Federal Election Commission

It Turns Out, We Can Indeed Haz Super PAC: Part I

Remy M. Maisel | Posted 05.25.2012

Read More: Stephen Colbert, Penn State, Politics, Super Pac, The Colbert Report, Colbert Super Pac, Psu, Federal Election Commission, College News

My legal advisor and I spread out FEC Form 1 on the dining room table. "You mean this is really, really it?" I was asking in disbelief. "This one form, which asks nothing more difficult of me than to spell my name and address properly, is all I need?"

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Can $250,000 buy a senator?

The Center for Public Integrity | Posted 05.18.2012

Read More: Don Stenberg, Sarah Palin, Major, Senate Primary, United States Presidential Election, The New York Times, Governor, Business and Finance, Republican Party, Treasurer, Center for Competitive Politics, Republican National Committee, Campaign Finance Regulations, Barack Obama, TD Ameritrade, Federal Election Commission, Attorney General, Major League Baseball, Ending Spending Action Fund, Adam Smith, Libertarian Party, Finance, Attorney, Jim Demint, Arizona, Deb Fischer, Stephen Hoersting, Brian Baker, Senator, J. Joseph Ricketts, Long-Time Chairman and CEO, Investment, Jon Bruning, Kim Hillyer, Meredith McGehee, United States, Jeremiah Wright, Thomas Ricketts, U.S. Supreme Court, Campaign Finance Reformers, Thomas S. Ricketts, Joe Ricketts, Bob Kerrey, Campaign Legal Center, Club for Growth, Candidate, Tim Pawlenty, United States Senate, Gary Johnson, Campaign Finance Watchdogs, Ameritrade, Politics News

By Michael BeckeliWatch NewsIn the aftermath of Tuesday's Republican U.S. Senate primary in Nebraska, campaign finance watchdogs are concerned about...

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Disclosure For Kochs, Rove Comes Closer

HuffingtonPost.com | Dan Froomkin | Posted 05.15.2012

Read More: Van Hollen v. Fec, Karl Rove, 2012 Elections, Chris Van Hollen, Elections 2012, Citizens United, Campaign Finance, Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, Transparency, Video, Koch Brothers, 2012 Election, Federal Election Commission, American Future Fund, Chamber of Commerce, Campaign Finance Disclosure, Politics News

WASHINGTON -- One of the most consequential campaign finance loopholes affecting the 2012 race -- the one allowing big-money donors to secretly funnel...

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Anti-Obama Group Wants To Hide Donors

HuffingtonPost.com | Paul Blumenthal | Posted 05.01.2012

Read More: Van Hollen v. Fec, Video, Karl Rove, Koch Brothers, Chris Van Hollen, Americans for Prosperity, American Future Fund, Federal Election Commission, Elections 2012, Chamber of Commerce, Citizens United, Crossroads GPS, Campaign Finance, Politics News

WASHINGTON -- The recent district court ruling in the case Van Hollen v. Federal Election Commission that requires groups spending money on certain el...

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Rubio Campaign In Hot Water

AP | Posted 04.29.2012

Read More: Video, Charlie Crist, Marco Rubio, Marco Rubio Campaign, Federal Election Commission, Fed, Marco Rubio Improper Contributions, Marco Rubio Campaign Fined, Kendrick Meek, Politics News

WASHINGTON -- The Senate campaign of Florida Republican Marco Rubio has agreed to pay an $8,000 fine for accepting slightly more than $210,000 in impr...

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Obama's 2008 Campaign Failed To Report Nearly $2 Million In Contributions

The Huffington Post | Paul Blumenthal | Posted 04.19.2012

Read More: Barack Obama 2008, Video, Elections 2012 Blog, Election 2012 Blog, 2012 Election, Federal Election Commission, Elections 2012, Barack Obama 2012, Barack Obama, Campaign Finance, Politics News

The 2008 campaign of President Barack Obama did not report about $2 million in campaign contributions, according to a new audit of the campaign by the...

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Constitution Check: Would the Supreme Court Uphold a Ban on Super PACs Closely Linked to Candidates?

Lyle Denniston | Posted 04.12.2012

Read More: Buckley v. Valeo, Supreme Court, Super Pac, First Amendment, Democracy 21, Federal Election Commission, Fred Wertheimer, Election 2012, Citizens United, Politics News

The theory, of course, will be that, if political spending is a form of speech, there should be no limit on spending that "speaks" directly to a candidate who shares one's policy views.

