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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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Lobbying dollars continue to flow toward health care reform
By Sarah Dorsey Aug 31, 2010 12:22 p.m.The President signed the health care reform bill in March, but over $125 million in lobbying dollars continues to flow to the issue, lobbying disclosure forms show. Total dollars spent lobbying on health care issues remained high in the three months after the reform bill was passed, dipping by only $16 million since the first quarter of the year.
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Everyone and their plumber forming independent expenditure committees
By Ryan Sibley Aug 26, 2010 11:58 a.m.Everyone wants in on the unlimited fun in this post-Citizens United world. Even Joe the Plumber—legally known as Samuel Joseph Worzelbacher—has formed an independent expenditure only committee. Now, in addition to Joe and several other new IE committee registrants, a Political Action Committee, unconnected to any candidate, has asked the Federal Election Commission to determine it legal for groups like theirs to receive unlimited contributions to pay for independent expenditures such as political ads, which expands on what the FEC made clear in two advisory opinions in mid-July. The group that submitted the request, the National Defense PAC, supports and contributes to veterans running for office who agree with their views. NDPAC plans to store the individual contributions in a separate bank account and only use those funds for independent expenditures—generally electioneering communications that are not coordinated with a candidate. The difference between the newly-formed Independent expenditure committees, like Florida is Not For Sale or Joe the Plumber's committee, and groups like NDPAC can be subtle and hard to understand. An aspect of IE committees (or IE-only PACs) is they are non-connected political commitees as is NDPAC, but NDPAC does not solely make independent expenditures. The Advisory Opinion Request submitted by the PAC explains those subtlties in the way the two raise funds and spend those funds: "A non-connected political committee has two choices with virtually identical reporting obligations. It may operate as an IE-only PAC and raise and expend unlimited funds from any corporation, union, or individual for lE's only. Or, it may operate as a non-IE-only PAC, raise and expend amount-limited contributions from individuals and other political committees only, and make amount-limited direct contributions to candidates as well as unlimited expenditures for LE's. Either approach requires the same accounting of receipts, sources, and expenditures."
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Maxine Waters exploits FEC rules to raise big bucks from California politicians
By Lindsay Young Aug 25, 2010 10:37 a.m.Longtime Democratic lawmaker Maxine Waters has perfected an unusual tactic for fundraising over the years – getting candidates, including some of California’s most prominent political figures, running for state and local offices, to pay as much as $45,000 for her endorsement on election mailers. In this election cycle alone, Waters has raised 59 percent of her campaign’s treasury through these “slate mailers.”
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States of Transparency: Colorado
By Sarah Dorsey Aug 20, 2010 4:49 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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Florida Senate candidate stands to benefit from Citizens United
By Ryan Sibley Aug 20, 2010 11:53 a.m.Democratic Rep. Kendrick Meek of Florida is seeking to move congressional offices and grab his state’s senate seat, and if he wins this Tuesday’s primary, he’ll be one step closer. In an effort to make that happen, an independent group has come to the aid of Meek’s modestly-financed campaign—relative to his competitors—and has spent $245,000 placing ads to discredit his opposition, specifically Jeff Greene, a wealthy businessman who has self-financed his run for office.
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Minnesota disclosure rules work, Target's contribution revealed
By Ryan Sibley Aug 19, 2010 11:33 a.m.When Target made that controversial $150,000 donation in July to a conservative political group, they were able to do so because of new rules set in place by Supreme Court's ruling in the Citizens United case. Minnesota previously took steps to make sure people would know about such contributions, and it worked. Read here to find out the steps Target had to take in its expenditure.
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Senator given $100K round of applause by musicians' group
By Sarah Dorsey Aug 17, 2010 3:30 p.m.Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., a lawmaker who moonlights as a classical pianist, was honored in June along with the likes of the co-writer of Lady Gaga's "Paparazzi." The senator was recognized not for his musical abilities, however, but for his support of the music industry. Alexander was the guest of honor at the National Music Publishers Association's annual meeting, an event attended by over 500 songwriters and music publishers -- and one that cost the organization over $100,000 to host, according to the "honararia" section of lobbying records filed with the Senate Office of Public Records.
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Gitmo detainee classifications remain detatched from identities
By Gabriel Debenedetti Aug 17, 2010 2:58 p.m.When the Guantanamo Review Task Force summary report was released in June — more than five months after its completion — it marked the latest step in President Barack Obama’s plan to close the detainee prison in Guantanamo Bay.
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Bauer, Obama's new ethics point man, had double standards on 527s
By Bill Allison Aug 13, 2010 3:08 p.m.At a May 3, 2000, press conference, Rep. Patrick Kennedy, D-R.I., announced that the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) had filed a lawsuit, prepared by its counsel, Robert F. Bauer, alleging that Rep. Tom DeLay, R-Texas, was using a series of nonprofits and political committees (called section 527s, after the section of the tax code under which they're created) to circumvent campaign finance laws, extort money from donors, and evade disclosure. Kennedy and Bauer presented the charges, based for the most part on media reports about DeLay's fundraising tactics, as an unprecedented assault on campaign finance law. "Money laundering," Bauer elaborated on one of the main charges, is "the way in which he avoids public disclosure and washes the fruits of his illegal fundraising operation through these unregistered organizations, which do not disclose the source or object of their expenditures."
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OMB struggles to track $800 billion IT spending by government
By Sarah Whitmire Aug 13, 2010 10:11 a.m.IT Dashboard attempts to tracks billions of dollars spent by the federal government on information technology, but the website itself has out of date information and inaccurate ratings on the investment risks of some agency projects.
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