campaign finance

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Schumer: Campaign Ruling 'Undermines Democracy'
Schumer: Campaign Ruling 'Undermines Democracy'
supreme court
Jan 21, 2010 12:28 PM CST

Schumer: Campaign Ruling 'Undermines Democracy'

Democrats, good-government groups blast Supreme Court decision

(Newser) - Democrats and campaign reformers alike are railing against today’s Supreme Court decision allowing corporations to use their money how they please in the political arena. “This decision allows Wall Street to tap its vast corporate profits to drown out the voice of the public in our democracy,”...

Whitman, Poizner Pour Cash Into California Primary
 Whitman, Poizner Pour Cash Into California Primary
millionaire v. billionaire
Dec 17, 2009 8:24 AM CST

Whitman, Poizner Pour Cash Into California Primary

But neither of them is even leading the GOP slugfest for gov

(Newser) - A pair of super-rich Republicans are ladling millions of their own dollars into the California gubernatorial primary, even though they’re both behind in the polls. This week Steve Poizner pulled $15 million out of his wallet for his run at the governor’s office, the San Francisco Chronicle reports,...

Bloomberg Spent $102M to Win 3rd Term

NYC mayor shatters record for spending own cash on campaign

(Newser) - New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg spent a whopping $102 million—$174 per vote—to narrowly win a third term in office this month, according to figures released last night. The billionaire broke his own record for the most expensive self-financed campaign in American history, the New York Times reports.

Pols-Turned-Lobbyists Use Campaign Cash to Curry Favor

Turn donations into 'political slush fund'

(Newser) - When congressmen leave Capitol Hill for lobbying jobs, they take their unused campaign funds with them, then dole them out to other lawmakers to influence policy, USA Today reports. Such donations are legal—federal law permits ex-congressmen to keep campaign accounts active, donating the money to candidates, parties, and charities—...

John Edwards Ready to Admit Paternity—But Not Elizabeth

She 'has yet to be brought around'

(Newser) - John Edwards once insisted on national TV that he did not father his mistress’ daughter. But secluded at his 100-acre estate in tony Chapel Hill, Edwards is now close to a public reversal—if he can convince his wife to let him, the New York Times reports. Elizabeth Edwards “...

Sotomayor's First Case Could Transform US Politics

New justice in at the deep end with landmark campaign finance case

(Newser) - There aren't any easy cases at the Supreme Court level but the one newbie Sonia Sotomayor and her eight colleagues will tackle  tomorrow is as momentous—and as tricky—as they come, McClatchy reports. Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission will require the court to decide whether the long-standing ban...

High Court May Lift Restrictions on Corporate Cash in Politics

Firms could be allowed to spend freely on ads

(Newser) - September 9 could mark a watershed in campaign finance, as the Supreme Court hears a special argument for overturning long-standing rules that restrict corporations from buying political advertisements, the Los Angeles Times reports. The court has used the case of Hillary: The Movie, a documentary that a lower courts decided...

GOPers Spot End Run Around Election Law

FEC rule lets 1-man corporations pool their resources

(Newser) - A decision by campaign-finance regulators has a pair of GOP strategists hoping to skirt limits set by election law, Politico reports. The Federal Election Commission recently OK’d ad buys made by a solo activist’s one-man corporation. That gave the strategists an idea: Rich individuals could avoid rules against...

Hsu Guilty of Squeezing Donors for Campaign Cash

Big Hillary fundraiser faces up to 20 years

(Newser) - Ponzi schemer and Democratic fundraiser Norman Hsu has been convicted of campaign finance fraud after two days of jury deliberations, the Wall Street Journal reports. Prosecutors said Hsu had pushed his investors to donate tens of thousands to his chosen political candidates, including Hillary Clinton, between 2004 and 2007. Hsu...

Edwards Admits Feds Probing Hush Cash

Candidate may have paid off mistress with campaign donations

(Newser) - John Edwards is being investigated by feds looking to see if he illegally used 2008 campaign funds to hush up mistress Rielle Hunter, the former candidate told the Charlotte Observer, confirming an earlier report in the Edwards-happy National Enquirer. Hunter, hired to film the candidate, was paid $114,000 by...