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Our Own Super PAC, Made in Stephen Colbert's Image

Remy M. Maisel | Posted 04.03.2012

Read More: Penn State, Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear, The Colbert Report, Tomorrow, Jon Stewart, Federal Election Commission, College, Super PACs, Campaign Finance, Penn Staters for a Better Tomorrow, Stephen Colbert, Penn State University, Colbert SuperPac, Americans for a Better Tomorrow Tomorrow, College News

If we learned anything from the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear, it's that when America's favorite anchors ask their audience to jump, the audience immediately launches itself into the air as one, and worries about the purpose of that great leap later.

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Court Ruling: Rules Blocking Disclosure By Kochs, Rove, Chamber Invalid

HuffingtonPost.com | Paul Blumenthal | Posted 03.31.2012

Read More: Transparency, Van Hollen v. Fec, Video, Chris Van Hollen, Koch Brothers, Disclosure, Federal Election Commission, Chamber of Commerce, Citizens United, US District Court, Crossroads GPS, Campaign Finance, Politics News

WASHINGTON -- On Friday evening, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia issued a ruling that could begin the process of revealing the id...

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Jean Schmidt Denies Involvement In Fishy 'Victory Ohio Super PAC'

HuffingtonPost.com | Matt Sledge | Posted 03.09.2012

Read More: Victory Ohio Super Pac, David Krikorian, Super Pac, Congress, 2012 Election, Federal Election Commission, Elections 2012, Campaign-for-Primary-Accountability, Armenian Genocide, Jean Schmidt, Brad Wenstrup, Video, Politics News

The mystery over who ran anonymous robocalls claiming to be from the unregistered Victory Ohio Super PAC continued to linger Friday as a spokesman for...

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Josh Mandel Campaign Links To State Campaign List For Federal Race

The Huffington Post | Michael McAuliff | Posted 03.10.2012

Read More: Elections 2012, Josh Mandel 2012, Video, Josh Mandel, Election 2012 Blog, Sherrod Brown, Josh Mandel Ohio, 2012 Election, Federal Election Commission, Politics News

Ohio Democrats have been complaining that State Treasurer Josh Mandel -- the Republican challenging Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown -- has been using hi...

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How Citizens United Unleashed Campaign Spending in Federal Elections by Tax-Exempt Organizations

Fred Wertheimer | Posted 04.25.2012

Read More: Corruption, Politics, Irs, Citizens United, 2012 Election, Federal Election Commission, Super PACs, Internal Revenue Service, Politics News

There are two types of entities injecting hundreds of millions of dollars in unlimited contributions into our federal elections as the result of the Citizens United decision.

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GOP Fund-Raiser Faces Inquiries

The New York Times | ERIC LICHTBLAU | Posted 02.24.2012

Read More: Irs, Daniel A. Smith, Federal Election Commission, Fbi, Gop, Christopher Narvaez, Republican Party, House Ethics Committee, Vern Buchanan, William J. McGinley, Politics News

Last year, House Republican leaders tapped an up-and-coming Florida lawmaker, Representative Vern Buchanan, to lead the party’s fund-raising for can...

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Presidential super PACs raise $49 million through December

The Center for Public Integrity | Posted 04.03.2012

Read More: Mitt Romney, Elections 2012, Super Pac, Citizens United v. FEC, Restore Our Future, Barack Obama, Federal Election Commission, Super PACs, Politics News

By John Dunbar, iWatch NewsOutside groups that funded numerous attack ads in the GOP primaries collected more than $49 million in donations in 2011,...

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Citizens United: How Did it Happen? (VIDEO)

John Wellington Ennis | Posted 03.22.2012

Read More: Supreme Court, Richard Nixon, James Bopp, Federal Election Commission, Nick Nyhart, Common Cause, Citizens United, John Roberts, Citizens United vs. FEC, Citizens United Recap, Video, Politics News

The anniversary of the ruling in Citizens United vs. FEC is an opportunity to review how this transformative decision was reached -- the perfect storm of politicized jurisprudence, corporate entitlement and a narrowly tilted bench.

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Rules against coordination between super PACs, candidates, tough to enforce

The Center for Public Integrity | Posted 03.14.2012

Read More: Mitt Romney, Elections 2012, Super Pac, Federal Election Commission, Super PACs, Politics News

By Rachael Marcus and John Dunbar, iWatch NewsPresidential front-runner Mitt Romney knows that he can't talk to the people who run the notorious "su...

