campaign finance Topics

Democracy Now! stories, posts and pages that relate to campaign finance

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  • Super-pac_2

    Newt Gingrich's Campaign Resurgence Funded by Secretive Coterie of Super PACs, Wealthy Backers

    With the Iowa caucus less than two weeks away and the Republican presidential race still up for grabs, we take an in-depth look at the state of politics and money and how last year’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission has altered campaign fundraising since it opened the floodgates for unlimited corporate spending on election campaigns. Several recent exposés reveal how Newt Gingrich has skirted campaign...
    Dec 23, 2011 | Story
  • Crosby_nash_ows_web

    Legendary Folk Duo Crosby & Nash on Soundtracking Movements from the 1960s to Occupy Wall Street

    Just days after performing at the Occupy Wall Street encampment in Lower Manhattan, the legendary musicians David Crosby and Graham Nash join us live in our studio. For the duo, Occupy Wall Street is the latest in a number of causes they have supported in their historic careers stretching back nearly five decades. They are best known as founding members of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, a supergroup that performed at Woodstock and sold millions...
    Nov 10, 2011 | Story
  • Herman-cain-web_20111108

    The Koch-Cain Connection: IRS Urged to Probe Ties Between Cain Campaign and Billionaire Koch Brothers

    The campaign of Republican presidential hopeful Herman Cain took another hit on Monday when a fourth woman emerged to accuse him of sexual harassment in the 1990s. But the allegations of sexual harassment are not the only controversies surrounding Cain. Also on Monday, the Wisconsin-based Center for Media and Democracy filed a complaint asking the Internal Revenue Service to investigate whether one of his top aides has used tens of thousands of...
    Nov 08, 2011 | Story
  • Koch

    Thought Control: Right-Wing Koch Brothers Caught Telling Thousands of Employees How to Vote

    The Nation magazine has revealed that Koch Industries sent a letter to most of its 50,000 employees on the eve of the November elections, advising them on whom to vote for and warning them of the dire consequences should they choose to vote otherwise. As a result of the Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission ruling last year, Koch Industries and other corporations are now legally allowed to pressure their workers to adopt their political...
    Apr 21, 2011 | Story
  • Supreme-court

    On Anniversary of Citizens United Ruling, Common Cause Calls on Justice Dept. to Investigate Scalia and Thomas over Conflicts of Interest

    Today marks the one-year anniversary of the landmark Supreme Court decision, Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, that opened the floodgates for unlimited corporate spending on election campaigns. We speak with Bob Edgar, the president of Common Cause, which has filed a petition with the U.S. Department of Justice urging it to investigate whether Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas should have recused themselves from the case...
    Jan 21, 2011 | Story
  • Fortune

    At $4 Billion, Midterm Elections Poised to Become Most Expensive Non-Presidential Vote in US History

    A new report says spending for the 2010 elections will break the previous record for a midterm vote by around $1 billion. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, total spending could reach as much as $4 billion this year. The report also says right-wing groups are spending more than double on advertisements than liberal organizations. We speak to the president of Common Cause, former Pennsylvania Congressman Bob Edgar. Common Cause is...
    Oct 28, 2010 | Story
  • Can_t-buy-ad

    "Free Speech for People" Coalition Calls for Constitutional Amendment to Overturn Citizens United Decision Allowing Unlimited Corporate Spending on Elections

    Part of the reason for the record-high campaign spending in this year’s midterm elections is the Supreme Court’s January ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission. In a 5-4 decision, the Court ruled corporations have First Amendment rights and that the government cannot impose restrictions on their political speech, which cleared the way for corporations and other special interest groups to spend unlimited amounts of...
    Oct 28, 2010 | Story
  • Money-flag

    Campaign Cash: The Independent Fundraising Gold Rush Since Citizens United Ruling

    A pair of campaign finance watchdog groups have called for a probe of a new nonprofit formed by Karl Rove to spend over $50 million this election cycle to help elect Republican candidates. The Center for Public Integrity reports Republicans and Democrats each now boast ten or so deep-pocketed independent groups with plans to spend collectively some $500 million or more. The groups are all taking advantage of this year’s Supreme Court ruling...
    Oct 07, 2010 | Story
  • Vote

    As Five States Hold Primaries, a Look at the Role of Money in Politics

    Voters headed to the polls in Alaska, Arizona, Florida, Oklahoma and Vermont yesterday in a big day of state primaries. Florida Rep. Kendrick Meek defeated billionaire real estate mogul Jeff Greene in the state’s Democratic Senate primary. But billionaire businessman Rick Scott pulled off an upset over Attorney General Bill McCollum in the Florida gubernatorial primary after spending $30 million on the race. We take a look at the role of...
    Aug 25, 2010 | Story
  • Koch_bros

    _The New Yorker:_ Billionaire Brothers Charles & David Koch Have Quietly Given More Than $100 Million to Right-Wing Causes

    An article in the latest issue of The New Yorker magazine by Jane Mayer profiles billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch, two of the richest men in America who have quietly given more than a hundred million dollars to right-wing causes. Mayer writes, "The [Koch] brothers have funded opposition campaigns against so many Obama Administration policies — from health-care reform to the economic-stimulus program — that, in political...
    Aug 25, 2010 | Story