Were the chaotic presidential elections of 2000 and 2004 an anomaly or a harbinger of things to come this November? Is democracy, as Karl Rove warned the Republican National Lawyers Association in 2006, under siege? “We have, as you know, an enormous and growing problem with elections in certain parts of America today,” the then-deputy […]
Search results
Posted inDemocracy, Silent Partners
527s – Frequently Asked Questions
Indictment of a system By Elizabeth Brown and Alex Knott November 21, 2005 Study findings for “Indictment of a System” By The Center for Public Integrity November 21, 2005 527 Ad Spending Heavy in Midwestern States By Derek Willis September 23, 2004 527s attract new donors as others abandon system in wake of BCRA By […]
Posted inDemocracy, Silent Partners
527s run aground in the states
Indictment of a system By Elizabeth Brown and Alex Knott November 21, 2005 With $51 million in the bank for 2005 so far, 527 committees are riding high in the off-year election cycle. On the campaign trail, though, many of these political nonprofit organizations are running afoul of state regulators and election authorities. So-called 527 […]
Posted inDemocracy, Elections, Party Lines
Cautious about hard money
Consultants By Kevin Bogardus May 26, 2005 A little-used campaign finance rule By Neil Gordon October 14, 2004 The Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 brought about monumental changes in campaign finance practices, forcing political parties at all levels to significantly modify their operations. County parties—which are often closest to the ground during key elections […]
Posted inDemocracy
Foreign lobbyist database could vanish
Justice Department officials say a huge database that serves as the public’s lone window on lobbying activities by foreign governments has been allowed to decay to a point they cannot even make a copy of its contents. Responding to a recent Freedom of Information request from the Center for Public Integrity, the Justice Department’s Foreign […]
Posted inDemocracy, Silent Partners
Incomplete disclosure
Indictment of a system By Elizabeth Brown and Alex Knott November 21, 2005 527s attract new donors as others abandon system in wake of BCRA By Alex Knott and Agustín Armendariz August 12, 2004 Study findings for “Indictment of a System” By The Center for Public Integrity November 21, 2005 Voter turnout group focuses on […]
Posted inDemocracy, Silent Partners
Silent Partners: Special Report
527s – Frequently Asked Questions By The Center for Public Integrity November 21, 2005 It was the morning of November 6, 2002, the day after Democrats had lost control of the U.S. Senate, lost ground in the U.S. House of Representatives and were soundly beaten in several key gubernatorial races. The man at the top […]
Posted inDemocracy, Silent Partners
Buying influence
Politician 527s By Alex Knott and Agustín Armendariz September 25, 2003 Political committees operating in a gray area of the law spent more than $430 million during the past three years to influence elections and policy debates across the country, according to an analysis by the Center for Public Integrity. Until now, no one has […]
Posted inDemocracy
Commentary: New GOP chairman Marc Racicot mixes politics and profits
President Bush’s recent decision to name an active, registered lobbyist to head the Republican National Committee is a stunning metaphor about how power, money and hubris in Washington can dull the ethical judgment of an Administration that vowed to “restore honor and dignity” to the White House. It also provides a rare glimpse at the […]
Posted inDemocracy
Racicot will continue lobbying while serving as RNC chair
President Bush’s choice of former Montana governor Marc Racicot to head the Republican National Committee continues a long established practice by both Republicans and Democrats of hiring lobbyists as party chairmen. While serving as the chairman of the Republican National Committee, Racicot will maintain his position with the Houston-based law firm of Bracewell and Patterson. […]
Posted inDemocracy
Bush, Gore recount forces can raise unlimited cash without disclosure to public
As the Republican and Democratic parties have frantically sought private money since Election Day to fund their candidates’ recount efforts, they have entered an area where the Federal Election Commission has only limited jurisdiction. In this gray zone, the two parties can raise unlimited amounts of cash without necessarily having to disclose the donors or […]
Posted inDemocracy, Elections, Issue Ad Watch
Hired hands grab chance to skirt ‘527’ disclosure law
