The Washington Independent

Posts Tagged PAC

Ambiguities in campaign finance rules allow big money to work in the dark

By | 11.09.11 | 11:42 am

On July 19th, 2011, Mitt Romney attended a dinner party for potential donors put on by the super Political Action Committee (PAC), Restore Our Future. Under the Federal Election Commission’s (FEC) coordination guidelines, Romney’s presence at the fundraiser didn’t cross any boundaries, as long as he didn’t explicitly ask More…

Conservative PAC attacks Democrats, Obama by linking them to Occupy Wall Street

By | 11.09.11 | 10:19 am | More from The Minnesota Independent

The Campaign to Defeat Obama, a political action committee with ties to the Republican Party and the Tea Party Express, has launched a campaign linking Democratic Party lawmakers and President Obama to the Occupy Wall Street movement, which is depicted by the organization as “violent mobs.”

ALEC corporations pay big to Congress

By | 09.13.11 | 1:46 pm

The twenty-three corporations on the American Legislative Exchange Council’s (ALEC) board are big spenders in Washington, pressuring federal departments like the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), targeting congressional initiatives through lobbyists and giving generously to individual members of Congress.

Christine O’Donnell to create new super PAC

By | 12.08.10 | 10:36 am

Christine O’Donnell lost her U.S. Senate race in Delaware by seventeen points — but she had $924,800 still left over in her campaign account after the election was over, odd for a candidate who complained that the national Republican Party was not doing enough fundraising to help her. She’s More…

88 Percent of American Crossroads Funding Since September 1 Came From Just Five Donors

By | 10.21.10 | 12:25 pm

Out of a total of 345 contributions from September 1 – October 13, just five donors contributed 88 percent of the funds to American Crossroads, a “super PAC” affiliated with former Bush White House Senior Adviser Karl Rove and former Republican National Committee Chair Ed Gillespie. Crossroads raised $14,778,673 in More…

Citizens United and Campaign Finance Law, Summed Up in a Chart

By | 10.08.10 | 2:14 pm

The Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision represented a major change to campaign finance law. I’ve been tracking the story of how some corporations (both for- and non-profit) and PACs have been taking advantage of the new legal landscape, looking in particular at the spending of “Super PACs,” which can More…

The National Organization for Marriage Case in Rhode Island, Explained

By | 09.30.10 | 5:59 pm

U.S. District Judge Mary Lisi held an in-chambers conference on NOM’s lawsuit against the Rhode Island Board of Elections today. (That’s lawyer-speak for a hearing on scheduling a hearing for the case.) The basic issue is this: NOM hopes to run political ads on behalf of Rhode Island gubernatorial More…

National Organization for Marriage Sues to Shield Donors

By | 09.28.10 | 10:10 am

The National Organization for Marriage is at it again, this time suing Rhode Island’s Board of Elections for the right to run TV ads in the state’s gubernatorial race without complying with the disclosure requirements or spending limits that are currently state law:

New ‘Independent Expenditure Committees’ Disclose Little to FEC

By | 08.12.10 | 3:57 pm

In a detailed piece for BNA Money & Politics Report, Kenneth Doyle details new developments following the Federal Election Commission’s ruling in July that two political organizations could collect unlimited contributions while registering as a political action committee (PAC).

Pawlenty: I Support Sara Taylor-Style Focus on Voter Registration Fraud

By | 10.01.09 | 12:55 pm

On a morning conference call, I got a chance to ask Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R-Minn.) about voter registration, voter fraud, and his new PAC’s political adviser Sara Taylor. In the Bush administration, as a White House political director, Taylor got tangled in the scandal over the firing of U.S. More…