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SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: campaign finance

campaign finance stories: 104 news summaries

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Pols-Turned-Lobbyists Use Campaign Cash to Curry Favor

Turn donations into 'political slush fund'

Sep 21, 09 9:21 AM CDT
(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... More »

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Congress • campaign finance • campaign funds • lobbying • campaign fundraising • lobbyists

John Edwards Ready to Admit Paternity—But Not Elizabeth

She 'has yet to be brought around'

Sep 19, 09 2:56 PM CDT
(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 “... More »

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John Edwards • Elizabeth Edwards • sex scandal • campaign finance • Rielle Hunter

 Sotomayor's First Case
 Could Transform US Politics

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

Sep 8, 09 7:09 AM CDT
(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... More »

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free speech • campaign finance • Federal Election Commission • political action committees • US Supreme Court • Citizens United • Sonia Sotomayor

High Court May Lift Restrictions on Corporate Cash in Politics

Firms could be allowed to spend freely on ads

Aug 23, 09 2:25 PM CDT
(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... More »

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Hillary Clinton • free speech • campaign finance • First Amendment • McCain Feingold • corporations • US Supreme Court

GOPers Spot
End Run Around Election Law

FEC rule lets 1-man corporations pool
their resources

Jun 9, 09 1:04 PM CDT
(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... More »

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campaign finance • campaign fundraising • Federal Election Commission • election monitors • election law • Michael Dubke • Carl Forti

Hsu Guilty of Squeezing Donors for Campaign Cash

Big Hillary fundraiser faces up to 20 years

May 19, 09 11:28 AM CDT
(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... More »

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Hillary Clinton • fraud • campaign finance • Norman Hsu • Ponzi scheme • guilty verdict

Edwards Admits Feds Probing Hush Cash

Candidate may have paid off mistress with campaign donations

May 3, 09 3:15 PM CDT
(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... More »

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John Edwards • campaign finance • federal investigation • affair • political action committees • Rielle Hunter • campaign donors

Civil War Rages at RNC 

Old guard tries to force spending regulations on Steele

May 1, 09 9:14 AM CDT
(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... More »

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RNC • campaign finance • Michael Steele • Randy Pullen

Supreme Court Will Rule
on Hillary Documentary

Anti-Clinton flick deemed campaign ad

Mar 21, 09 7:04 PM CDT
(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.... More »

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Hillary Clinton • film • campaign finance • political advertising • US Supreme Court • Election 2008 • documentary film • Citizens United

analysis

Commerce
Pick Has
Fundraising Skeletons

Locke is no
slam dunk: Malkin

Feb 24, 09 6:30 PM CST
(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... More »

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campaign finance • Michelle Malkin • campaign fundraising • donor • political donors • political donations • Obama administration • fundraising • Gary Locke

RNC Chief Sacks Staff;
Feds Probe His 2006 Race

Steele accused of misusing 2006 campaign funds

Feb 7, 09 10:52 AM CST
(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... More »

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RNC • layoffs • campaign finance • political scandal • Michael Steele • Republican Party Chairman

(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... More »

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Internet • campaign finance • Obama 2008 • netroots • public financing • political donors • Election 2008 • Mark Schmitt

100 Families Gave $100K
to Obama

Rockefellers,
Spielbergs among Barack's 'elite' donors

Jan 18, 09 12:27 PM CST
(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... More »

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Barack Obama • campaign finance • campaign funds • campaign fundraising • political donors • political donations

 Clinton Writes Off 
 $13.2M Campaign Loan 

Forgiving loan helps clear way for confirmation at State

Dec 23, 08 5:33 AM CST
(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... More »

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Hillary Clinton • campaign finance • Clinton 2008 • Federal Election Commission • Election 2008 • campaign debt

Palin Stylists Collected $110K for 10-Week Campaign

Hair and makeup stylist costs revealed in lastest campaign filings

Dec 5, 08 5:17 AM CST
(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... More »

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campaign finance • campaign funds • clothes • Election 2008 • campaign finance report • Sarah Palin • stylist

(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... More »

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Barack Obama • campaign finance • Obama 2008 • political donors • political donations

GOP Lawsuits Aim to Undo McCain-Feingold Reforms

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

Nov 13, 08 11:30 AM CST
(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’... More »

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Barack Obama • John McCain • RNC • campaign finance • McCain Feingold • lawsuit

Talk About
Bad Timing...

GOP files complaint over funding of Obama visit to grandmother— the day she died

Nov 4, 08 10:11 AM CST
(Newser) - Just hours before Barack Obama announced that his grandmother had died, on the eve of the election, the California Republican Party filed a complaint against him for visiting her on his campaign’s dime, reports the Washington Post. The press release announcing the complaint may have been the worst-timed of... More »

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Barack Obama • campaign finance • Election 2008 • Madelyn Dunham

ANALYSIS

Change Has Already Been Delivered—to Campaigning

The '08 version redrew the political map and ruptured the financing system, and more

Nov 3, 08 9:27 AM CST
(Newser) - We can't be sure what kind of change the next president will bring, but we do know that presidential campaigns themselves will never be the same, writes Gerald F. Seib in the Wall Street Journal. Among this year’s innovations:
  • The campaigns have redrawn the political map, making previously
... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Barack Obama • John McCain • campaign finance • Election 2008 • campaign tactics

 Nonprofit Workers Favor Dems 

Charity employees are more likely to donate money to the left side of the aisle, study finds

Oct 31, 08 8:00 PM CDT
(Newser) - People in the charitable world lean heavily Democrat and love Barack Obama, but try to keep their affiliation low-key to avoid insulting the other side, the Chronicle of Philanthropy reports. A new study shows that 88% of foundation worker donations went to Dems, enriching Obama's effort by $399,000 and... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Barack Obama • John McCain • campaign finance • Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation • Election 2008 • political donations

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