Complying with a new federal law, Political Animals registered with the Internal Revenue Service by the August 1 deadline. Like other so-called “527” groups, so named after a section of the IRS code, Political Animals could operate politically related campaigns without disclosing its identity, contributions or expenditures. Congress targeted such groups in July campaign finance […]
Posted inDemocracy, Elections, Issue Ad Watch
Here are the groups targeted by ‘no-soft-money’ pledge in New York race
New York’s U.S. Senate candidates, Republican Representative Rick Lazio of Long Island and his Democratic opponent, first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, have agreed to discourage outside interest groups from airing issue advocacy ads during the contest and to let the two candidates and their parties duke it out on their own. The agreement has influenced […]
Posted inDemocracy, Elections, Issue Ad Watch
Interests behind 527 groups seeking ways around new law
Though the law forcing certain tax-exempt political groups to disclose their donors and expenditures is just days old, some of the interests behind the groups are already seeking ways around it. “I have no intentions of submitting to this,” said William Wilson, spokesman for the Council for Responsible Government, one of the Section 527 groups […]
Posted inDemocracy
Stealth PACs revealed
The 2000 election cycle promised to be a high-stakes and free-spending election by anyone’s measure. The balance of power in Congress was in question and the White House was up for grabs. The import of this election cycle meant that interested groups were going to be as active as possible in as many ways as […]
Posted inCongress, Democracy, Power Trips
Unregistered advocates?
Privately sponsored trips hot tickets on Capitol Hill By Jim Morris June 5, 2006 Frequently Asked Questions By The Center for Public Integrity June 5, 2006 Over the past three years, as Airbus and Boeing have been locked in a bitter fight over each other’s government subsidies, an obscure nonprofit has sponsored at least 10 […]
Posted inDemocracy
Tim Pawlenty’s ties to “Swift Boat” Bob Perry
Tim Pawlenty’s ties to Morgan Stanley executives could create image issues By Peter H. Stone June 6, 2011 Conservative donor Bob Perry gives big to Pawlenty, Romney — and Rick Perry By Aaron Mehta August 4, 2011 Tim Pawlenty may not have great name recognition but he does have one very important thing for a […]
Posted inDemocracy
Koch’s web of influence
Key findings Koch Industries has increased its lobbying from $857,000 in 2004 to $20 million in the last two years. Koch has 165 manufacturing facilities and lobbies against increased regulation of toxic byproducts like dioxin, asbestos and formaldehyde. Koch has purchased four ethanol plants with a combined capacity of 435 million gallons; ethanol subsidies cost […]
Posted inDemocracy
On Capitol Hill, the more things change …
It didn’t take long for some new House Republicans to decide that inside-the-Beltway wisdom is essential after all. Many have hired tried-and-true Capitol Hill veterans as their chiefs of staff. Freshman Rep. Raul Labrador, R-Idaho, picked John Goodwin, a lobbyist for the National Rifle Association, as his chief of staff. Labrador, a Tea Party favorite, […]
Posted inCongress, Democracy, Senate Chairs
Debbie Stabenow — Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee
Debbie Stabenow accepts the gavel for the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry just as preparations begin for what is sure to be a controversial new farm bill in 2012. Stabenow, the junior senator from Michigan, is currently in her tenth year in the Senate, following a four-year stint in the U.S. House and 16 […]
Posted inDemocracy
Americans for Job Security — how a shadow group hustles for funds
Long-time GOP operative David Carney is hardly a household name like Karl Rove. But among Republican strategists and fundraisers in Washington D.C., Texas, and other states, Carney is well-known as an aggressive and controversial figure who periodically operates under the radar. Those qualities are also hallmarks of Americans for Job Security — a shadowy advocacy […]
Posted inDemocracy
Despite court win after Citizens United, SpeechNow.Org yet to capitalize
Last week, a Houston-based group called Texas Tea Party Patriots PAC, alerted the Federal Election Commission that it intends to raise unlimited sums of money, without following any contribution size limits. The notification wasn’t just a courtesy, however. These tea-partying Texans and 22 other committees are lining up to take advantage of a new opening […]
