The newly created independent political groups known as super PACs, which raised and spent millions of dollars on last month’s elections, drew much of their funding from private-equity partners and others in the financial industry, according to new financial disclosure reports.
The 72 super PACs, all formed this year, together spent $83.7 million on the election. The figures provide the best indication yet of the impact of recent Supreme Court decisions that opened the door for wealthy individuals and corporations to give unlimited contributions.
The financial disclosure reports also underscore the extent to which the flow of corporate money will be tied to political goals. Private-equity partners and hedge fund managers, for example, have a substantial stake in several issues before Congress, primarily the taxes they pay on their earnings. [Read more]
WASHINGTON, D.C. – American Future Fund, a conservative nonprofit group pouring money into the 2010 midterm elections, appears to be violating campaign finance law, watchdog groups said in a complaint filed today with the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
The FEC should investigate whether American Future Fund must register as a political committee for its huge expenditures in the election, making the group subject to recordkeeping, reporting and disclosure requirements, Public Citizen, Protect Our Elections and the Center for Media and Democracy said in the complaint, available at: http://bit.ly/dA0LmP [Read more]
As Democrats and Republicans spar over whether foreign money is polluting the midterm elections, a simple point is often overlooked: Hundreds of foreign corporations already play an integral and perfectly legal role in American politics through their U.S. subsidiaries.
Political action committees connected to foreign-based corporations have donated nearly $60 million to candidates and parties over the past decade, including $12 million since the start of 2009, federal contribution records show. Top donors in this election cycle include PACs tied to British drugmakers GlaxoSmithKline and AstraZeneca, which together account for about $1 million; Belgium’s Anheuser-Busch InBev, at nearly $650,000; and Credit Suisse Securities, at over $350,000.
The donations must come from U.S. citizens or residents, and they make up a small fraction of overall political giving. Nonetheless, the role of foreign companies and their U.S. subsidiaries has become particularly sensitive in this year’s midterm campaigns, which have featured widespread voter dismay over the economy and eruptions of anti-foreign rhetoric from both parties. [Read more]
You can stop calling her Mean Jean. She prefers to be known as Ms. Pac-Man.
Second District Republican Congresswoman Jean Schmidt raised a lot of money last quarter, but when it came to contributions from individual donors, her opponent, Surya Yalamanchili narrowly beat her out $109,077 to $108,993. That’s an important distinction especially when you consider that Yalamanchili is the ONLY congressional candidate in the entire country who isn’t accepting PAC money or funding his own campaign.
With groups like Citizens United, the US Chamber of Commerce, America’s Crossroads and more trying to buy this election without disclosing their donors–some of whom could be foreign entities–it’s refreshing to note there is a candidate (and fortunately it’s on our side) who is willing to run an aggressive campaign while staying true to the reasons why he’s running. It’s a bold and risky strategy, but if successful, Yalamanchili will truly be the most liberated representative on The Hill. [Read more]