Super Pac Funds afforded inadequate sunshine

Secrecy surrounds many of the donations to political groups seeking to influence the presidential race prompting concerns that the public might not ever know the origins  of vast sums of money. Donations from corporations and unions have ballooned since the Supreme Court’s United decision in 2010. -db From The New York Times, February 2, 2012, [...]

Transparency: Democrats want sun to shine on secret flow of corporate money to Republicans

Democrats are suing the Federal Election Commission to force them to disclose which private companies and nonprofit groups are contributing millions of dollars in secret donations to Republican causes. There has been an avalanche of spending after the Supreme Court decision granting First Amendment rights to corporations, and Republicans have blocked legislation in Congress requiring [...]

Political TV ads evade disclosure rules

The Federal Elections Commission said that in some circumstances, political candidates can run pay-per-click ads without disclosing who paid for the ad or whether the ad was approved by the candidate. -db Online Media Daily October 11, 2010 By Wendy Davis Handing Google a partial victory, the Federal Elections Commission said that political candidates can, [...]

Republican non-profits avoid regulation and spend millions on TV attack ads

Setting up an non-profits, Republican groups have been able to keep their donor lists private and run ads to influence elections. -db The New York Times September 21, 2010 By Michael Luo and Stephanie Strom Crossroads Grassroots Policy Strategies would certainly seem to the casual observer to be a political organization: Karl Rove, a political [...]

Federal court rules constitutional limits on Republican Nation Committee funding

The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a federal election law preventing the Republican National Committee from funding a radio ad and other expenses for a 2008 congressional candidate. -db Courthouse News Service September 16, 2010 (CN) – The 5th Circuit voted 11-5 to uphold provisions of a federal election law that limited the Republican [...]

FEC agrees Citizens United is media so doesn’t have to disclose donors

The Federal Elections Commission ruled that the conservative Citizens United was a media organization and as such did not have to disclose the donors behind their documentaries. -db The Washington Post June 9, 2010 By Carol D. Leonnig The conservative political group Citizens United has won a ruling from federal election authorities that it does [...]

No system allows voters easy access to identities of special interests funding campaign ads

The Supreme  Court ruling in the Citizens United case opens the door for corporate and union interests to produce ads to influence elections in 2010, and Congress is working on a bill to shed light on sources of the ads. But a Sunlight Foundation blogger says Congress needs to amend the DISCLOSE Act to make [...]

Disputing Citizens United opinion: Reporters find campaign contributions lack transparency

Contrary to Justice Anthony Kennedy’s majority opinion in the Citizens United case on campaign finance that with the Internet, information on corporate spending in political campaigns was more accessible than ever, Washington reporters going online to examine recent fundraisers were unable to determine which companies and special interests attended and how much money they contributed.-db [...]

Politicians using social media encounter legal obstacles

As politicians begin using Twitter, etc. to campaign, gain support for legislation and fundraise, they sometimes find themselves up against state and federal law. A Citizen Media Law Project staff attorney says that it is important that the rules be amended regularly to take into account changes in the social media and to avoid stifling free expression. [...]

FEC approves consulting firm to help wealthy legally run political ads

The Federal Election Commission approved a consulting firm, Black Rock Group, to work with individuals to run political ads without violating campaign finance laws. The advisory allow the group to avoid regulation as a political committee. -DB OMB Watch October 1, 2009 By Amanda Adams The Federal Election Commission (FEC) decided with a 4-1 vote that [...]