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Beyond Super PACs: Political groups up electioneering spending as mid-terms approach
By Anupama Narayanswamy Sep 30, 2010 2:43 p.m.Outside organizations have so far reported spending more than $18 million to run issue ads mentioning candidates within 30 days of primaries and 60 days of the general election--a 31 percent increase over the last mid-term election cycle. Corporate trade associations, labor unions, environmental groups, proponents of traditional values and even a group that opposes big money in politics have run ads in the run up to November 2, reports from the Federal Election Commission show.
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Re-Named Offshore Energy Agency Urged to Publish Production Data
By Linsey Isaacs Sep 29, 2010 9:38 a.m.The scandal-wrecked Minerals Management Services changed its name to Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE) as part of a promised wave of reforms, but consumer advocacy groups say more transparency is what is really needed at the offshore energy agency.
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Sunlight tools helps connect the dots between independent expenditures and ads
By Lindsay Young Sep 27, 2010 3:14 p.m.Just over a month away from the midterm elections political ads are mustering strength and each advertisement is only one small piece of a larger network of money, power and influence. The Sunlight Foundation has two new tools to help track this political influence: Follow the Unlimited Money, a user friendly way to track advertising and other kinds of electioneering, and Sunlight Campaign Ad Monitor that tracks the end result of some of the political spending powered by citizens reporting.
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Abortion issues dominate independent expenditures in California Senate race
By Lindsay Young Sep 24, 2010 1 p.m.In the Senate race between Democratic incumbent Barbara Boxer and Carly Fiorina of California, 87 percent of the independent expenditures relates to abortion issues. Among these two candidates, pro-life groups so far have spent $186,000, while pro-choice spending amounts to $41,000, according to a review of our independent expenditures database.
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Outside groups spending record amounts on mid-term elections
By Ryan Sibley Sep 23, 2010 12:06 p.m.Since January 2010, spending by outside organizations to influence congressional elections totals some $57 million--up more than $20 million from a comparable time period in 2006, the most recent non-presidential election cycle--according to reports collected by the Federal Election Commission.
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AP report highlights lack of disclosure in campaign finance world
By Ryan Sibley Sep 20, 2010 3:19 p.m.A report put out by the Asoociated Press today highlights the lack of disclosure of money spent to influence mid-term elections. The story highlights the successful fundraising efforts by American Crossroads and Crossroads GPS, two Republican-leaning organizations created by top Bush administration advisors, and notes that the two groups raised $14.5 million combined in one 30-day period that ended on Sunday.
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‘Baby Steps’ for Federal E-Rulemaking Process
By Jeremy Borden Sep 16, 2010 11:29 a.m.Federal rules affect many aspects of American life, ranging from whether truck drivers can send text messages to standards for the quality of drinking water.
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SpeechNow now speaking
By Ryan Sibley Sep 15, 2010 4:30 p.m.The nonprofit group Speechnow.org has finally established itself as an independent expenture-only committee with the Federal Elections Commission. The group waited for two months after the FEC issued advisory opinions clearly stating that groups could organize to make independent expenditures and receive unlimited contributions -- a result Speechnow's win in a federal court case againt the FEC.
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Can we rate heart surgeries like blenders?
By Sarah Dorsey Sep 9, 2010 11:41 a.m.The Consumers Union, publisher of Consumer Reports, released a set of ratings yesterday for something rather more important than appliances: heart bypass surgery. Using data submitted to the Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS), the Consumers Union has graded various heart surgery groups using a three-star scale, similar to the way it rates radios, cameras and washing machines. It's a set of valuable public data that could serve as a model for expanding the Department of Health and Human Services' open government sites like Data.medicare.gov and the Community Health Data Initiative.
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Top donors to lawmakers fund their official portraits
By Nancy Watzman Sep 8, 2010 7:49 a.m.For 24 years, Rep. Bart Gordon, D-Tenn., has represented the sixth district of Tennessee, rising to become the chairman of the House Science Committee. Now he is retiring, but he is planning to leave his likeness behind in the committee room, in the form of an official portrait paid for by corporate donors such as Lockheed Martin, Microsoft, and Northrop Grumman, which are also top contributors to his campaign fund. These companies have contributed a total of $34,000 to the portrait fund.
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More political organizations declare they'll take unlimited funds
By Ryan Sibley Sep 7, 2010 4:22 p.m.In the 6 weeks following an advisory opinion issued by the Federal Elections Commission allowing some political organizations—called independent expenditure-only PACs—to receive unlimited contributions from corporations and labor unions, 23 groups have registered as such. The FEC is anticipating 67 more to do so as well. To see both FEC lists click here.
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States of Transparency: Tennessee
By Sarah Dorsey Sep 7, 2010 12:32 p.m.The Open Government Directive encouraged states to put valuable government data online. In this series we're reviewing each state's efforts in this direction.
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Consumer Safety Agency Plans Crowdsourcing Database
By Laurel Adams Sep 3, 2010 11:36 a.m.Over the objections of manufacturers, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) will launch a searchable, online database in March that collects consumer complaints about harmful or dangerous products.
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FEC plans real-time release of campaign spending data
By Ryan Sibley Sep 2, 2010 6:08 p.m.Earlier this week, Bob Biersack with the Federal Elections Commission detailed the upcoming release of new campaign finance data by the Federal Election Commission. The anticipated release that is scheduled for next week will contain near-real time independent expenditure data and electioneering communication data. Biersack was careful to identify that the type of data being released is not necessarily new, but the format of the data and who the information is supplied by are the important factors. The FEC official writes: “It's important to remember that not all of the activity we see in 2010 in these categories will really be new. People and groups have been making independent expenditures throughout the life of the Federal Election Campaign Act and some of this will simply represent a continuation of that activity, but some of these filings will come from organizations (e.g. corporations and unions using their general treasury funds) that were prohibited from making these expenditures in the past. The same goes for electioneering communications: Groups have been reporting this activity since the enactment of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002, but the range of organizations that may make these disbursements is now wider.” Groups spending more than $10,000 20 days or more before an election and $1,000 within 19 days of the election on independent expenditures must disclose financial details to the FEC the same day the information is released. Groups spending at least $10,000 on electioneering communications are also required by the FEC to disclose those actions the same day the information is distributed no matter when the spending occurs. The FEC is working to turn the information around as soon as possible by providing automated entry forms for political groups or digitizing information quickly if submitted in hand written form. The longest it could be before any information is available online is two days, and that is if data is received on a weekend. This is promising news for people interested in following the money behind campaign ads. With all the rule changes and new players able to advance their political agendas in ways never allowed before, it is important that public have access to this information. For information on how states are requiring disclosure to take place read here. And to read about how IE-only committees are taking form, read here.
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