Campaign Finance
Power of money
John Cheves of the Lexington Herald-Leader examined Kentucky Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell’s career, based on thousands of documents and scores of interviews, to show the nexus between his actions and his donors’ agendas. “He pushes the government to help cigarette makers, Las Vegas casinos, the pharmaceutical industry, credit card lenders, coal mine owners and others.”…
Read MoreFederal Campaign Consultants
The Center for Public Integrity used federal campaign data to show that “in the 2004 federal races, more than $1.78 billion flowed through a professional corps of consultants whose influence plays an important, though largely unexamined, role in the unrelenting escalation of campaign spending.” John Perry and Agustin Armendariz did the data analysis for the…
Read MoreCorporation skirts contribution limits
Mike McIntire of The New York Times analyzed state campaign finance data to show that “one of the world's largest insurance companies has skirted [state] limits in giving almost 20 times that amount to some of New York's most prominent politicians.” New York law limits corporate contributions to $5,000 annually. AIG avoided these limits by…
Read MoreOklahoma campaign donors ranked
Mick Hinton, Randy Krehbiel and Curtis Killman of the Tulsa World used state campaign finance data to find the top donors to Oklahoma elections during the current cycle. Enid attorney Stephen Jones led the list with $73,600 in contributions this year, followed by energy and real estate executives. The reporters also noted, “Several of those…
Read More“Desert Connections”
Chuck Neubauer and Richard T. Cooper of the Los Angeles Times report on an epic development project in Nevada – a “67-square-mile tract of empty desert will blossom into one of the biggest cities in the fastest-growing state in the country and the projected home to more than 200,000 people.” The project is on track…
Read MoreCompanies find new way to win contracts
Michael Forsythe and Jonathan D. Salant of Bloomberg analyzed Federal Election Commission records and found that a growing number of companies had found “a new business model: locate facilities in lawmakers’ districts and shower them with campaign cash. ” The companies were taking advantage of lawmakers’ increasing penchant for “earmarking,” which was at the center…
Read MoreCampaign fund paid for trips to Super Bowl, Vegas
Brad Bumsted and Debra Erdley of The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review compiled records from 2,300 receipts filed by Perzel’s chief of staff and found that House Speaker Perzel, Pennsylvania General Assembly’s top fundraiser, “used campaign cash to treat his chief of staff and both men’s sons to Super Bowl trips the past two years.” Campaign money also…
Read MoreCongressional travel adds up to $50 million
An analysis of more than 25,000 travel disclosure documents over a 5½-year period by the Center for Public Integrity, American Public Media and Northwestern University’s Medill News Service found that “members of Congress and their aides took at least 23,000 trips — valued at almost $50 million — financed by private sponsors, many of them…
Read MoreCampaign finance reform plan lacks scope
Kevin Begos and Doug Stanley of The Tampa Tribune analyzed records to show that the campaign finance reform legislation backed by Senate President Tom Lee would have a serious effect on only about 5 percent of soft money groups in the state, leaving vast loopholes in other places. “Of the 816 soft money committees listed…
Read MorePoliticians use leadership PACs for campaign contributions
Deirdre Shesgreenand and Jaimi Dowdell of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch used campaign records to show that leadership PACs, set up separately from regular re-election accounts, are an increasingly popular tool politicians use to rake in extra campaign dollars that they then dole out to their colleagues — usually the party’s most vulnerable incumbents or top…
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