Civil War Rages at RNC
Civil War Rages at RNC 
May 1, 2009 9:14 AM CDT

Civil War Rages at RNC

Old guard tries to force spending regulations on Steele

(Newser) - Behind closed doors at the Republican National Committee, a battle’s raging over how much decision-making power chairman Michael Steele should have and, by implication, how much the party trusts him. Some RNC members, led by Treasurer Randy Pullen, the Arizona party chairman, are pushing strict oversight on Steele’s...

Supreme Court Will Rule on Hillary Documentary

Anti-Clinton flick deemed campaign ad

(Newser) - Supreme Court judges will go the movies next week when they hear arguments about a feature-length film on Hillary Clinton, the AP reports. Screened in eight theaters during the presidential campaign, Hillary: the Movie fizzled after federal courts said the scathing documentary and its commercials amounted to campaign ads....

Commerce Pick Has Fundraising Skeletons
Commerce
Pick Has
Fundraising Skeletons
analysis
Feb 24, 2009 6:30 PM CST

Commerce Pick Has Fundraising Skeletons

Locke is no slam dunk: Malkin

(Newser) - President Obama's administration surely hopes Gary Locke will prove a relatively uncontroversial pick for Commerce after the messy Bill Richardson and Judd Gregg nominations. Not likely, writes Michelle Malkin, who covered Locke for the Seattle Times when he was Washington's governor. Locke, she reminds, faced a series of probes from...

RNC Chief Sacks Staff; Feds Probe His 2006 Race

Steele accused of misusing 2006 campaign funds

(Newser) - New RNC chief Michael Steele is quickly making headlines, but not exactly of the good-news sort. The Post reports that he's laid off practically all of the RNC staff, a not-too-startling development given the GOP's big election losses, but one that forces him to start from scratch as the party...

It's the Small Change We Should Believe In

(Newser) - The 2008 election marked the death knell of post-Watergate public financing, Mark Schmitt writes for the American Prospect, but the raft of small donations that killed the system heralds a hopeful future. The public financing system was designed—and failed—to limit the influence of special interests: “Since the...

100 Families Gave $100K to Obama
100 Families Gave $100K
to Obama
Jan 18, 2009 12:27 PM CST

100 Families Gave $100K to Obama

Rockefellers, Spielbergs among Barack's 'elite' donors

(Newser) - Barack Obama’s political efforts haven’t run purely on grassroots fuel: almost 100 families that gave $100,000 or more made up an “elite” group of repeat donors over the past 2 years, the Washington Post reports. Current donation rules make whopping contributions possible if donors distribute funds...

Clinton Writes Off $13.2M Campaign Loan

Forgiving loan helps clear way for confirmation at State

(Newser) - Hillary Clinton has formally written off the $13.2 million of her own money she lent to her presidential campaign, Bloomberg reports. The move is a big step toward shutting down her campaign committee and removing a potential stumbling block to her Senate confirmation as secretary of state. Clinton still...

Palin Stylists Collected $110K for 10-Week Campaign

Hair and makeup stylist costs revealed in lastest campaign filings

(Newser) - Sarah Palin's hair and makeup stylists cost John McCain's campaign $110,000 for the 10 weeks she was vice-presidential candidate, reports the New York Times.  Palin’s makeup artist—an Emmy nominee for her work on So You Think You Can Dance?—pocketed over $68,000 for the campaign...

Small Donors Didn't Drive His Campaign: Study

(Newser) - The little guy didn't fill Barack Obama's campaign coffers after all, a new non-partisan study says. True, almost 50% of his donations were $200 or less, but many of those donors gave again. Only about a quarter of them stopped at two C-notes, a figure in the same range as...

GOP Lawsuits Aim to Undo McCain-Feingold Reforms

Party challenges limits on 'soft money' donations, coordination with candidate

(Newser) - The Republican Party, smarting over its defeat at the hands of Barack Obama’s fundraising machine, is suing to defang the campaign-finance bill John McCain sponsored, the Washington Times reports. Two suits to be filed today will challenge the legislation’s limits on so-called “soft money” and the parties’...

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