Former U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold — long a champion of campaign finance reform — founded a political action committee that has given a mere 5% of its income to federal candidates and political parties. Instead, nearly half of the $7.Source: Feingold’s PAC funded fees, salaries for himself, ex-staffers...
Augustus and Julius, Khan and Macedon, Roosevelts and Kennedys, Bushes and Clintons—what is it that makes rival family dynasties so compelling? Across time, across cultures, across political systems, there is a common theme of dominant families rising to power for decades or centuries on end.Source: What’s With American Political Dynasties?...
This is only the second presidential election in which super PACs, which can raise unlimited money as long as they don’t coordinate directly with candidates, will play a role.Source: What Happens to Surplus Super PAC Money?...
In 1999, the United States was booming. The economy was strong, and the Great Recession was still two presidential terms away. About 13,000 lobbyists spent $1.5 billion that year to try to nudge the government in their direction.Source: Where the billions spent on lobbying come from, in maps...
Gov. Chris Christie does not know what he is talking about when he accuses Hillary Clinton of condoning voter fraud because she wants to make it easier to register and vote. In response to Clinton's call for easing voting restrictions and endorsing universal voting registration, Gov.Source: On voter fraud, Christie keeps talking through his hat...
Jeb Bush announced his presidential run, the latest high-profile Republican to join an increasingly large field of conservatives looking to break the Democrats’ eight-year control of the White House.Source: Bush 3.0: Jeb’s Impending Battle With the Media -- And His Last Name...
Once again, a new kind of shadowy organization is threatening the integrity of our nation’s public and political engagement.Source: On Clarifying IRS Rules for Nonprofits, Senator Hatch Takes Bold Stand on Both Sides of Issue...
The Iowa Republican Party's central committee voted unanimously to kill the party's presidential straw poll on Friday, a move the state GOP chairman blamed on the lack of candidates participating this year.Source: Iowa GOP votes to kill its presidential straw poll...
The two-year prison sentence imposed on disgraced GOP operative Tyler Harber is the first step toward greater scrutiny of the consulting industry, federal prosecutors said Friday. The government credited Terry Wear, who runs the 11th district GOP in Virginia, with blowing the whistle on Harber.Source: Republican strategist sentenced to two years for illegal coordination...
Jonathan Zucker and Joshua Tauberer have developed a website where political donors can give money to the campaigns of sitting lawmakers or their future reelection challengers based solely on how those lawmakers vote on legislation. Just don’t confuse it with “bribery,” they say.Source: This Web site allows political donors to give money based on how lawmakers vote. Just don’t call...