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Serious Questions Exist About Legality of Presidential Candidate Super PACs

Fred Wertheimer | Posted 03.05.2012

Read More: Congress, Political Action Committees, 2012 Election, Superpacs, Federal Election Commission, Iowa Caucuses, 2012 Presidential Race, Citizens United, Politics News

Congress needs to pass legislation to protect the integrity of the nation's campaign finance laws and ensure that candidate-specific Super PACs are not used as vehicles to circumvent candidate contribution limits.

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FEC Deadlocks on Advisory Opinion Request from American Crossroads, Provides No Support for Crossroads to Run 'Fully Coordinated' Ads

Fred Wertheimer | Posted 02.01.2012

Read More: Elections 2012, Corruption, Fec, Karl Rove, American Crossroads, Rove, Federal Election Commission, Politics News

In a decision Thursday, the FEC refused approval to the effort by American Crossroads to run ads "fully coordinated" with candidates and have the ads treated as ads that were not coordinated with the candidates.

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FEC Deadlocks Discussing Rove, Colbert

HuffingtonPost.com | Paul Blumenthal | Posted 12.01.2011

Read More: Stephen Colbert, Super Pac, Video, Karl Rove, The Colbert Report, Donald Mcgahn, Federal Election Commission, Elections 2012, Fec, Citizens United, Colbert Report, Ellen Weintraub, American Crossroads, Crossroads GPS, Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, Stephen Colbert 2012, Politics News

WASHINGTON -- In a Thursday session featuring a lengthy and testy exchange between two commissioners and the repeated invocation of comedian Stephen C...

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Tea Party Senator Loses Bid To Control Corporate Fundraising

HuffingtonPost.com | Paul Blumenthal | Posted 12.01.2011

Read More: Super Pac, Video, Donald Mcgahn, Leadership Pac, Federal Election Commission, Mike Lee, Fec, Citizens United, Campaign Finance, Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, Politics News

WASHINGTON -- The Federal Election Commission drew a line Thursday on how far campaign finance laws will unravel in the wake of the Supreme Court's 20...

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Congressman To Refund Campaign Cash Used On Eyebrow-Raising Expense

AP | By KEVIN FREKING | Posted 11.22.2011

Read More: Rep. Robert Andrews, Wedding, Video, Campaign Funds, Federal Election Commission, Campaign Finance Laws, Scotland, Robert Andrews, Robert Andrews Wedding, Campaign Finance, Politics News

WASHINGTON -- A New Jersey congressman said Tuesday that he will refund and then donate to a charity all the expenses associated with his trip to a do...

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Orwellian Attempt by Rove-backed Group to Have FEC Declare Coordinated Ads Uncoordinated

Fred Wertheimer | Posted 01.14.2012

Read More: Corruption, Law, Politics, Orwellian, Karl Rove, Campaign Finance Reform, Federal Election Commission, Democrats, American Crossroads, Campaign Finance, Republicans, Politics News

On October 28, 2011, American Crossroads, a federally registered political committee backed by Republican political operative Karl Rove, submitted an ...

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Where Is George Orwell When We Need Him?

Fred Wertheimer | Posted 01.11.2012

Read More: Fec, Law, Karl Rove, Campaign Finance Reform, American Crossroads, Federal Election Commission, George Orwell, Campaign Finance, Elections 2012, Politics News

American Crossroads and the FEC are living in fantasy land and neither the FEC regulation nor the American Crossroads Advisory Opinion Request can stand the light of day.

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Karl Rove, Stephen Colbert Agree On Super PAC Independence

HuffingtonPost.com | Paul Blumenthal | Posted 01.10.2012

WASHINGTON -- Sitting before the Federal Election Commission is a request from the Karl Rove-linked group American Crossroads for a ruling that allows...

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What Obama Can Do To Fix 'National Campaign Finance Scandal'

HuffingtonPost.com | Paul Blumenthal | Posted 01.03.2012

Read More: Mitch McConnell, Public Citizen, Fec, Elections 2012, Fred Wertheimer, Citizens United, Barack Obama, Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, Campaign Finance, Democracy 21, Common Cause, Video, League of Women Voters, Federal Election Commission, Campaign Legal Center, U.S. PIRG, Politics News

WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama has been criticized before for failing to live up to promises made in his 2008 campaign on such issues as pharmac...

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