Politico: Myth of the Small Donor Roughly 2.5 million people have kicked in $200 or less to the various committees helping their candidate win the White House. But those 2.5 million people account for less than 18 percent of the total money haul. NY Times: Romney Team Outpaces Obama in Fund-Raising Again The fund-raising machine behind Mitt
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Politico: Romney, GOP High-Rollers to Meet in Aspen Romney plans to join mega-donors in town for a retreat hosted by the RGA’s so-called Executive Roundtable program, which will draw some of the biggest names in GOP politics, including several high-powered governors, a top adviser to Romney, Karl Rove, and other representatives of deep-pocketed political spenders,
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The Atlantic: The Only Way to Fix Campaign-Finance Regulation Is to Destroy It Over the last four decades, the campaign finance system has become a Rube Goldberg-esque contraption of complex, senseless, and indecipherable regulations. To fix it, new “reforms” (a.k.a. regulations) are routinely proposed, and some are even passed — such as the McCain-Feingold Bill
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Huff Post: ‘Dark Money’ Hits $172 Million in 2012 Election, Half of Independent Group Spending Through July 26, politically involved groups that do not disclose their donors have spent at least $172 million on campaigns that include television, radio and Internet advertising, according to a Huffington Post review of FEC reports, advertising buys, press releases
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Huff Post: Nancy Pelosi Escalates Call For Constitutional Amendment Speaking at the Campus Progress national conference, the top House Democrat called for “citizen-funded elections” rooted in low-dollar contributions. She told members of the progressive advocacy organization that independent groups obscure political dialogue. Bloomberg: How to Break NRA’s Grip on Politics Mitt Romney, the presumptive Republican
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Bloomberg: Lawyers Raking In Cash As Campaign Spending Hits Records Every four years, a new mix of politicians assembles to compete for the opportunity to run for president. While the candidates’ names and faces change, the lawyers stay the same. Mother Jones: Meet the Front Group Leading the Fight Against Taxing the Rich Often cited
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Associated Press: Democratic Convention Benefits From Corporate Cash Bank of America, Wells Fargo and Duke Energy have all sent checks to New American City Inc., a non-profit entity being run by top officials on the convention host committee. Corporate money is bankrolling operations in direct support of the convention, including paying the salaries of the
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Politico: DISCLOSE Act fails again in Senate Senate Democrats on Monday lost another attempt to pass legislation forcing donors of groups that bankroll most election ads to be revealed. But Democrats, led by New York Sen. Charles Schumer, pledged to hold the Senate floor hostage and continue the debate well into the night. The DISCLOSE Act,
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