Sunlight Foundation Reporting Group

Pandora gets heard but many lawmakers change the channel

To the delight of the recording industry, a congressional hearing about a bill that would decrease the royalties that Pandora pays to record labels and artists turned into a larger discussion about how Congress regulates the music business.

Lame ducks: Flying free or still dancing with them that brung 'em?

There are more than 80 "lame duck" legislators who won't be back next year but whose votes could determine whether the nation runs off the fiscal cliff or stops short of it.

Battle brews between recording industry and Internet music providers

The fiscal cliff might be getting all the headlines, but another battle is brewing in Congress, pitting the recording industry, a traditional source of Washington power, against Internet firms using an upstart technology. But in a departure from last year's struggle over the Stop Online Piracy Act, better known as SOPA, which favored entrenched media firms like Walt Disney and Time Warner while drawing opposition from technology firms like Google and Reddit, this time the bill at the center of the controversy favors the upstarts. The Internet Radio Fairness Act would lower the royalty fees that sites like Pandora pay out to recording companies and artists.

Follow the money from big Dem donors to super PACs to races

Happy Thanksgiving! How much did your tax dollars underwrite the feast?

Nearly 400 years ago, at the very first Thanksgiving in the Plymouth Colony, Native Americans and pilgrims dined together on a meal of deer, corn, shellfish, and roasted meat. There was no such thing as crop insurance, sugar price supports, dairy subsidies, conservation easements, food stamps, or any other feature of the massive farm bill governing the nation's food policy, which expired on September 30.

After election, dozens of super PACs shut down

The Colbert Report Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c Colbert Super PAC SHH! - Secret Second 501c4 - Trevor Potter www.colbertnation.com Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor & Satire Blog Video Archive

So long Twinkie; so long political sugar

Election lawyers say super PACs should shift strategy

Given the underperformance of many outside spending groups in this year's election, some election lawyers suggested they shift strategies to focus more on mobilizing voters on the ground rather than TV ads in a panel discussion today.

A revealing glance at the freshmen of the 113th Congress

In stark contrast to the current crop of House freshmen, which we reported on extensively earlier this year, the soon-to-be newly sworn in members of the 113th Congress is considerably more balanced politically; however, analysts warn that it will likely be the most divided class yet.

Caffeinated lobbying

Big donors to Obama super PAC have lobbying priorities of their own

Priorities USA Action Fund, the third biggest super PAC in the 2012 elections, had 31 donors--individuals and organizations--who contributed $1 million or more to support President Barack Obama's reelection effort. At least 15 of them have business before the federal government, either directly, or through companies they own large stakes in, either from their own efforts or through inheritance. 

John Kerry: Influence Profile

Sen. John Kerry, now reportedly under consideration for one of two top jobs in President Obama's cabinet, has spent 28 years on Capitol Hill and run for the highest office in land, during the course of which, he has left a considerable money trail.  The Massachusetts Democrat, who saw his 2004 presidential run swift boated away from him, is being mentioned as a potential replacement for either Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, both of whom plan to leave office at the end of Obama's first term. The latter possibility comes as something of a surprise, since Kerry first burst onto the national scene as a Vietnam veteran opposed to that conflict (a position that came back to haunt him in his presidential race) and, as recently as September was criticizing the Republicans unyielding spending on defense.

In GOP leadership race, McMorris Rodgers has the dough behind her

It looks like the Republican establishment will win one and lose one as it heads into leadership elections today on Capitol Hill. As always, campaign fundraising is playing a major role in the contests.In the Senate, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., failed to convince two fundraising powerhouses, Sens. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and Rob Portman, R-Ohio -- two men that may be eyeing a run at the White House in 2016 -- to take on the task of raising money for the 2014 crop of GOP Senate candidates. That means the job is likely to go to Sen. Jerry Moran, a Kansan who has cultivated ties to the Tea Party. The Hill is reporting that some have questioned Moran's ability to raise the necessary stockpiles of cash.

Tobacco fueled ads helped tobacco foe Waxman win reelection

In a case of particularly odd political bedfellows, in late September the tobacco manufacturer the Liggett Group and several company executives, including the CEO, contributed more than $33,000 to a pop-up super PAC that would go on to help the candidacy of just one candidate: Rep. Henry Waxman, arguably tobacco's biggest foe in Congress.