Sunlight Foundation

  1. New nuclear plant builder a major Washington player

    By Keenan Steiner Feb 9, 2012 4:05 p.m.

    The company benefiting from today’s Nuclear Regulatory Commission decision to approve the construction of the first new nuclear plant in the U.S. in over three decades is an influential powerhouse in Washington.

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  2. Dark money in the twilight of 2011

    By Lindsay Young and Breanna Edwards Feb 7, 2012 6:05 p.m.

    Dark money has haunted the psyche of good government reformers. Recent changes in campaign law raise the prospect of unlimited donations, routed to political action committees through 501(c)4 "social welfare" organizations that don't have to disclose contributors' names. That could allow innocuously named groups to shelter powerful individuals and corporations and the influence they're exercising to determine who wins a federal office.

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  3. Crossroads, Planned Parenthood advertise in presidential battlegrounds

    By La Toya Gratten Feb 7, 2012 4:04 p.m.

    As if independent expenditures by super PACs weren't enough, two major political players have notified the Federal Elections Commission of recent electioneering communications in states likely to be battlegrounds this fall.

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  4. Revolving door from CFTC to lobbying firm

    By Nancy Watzman Feb 7, 2012 3:26 p.m.

    A former Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) commissioner has gone through the revolving door to the law and lobbying firm firm Patton Boggs, where he'll work as a senior policy advisor, the firm announced Tuesday.

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  5. Super PAC floodgates open

    By Kathy Kiely Feb 7, 2012 8:39 a.m.

    Whether you consider it a case of raging hypocrisy or a common sense decision not to unilaterally disarm -- and there will be plenty of predictably partisan views on both sides -- President Obama's decision to greenlight donations to a super PAC that former staffers formed last year is confirmation that the influence of big money on politics is about to get exponentially bigger.

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  6. Super PAC profile: Democratic governors play in presidential primary

    By Ryan Sibley Feb 2, 2012 5:33 p.m.

    DGA Action is a super PAC created by the Democratic Governors Association, but so far in this election cycle, all of its ads have been against Republican presidential candidates.

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  7. Super PAC filings show who big donors of 2011 were

    By Sunlight Foundation Reporting Group Feb 1, 2012 11:19 a.m.

    The deadline for presidential super PACs like Restore Our Future and Winning Our Future--supporting, respectively, Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich--and other committees to file their disclosures with the Federal Election Commission fell at 11:59 p.m. Sunlight's Reporting Group combed through the filings, looking to see who's writing six- and seven-figure checks to the super PACs that are trying to influence voters in the Republican primaries--and beyond. We're also providing a chart tracking super PACs playing in the presidential race where you can download .csv files of their latest FEC filings. If you do, be sure to check our our data notes here.

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  8. Not so super PACs

    By Lindsay Young Jan 31, 2012 6:45 p.m.

    For every high-spending, politically-connected PAC, there are even more PACs that fail to accomplish much of anything. As of January 30, some 300 organizations have written letters to the FEC with their intention of raising unlimited money as a super PAC.

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  9. Sunlight on super PACs

    By Kathy Kiely and Jacob Fenton Jan 31, 2012 7:50 a.m.

    It's a big day in politics: Voters in Florida are casting ballots in their hotly contested GOP presidential primary; voters in Oregon's 1st Congressional District are picking a replacement for ex-Rep. David Wu, a Democrat. Here in Washington, we'll be hovering over computer screens and hitting the refresh button in hopes of learning who is trying to influence those contests and beyond.

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  10. Nine things you need to know about super PACs

    By Sunlight Reporting Staff Jan 31, 2012 6:47 a.m.

    What makes a super PAC super?

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  11. Super PACs: How we got here

    By Sunlight Reporting Staff Jan 31, 2012 6:46 a.m.

    Nearly four decades ago, the delivery of a suitcase stuffed with $250,000 in cash to one of then-President Richard Nixon's top aides helped fuel the Watergate scandal and a complete overhaul of the laws regulating campaign finance. Voters in the 2012 election are likely to know less about who is trying to influence their decision than they have at any time since then. And, compared to the amounts of unregulated dollars flowing into campaigns, the stash of cash that former Commerce Secretary Maurice Stans accepted during the 1972 presidential campaign seems like peanuts.

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  12. Evolution of money in politics

    By Lindsay Young Jan 31, 2012 6:42 a.m.

    Here is an interactive timeline of the events that shape money in politics. Click on the dots for more information.

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  13. Revolving door boosts private equity lobbying

    By Nancy Watzman Jan 30, 2012 7:22 p.m.

    The Private Equity Growth Capital Council has a new president with Democratic credentials who has been through Washington's revolving door.

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  14. Super PACs have spent most on Florida ad buys, so far

    By Anupama Narayanswamy Jan 30, 2012 5:08 p.m.

    While the polls have constantly fluctuated in the last week before Tuesday's GOP presidential primary in Florida, one number has seen a steady rise: the campaign money being pumped into the Sunshine State. Helping to boost the total: The two super PACs supporting frontrunners Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich have spent more than $15 million in the state. That number makes 38 percent of all presidential super PAC spending that Sunlight is tracking.

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