An $11 million campaign contribution from an Arizona nonprofit that gave money to a group fighting the Proposition 30 tax initiative represents the largest case of campaign “money laundering” in state history, California’s political watchdog agency charged Monday. Read More
Donations from at least 10 registered lobbyists during the 2010 election cycle are being returned by the Democratic National Committee after questions were raised about them by the Center for Responsive Politics (CRP).
"We're in the process of reimbursing the money," DNC spokeswoman Caroline Ciccone told OpenSecrets Blog. "For whatever reason, be it human error, they gave donations that were out of line with our policy." OpenSecrets blog is CRP's blog. Read More
Median average wealth for freshman members of the House of Representatives in the 112th Congress is significantly lower than overall average for all House members in the 111th Congress, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
The overall average wealth in the previous House was $765,010, according to CRP. That compares with a median average of $570,418 for the 112th Congresses House freshman class, a 34 percent decrease. Read More
A new study by the Center for Responsive Politics and the group, Remapping Debate turns up more proof that there really is a revolving door between Congress and the nether world of congressional lobbyists.
The study found at least 130 congressional staffers in key positions like legislative director and chief of staff who were in lobbying jobs prior to joining their current employers. Both Republican and Democrat members include such staffers among their ranks. Read More
Food prices here in America and around the world are rising quickly in great part due to the growing demands for corn to make ethanol in order to satisfy government mandates for its use. Read More
After the furious lobbying in 2009 to get a piece of the federal spending pie through the Obama economic recovery stimulus program and the Obamacare health care reform measure, K Street lobbying firms saw their income from special interests remain flat in 2010, according to a new report issued today by the Center for Responsive Politics. Read More
Wall Street has given an estimated $2.5 million dollars to Rep. Melissa Bean, D-Ill., who is rumored to be a favorite pick to run the newly formed Consumer Financial Protection Bureau should absentee ballots seal her apparent loss to Tea Party challenger Joe Walsh, R. Read More
Alexander Soros "has the means" and he has no hesitation about using it mostly on behalf of liberal Democrats in 2010, according to a new campaign funding analysis by the Center for Responsive Politics.
"In the run up to the 2010 midterm elections, Soros joins a handful of young, emerging political heavyweights, many of whom are related to other prolific political donors," reports the center's Lauren Hepler in a report posted on the OpenSecrets blog. Read More
Two Texas businessmen, Charles Wyly Jr. and Samuel Wyly, are being accused of massive fraud by the Securities and Exchange commission. You can read the SEC complaint here, but the short version is the brothers are accused of funneling some $750 million worth of stock in four companies the two owned through a byzantine series of companies and accounts in the Cayman Islands and Isle of Man. Read More
White House visitor logs dumped late in the week between Christmas and New Year's Eve show that Billy Tauzin, the top lobbyist for the prescription drug industry and once a favorite target of Barack Obama, visited the White House at least 11 times in Obama's first six months in office. Read More
