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18 Feb 2012 12:00

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Politics: U.S. Supreme Court paves way for Citizens United rematch

U.S. Supreme Court Chambers

  • Time for Citizens United: Round 2? Yesterday, the U.S. Supreme Court stayed the Montana Supreme Court’s decision to uphold the state’s longstanding campaign finance laws banning corporate political spending, American Tradition Partnership v. Bullock. The decision came after American Tradition Partnership and two Montana businesses filed an application asking the Court to strike down the Montana Supreme Court’s decision. ATP now has until the end of March to formally request that the Court review the Montana Supreme Court’s decision. If they don’t, the Montana’s decision would stand, but should they file the request, it would pave the way for a full review of the controversial Citizens United decision. (photo courtesy of flickr user kenudigit)  source
Posted by Scott Craft • 0 Comments • Permalink

03 Nov 2011 14:09

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Politics: Mark Block won’t answer on campaign finance allegations

  • We’ve retained independent counsel to look at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel story and report back to us… Amy, why don’t we talk about the campaign going forward?
  • Herman Cain’s chief-of-staff, Mark Block • Refusing to give a detailed answer on the much less examined scandal afflicting the Cain campaign right now. As we mentioned earlier, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that early in Herman Cain’s presidential run, his campaign accepted about $40,000 worth of illegal donations from a charity, Prosperity USA, which was run by Mark Block himself. This is, so far as we’ve seen, the first instance of Block or any representative of the Cain campaign being asked directly about this, and it doesn’t seem like he was very keen on the question. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

13 Oct 2011 23:10

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Politics: Obama’s campaign fundraising prowess tops estimates, and then some

  • $70M the amount Obama raised for his 2012 campaign in the most recent quarter
  • $55M the amount the president expected to raise this quarter; all the extra was just showing off
  • 98% of donors to Obama’s campaign threw in $250 or less; you do the math on that one, guys source
  • » And he wasn’t even at his peak powers: Thanks to the long-running debt ceiling debate that boringly captivated the country earlier this summer, Obama had to turn down a number of major fundraising events, lowering his total from the previous quarter. He’s miles ahead of every other candidate, for obvious reasons: The still-splintered GOP field has to fight with each other for the right to take on Obama next November.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

20 Jan 2011 23:03

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Politics: SCOTUS: Should Scalia & Thomas have skipped campaign finance?

Liberal group Common Cause argues that the justices should’ve recused themselves from last year’s campaign finance decision for ties to Koch Industries and advocacy groups. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

07 Jul 2010 09:50

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World: Nicolas Sarcozy + L’Oreal + illegal donations = A powdery mess

How many world leaders could conceivably find themselves in a ethics scandal with a cosmetics heiress? Just one. Our boy Nick Sarcozy. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

11 Feb 2010 20:32

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Politics: New campaign rules: “I’m an evil CEO, and I approve this message.”

  • That oughta work around that Supreme Court decision. So, let’s say that you’re an organization or a corporation and you’re all excited about that Supreme Court decision that allows you to spend as much money as you want to skew a campaign. Well, the Democrats’ new proposed rules would force more transparency in the process, including our favorite, forcing corporate CEOs to say they approve this message. Bailed-out companies can’t fund ads either. Awesome. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

23 Jan 2010 10:04

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Politics: Obama sounds pissed off about that Supreme Court decision

  • The last thing we need to do is hand more influence to the lobbyists in Washington, or more power to the special interests to tip the outcome of elections.
  • President Barack Obama • In his weekly radio address, where he assailed the recent Supreme Court decision on campaign financing. Obama himself made a stronger pledge for transparency and pointed out that his administration has made strides to run a clean ship. He also pledges that “it will be a priority for us until we repair the damage that has been done.” In other words, the Supreme Court totally failed. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

21 Jan 2010 23:09

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U.S.: Two big spenders that benefit from the Supreme Court decision

  • $36.4
    million     the amount the Chamber of Commerce (which represents businesses) spent on political campaigns in 2008, mostly Republican Senate campaigns
  • $30.7
    million     the amount the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (a major union group) spent on mostly Democratic campaigns source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

21 Jan 2010 10:28

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U.S.: Great. The Supreme Court turns off campaign funding limits

  • 5-4 douches beat cool people once again source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
 
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