State agency under fire for pressuring open-government groups it regulates to change position on legislation

Supporters of the bill criticized the state Fair Political Practices Commission for heavy-handed tactics that they said included pushing groups the commission has the power to investigate and fine to drop their support for the transparency bill.Source: State agency under fire for pressuring open-government groups it regulates to change position on legislation...

Justice Kennedy, Author of Citizens United, Shrugs Off Question About His Deeply Flawed Premise

TheIntercept_Source: Justice Kennedy, Author of Citizens United, Shrugs Off Question About His Deeply Flawed Premise...

Why campaign finance laws probably won’t stop Hannity and Lewandowski from helping Trump

David Brock's tentacular, pro-Clinton political machine includes two super PACs, a media watchdog and a legal fund devoted to filing campaign finance complaints against Donald Trump, other Republicans and, of course, Bernie Sanders.Source: Why campaign finance laws probably won’t stop Hannity and Lewandowski from helping Trump...

IRS chief: Don’t impeach me

"It would create disincentives for many good people to serve," he said, according to prepared testimony. "And it would slow the pace of reform and progress at the IRS.Source: IRS chief: Don't impeach me...

Hillary Clinton’s main super PAC has raised $132 million. A third came from six wealthy allies.

Priorities USA Action, the main super PAC backing Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, raised $21.7 million in August, its biggest money month yet.Source: Hillary Clinton’s main super PAC has raised $132 million. A third came from six wealthy allies....

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We Gave Four Good Pollsters the Same Raw Data. They Had Four Different Results.

You’ve heard of the “margin of error” in polling. Just about every article on a new poll dutifully notes that the margin of error due to sampling is plus or minus three or four percentage points.Source: We Gave Four Good Pollsters the Same Raw Data. They Had Four Different Results....

Three multimillionaires stake a claim on California ballot

California has more billionaires than any other state, and an abundance of direct democracy. Those two facts intersect during election season, when spending by wealthy donors helps determine which initiatives make it on the ballot, and how many TV commercials and mailers campaigns can buy.Source: Three multimillionaires stake a claim on California ballot...

Gold cards and red hats: A Trumpian approach to fundraising

Donald Trump is underwriting his presidential bid by selling the Donald Trump lifestyle _ and campaign finance records show it is working Sept. 20, 2016, at 4:11 a.m.Source: Gold cards and red hats: A Trumpian approach to fundraising...

Sheldon Adelson Focuses on Congressional Races, Despite Donald Trump’s Pleas

The Las Vegas billionaire Sheldon G. Adelson is shifting tens of millions of dollars into groups backing congressional Republicans despite months of entreaties from allies of Donald J. Trump, according to several Republicans with knowledge of Mr. Adelson’s giving, dealing a major setback to Mr.Source: Sheldon Adelson Focuses on Congressional Races, Despite Donald Trump’s Pleas...