homestretch?

Heading into the final stages of the 2012 campaign, the super PAC in position to have the biggest impact, by far and away, is American Crossroads, Sunlight's Follow the Unlimited Money tracker shows.

Ryan attracts hundreds of D.C.-area donors at hotel fundraiser

With Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney campaign’s finances in some trouble, a fundraiser at an upscale Washington hotel Thursday featuring his runningmate, Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., attracted about 200 donors, according to an estimate from one who paid $1,000 to attend.

Obama's fundraising paves way for advertising dominance

When it comes to saturating the airwaves and cable outlets with political advertisements, no entity has spent more in the 2012 presidential elections than the campaign of President Barack Obama. Through July, his campaign spent more than $111 million broadcasting its message--more than twice the $48 million spent by his GOP rival, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. Both campaigns will disclose their itemized contributions and expenditures for August with the Federal Election Commission today.

Introducing Econocheck

When Mitt Romney claims, as he did in a private talk at a fundraiser for well-heeled donors, that 47 percent of Americans do not pay income taxes, where can one check his math? When President Barack Obama tells David Letterman and his audience that he doesn't know how much the national debt is, what's the best place to get the latest number? When a member of Congress claims federal spending has been cut to the bone, what's the best place to check that claim?