Pro Publica: Who are the Super PACs’ Biggest Donors?
Pro Publica has created an interactive chart which shows the share of all contributions given by the top ten donors to each of the 12 largest super PACs, through Jan. 31. Some corporations are affiliated with individual donors, such as the Contran Corporation, which is owned by Harold Simmons. Some donors, such as Sheldon and Miriam Adelson, Yasmin and Oren Lukatz, and Sivan Ochshorn gave individually but are all members of a single family. Hover over each super PAC's name to see the total raised by its top ten donors, and hover over each donor to see how much they gave.
PDF versionPress Release: Kucinich Announces ‘Game Changing’ Constitutional Amendment to Publicly Finance Federal Elections
Washington, Jan 19 -
On the eve of the second anniversary of the Supreme Court ruling known as Citizens United, which opened the floodgate of unlimited, shadowy corporate spending in public elections, Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) has introduced H. J. Res. 100, a constitutional amendment to rescue American democracy from corporate money’s corrupting influence.
“Because of the decision by the Supreme Court majority in the Citizens United case, more money was spent on campaigns in the 2010 election than has ever been spent in a mid-term election.
“Because of the Citizens United case, more money will be spent in the 2012 elections than has ever been spent in an election in the history of our country.
“Because of the Citizens United case, American democracy has been put up on the auction block,” said Kucinich.
New Campaign: Occupy For Accountability Launches First Ad Naming Clarence Thomas as #1 Corrupter of Our Democracy
Clarence and Virginia Thomas: Bought By Billionaires
Virginia, Harlan, Clarence and David have been having a good laugh at our expense.
How much longer will we let this go on?
America’s citizens have had it with people in power who violate the law. That includes Clarence Thomas who has used his position as a Supreme Court Justice to flout the law and enrich himself, his wife and their cronies through corrupt backroom deals with billionaires Harlan Crow, and Charles and David Koch.
OccupyForAccountability.org calls out Clarence Thomas as one of the corrupt pillars of our government for doing the bidding of his billionaire paymasters at the expense of the 99%.
ProtectOurElections Submits White Paper To FBI Detailing Criminal Conduct Of Clarence Thomas, Virginia Thomas and Harlan Crow.
Read it here (PDF)
Addicting Info: Tea Party Patriots: Stupid, Or Corrupt?
-By Don Hamel
May 22, 2012- The Tea Party came into this world the same way a baby does; screaming and crying. Mainly they screamed and cried about the deficit, taxes and fiscal responsibility. It turns out, when it comes to spending, they’re still babes in the woods. Their latest IRS filing shows the Tea Party Patriots took in more than $12 million in fundraising, so how did only $3.4 million of that go to their actual ‘mission’ programs?
Mother Jones obtained the Tea Party Patriots’ full IRS filing, and it’s an abject lesson in how fools and their money part. The most damning evidence is found on page 20, shown here:
The New Yorker: Money Unlimited
How Chief Justice John Roberts orchestrated the Citizens United decision
-by Jeffrey Toobin
May 21, 2012- When Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission was first argued before the Supreme Court, on March 24, 2009, it seemed like a case of modest importance. The issue before the Justices was a narrow one. The McCain-Feingold campaign-finance law prohibited corporations from running television commercials for or against Presidential candidates for thirty days before primaries. During that period, Citizens United, a nonprofit corporation, had wanted to run a documentary, as a cable video on demand, called “Hillary: The Movie,” which was critical of Hillary Clinton. The F.E.C. had prohibited the broadcast under McCain-Feingold, and Citizens United had challenged the decision. There did not seem to be a lot riding on the outcome. After all, how many nonprofits wanted to run documentaries about Presidential candidates, using relatively obscure technologies, just before elections?
Texas Tribune: District Court: Voter ID Unlikely for 2012
-by Julián Aguilar
May 7, 2012- The Texas attorney general’s office issued a statement in response to today’s court order and scheduling guidelines in the state’s lawsuit against the Department of Justice over the voter ID bill.
In the response, Attorney General Greg Abbott’s office said it is not relenting in its defense. Instead, it alleges that the department, not the state, is responsible for dragging out the proceedings by requesting millions of documents that have “nothing to do” with the case. It also said the department itself has twice extended the deadline to preclear or block the bill. Below is the statement from Jerry Strickland, Abbott's communications director.
