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Bopp seconds request to FEC to allow politicians to raise funds for Super PACs
By Bill Allison May 31, 2011 4:21 p.m.Citizens United architect and campaign finance law foe James Bopp Jr. has seconded a request by Democratic campaign finance experts Perkins Coie for the Federal Election Commission to allow politicians and party committee officials to solicit corporations and labor unions for unlimited funds to be spent by independent expenditure-only committees, also known as Super PACs. Bopp's new client, the Republican Super PAC, has already outlined such a fundraising strategy to Republican party officials.
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Democratic Super PACs ask FEC to OK candidate fundraising
By Bill Allison May 19, 2011 4:39 p.m.Following on the heels of the new fundraising strategy laid out by James Bopp Jr. for Republican Super PAC, a pair of similar Democratic groups -- also known as independent expenditure-only committees -- have asked the Federal Election Commission to rule on whether party committee officials and candidates for federal office can permissibly raise unlimited funds from any source for these outside organizations.
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Two groups file as Super PACs
By Bill Allison Dec 1, 2010 12:07 p.m.The mid-term elections are over and the 2012 contest is 23 months away, but the independent groups that played an outsized role in the former are already gearing up for the next contest. Protecting America's Retirees and America's Next Generation filed letters last month with the Federal Election Commission declaring their intent to take unlimited contributions from any source.
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Dark money groups spend $110 million in 168 races
By Anupama Narayanswamy Oct 28, 2010 3:53 p.m.Outside groups that have not disclosed their donors have dumped more than $1 million into each of 14 Senate and 18 House races. As much as $110 million has been pumped into the elections so far by political groups that have yet to disclose their donors, reports submitted to the Federal Election Commission show, and this "dark money" from unknown contributors has impacted 168 congressional races across the country.
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RightChange.com Inc. funded by pharmaceutical industry figure
By Ryan Sibley Oct 28, 2010 9:41 a.m.Fred Eshelman, CEO of North Carolina-based Pharmaceutical Product Development, has given $3.38 million to RightChange.com, an organization taking part in the onslaught of outside spending this election cycle, according to documents filed with the IRS. Almost all of the money going to RightChange comes from Eshelman; the organization is a vehicle for him to air his political views, which happen to align with the GOP's.
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Surprise! The National Education Association funds the National Education Association Advocacy Fund
By Ryan Sibley Oct 27, 2010 2:27 p.m.The National Education Association Advocacy Fund, a Super PAC which has spent $4.2 million to influence the 2010 election cycle so far, receives all of it's funding from the National Education Association, a labor union—or a 501c6—and also its parent organization. No individual donors are listed.
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Dems narrow the outside spending margin
By Anupama Narayanswamy Oct 22, 2010 3:06 p.m.Ten days before the mid-term elections, and left leaning outside groups still lag behind their conservative counterparts, and are being outspent by $43 million. But spending by the two Democratic party committees--the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee--have narrowed the gap, leaving them $23 million behind all Republican spending. Just five days ago, Democrats trailed overall by $37.6 million.
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Outside groups are insiders on D.C.'s fundraising scene
By Nancy Watzman Oct 21, 2010 12:29 p.m.Last May Rep. Dave Reichert, R-Wash., raised campaign cash at a reception at the offices of the National Association of Realtors and around the same time, the group's PAC sent his campaign a check for $4,000.
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Dark money: Super PACs fueled by $97.5 million that can't be traced to donors
By Ryan Sibley Oct 20, 2010 11:31 a.m.Of the $189 million spent so far by Super PACs, non-profits and labor unions to influence the 2010 mid-term elections, $97.5 million has come from groups that do not disclose any donors, an analysis of Federal Election Commission contribution records shows. That is, about 52 percent of the money spent so far on everything from political ads to phone banks to fliers promoting or opposing federal candidates has come from groups that don't disclose the sources of their funds.*
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Dead end disclosure: Super PAC's biggest giver is a shadowy nonprofit with links to Sarah Palin
By Ryan Sibley Oct 20, 2010 11:29 a.m.Citizens for a Working America PAC, a political organization that's spent $250,000 to oppose the reelection of Rep. John Spratt, D-S.C., discloses its contributions to the Federal Election Commission. Its contributor (it has only one) is New Models, a Virginia-based non-profit organized under section 501(c)4 of the Internal Revenue Code, that doesn't disclose its donors.
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Right-leaning outside groups outspending opposition by $40.8 million
By Anupama Narayanswamy Oct 18, 2010 2:16 p.m.Republican-leaning Super PACs and non-party political organizations have reported spending $40.8 million more on mid-term elections than those supporting Democrats, an analysis of Federal Election Commission data shows.
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Editor's note: Tracking another Super PAC
By Bill Allison Oct 15, 2010 3:45 p.m.Michael Dubke gets around. He's a partner at Crossroads Media, LLC, which buys airtime for political ads for Super PACs and candidates. He "exercises control" (the Federal Election Commission term) over Partnership for America's Future, which buys ads from Crossroads Media. He founded Americans for Job Security, which also buys ads from Crossroads Media. Another Crossroads Media client is Alliance for America's Future, run by Mary Cheney, the daughter of former Vice President Richard Cheney. Cheney's former political director, Kara Ahern, works for Alliance for America's Future, filing its disclosures with the FEC. She's also custodian and assistant treasurer for Partnership for America's Future. Her boss there, treasurer Barry Bennett, is a director of Alliance for America's Future.
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More cash spent on attack ads than ones supporting candidates
By Anupama Narayanswamy Oct 15, 2010 3:37 p.m.When all the independent influence is added up, Republicans have a $21 million advantage so far over Democrats, a review of Federal Election Commission data shows.
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Paper trail shows ties between newly registered 'Super PAC,' other groups
By Aaron Bycoffe Oct 15, 2010 3:14 p.m.Earlier this month, Partnership for America's Future filed a letter with the Federal Election Commission declaring that it will take contributions of unlimited amounts and spend them on independent expenditures. According to its website, the organization is "dedicated to supporting efforts designed to elect Republican candidates to office during the 2010 election cycle." In the process, the recently-minted Super PAC is supporting and supported by a web of Republican operatives and institutions that have played an outsized role in the 2010 elections.
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