Sunlight Foundation Reporting Group

Americans for Prosperity takes aim at farm bill

California billionaire pumps $1 million more into Mass. senate race

California billionaire Thomas Steyer put another $1 million into the super PAC he runs, a group that has backed a Masschusetts Democrat's run for Senate. Voters will go to the polls in the special election in less than two weeks.

Stealthy super PAC avoids disclosing donors before Mass. special election

By registering with the Federal Election Commission only 20 days before the Massachusetts special Senate election, a new super PAC supporting Gabriel Gomez, the Republican in the race, will avoid disclosing its donors until well after voters go to the polls.

Pesticide industry would benefit from farm bill provisions

Tucked within the 1,234-page House farm bill expected to come up for debate next week are two controversial provisions benefitting the pesticide industry by reversing court-ordered federal agency policies designed to protect water and wildlife.

Will Bloomberg's wrath hurt senators who opposed gun bill?

Billionaire Mayor Mike Bloomberg is asking prominent Democratic donors in New York, a key source of funds for candidates across the country, to stop contributing to the four Democratic senators who voted to block a bill that would have strengthened background checks for gun buyers, the New York Times reported.

Study finds link between who gives to judicial candidates and how they decide

A rising tide of campaign contributions to candidates for states' top courts appears to be influencing the way those courts mete out justice, a new academic study finds.

FAIR continues TV ads against immigration reform

As the Senate launches an immigration debate that could last the rest of the month, the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) drops at least $36,000 in its latest round of advertising against the bill, while a major labor union begins advertising in favor of passage.

Senators who write farm bill fine print reap agribusiness campaign cash

As senators cast their votes today on the 1,139-page, $955 billion farm bill, the unseen backdrop is the more than $26 million in campaign cash that agribusiness has pumped into their political campaigns. All but two members of the current Senate have received money from these donors who represent every possible agriculture concern, from sugar growers to dairy farmers to chemical manufacturers and more.

Anti-Keystone group spends big on DC TV ads

Fractious fracking debate continues

Environmental groups have inundated federal officials with comments about proposed fracking regulations but they say industry is still getting its way.

Verizon lobbyists host fundraisers for Intelligence Committee members

Lobbyists for Verizon Communications, which is refusing comment on a now-confirmed report that the telecommunications giant turned millions of its customers' records over to the National Security Agency, have thrown fundraisers for members of the House and Senate Intelligence Committees, records compiled by the Sunlight Foundation show. According to the Political Party Time database, which tracks candidate fundraising events, lobbyists for Verizon Communications have hosted at least five fundraising events for Sens. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., and Susan Collins, R-Maine. Louis Dupart, of the lobbying firm The Normandy Group, hosted at least three events, two for Mikulski and one for Collins, while Wayne Berman hosted two more for Collins, including a birthday reception in 2010. Both senators voted in 2008 in favor of  the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which shielded telecom companies, including Verizon, from lawsuits related to an earlier wiretapping controversy.  Lobbyists for Verizon have also hosted a fundraiser for Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., an ex officio member of the Senate committee, and Rep. Thomas Rooney, R-Fla., a member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. 

Before closing up shop, Lautenberg campaign committee has a debt to pay

New Jersey Sen. Frank Lautenberg, who died Monday at age 89, leaves behind many accomplishments, from laws fighting drunk driving to preventing people convicted of domestic violence from obtaining guns.

In Massachusetts, Gomez touts credentials as political independent -- with help from the GOP

Money, politics and the Missouri special election

Ex-Rep. Jo Ann Emerson's resignation cost Missouri nearly $1 million Voters are going to the polls today in southeastern Missouri to select a replacement for their former congresswoman, Jo Ann Emerson, and as is always the case, they've been preceded by monied interests trying to influence the outcome. So let's review the bidding: Although Sunlight's Follow the Unlimited Money tracker shows that there are many other races (including some that won't take place until next year), there's still a bit of intrigue. On Monday, our colleagues over at the Center for Public Integrity revealed that Conservative Strikeforce Super PAC, the group spending in the race on behalf of the GOP standard-bearer (and odds-on favorite in the ruby Republican red corner of the Show-Me State) Jason Smith, timed the expenditure so that the donors won't have to be revealed until after Election Day. We've seen this trick before.