The tweets were obliquely racist — and even homophobic enough — to chime through the halls of the Capitol and even get potential candidate Ashley Judd to speak up.
Given the increasing acceptance from the Roberts court of the concept of money as free speech, legal watchers are already saying that, yes, there's more than a good chance that McCutcheon vs. FEC could lead to the end of federal limits on campaign-finance contributions.
If you (and President Obama) thought everyone was getting a little too excited about a potential Hillary Clinton 2016 run, these longtime Clinton supporters are getting a head start by launching their Super PAC now.
Obama's campaign team Obama for America is going to get a big makeover this weekend as a "501(c)4 social welfare group," which means it's an advocacy group that can accept extremely large anonymous donations — not unlike Karl Rove's Crossroads GPS.
Groups that did not disclose their donors played a larger role than ever before in trying to sway U.S. elections, and such spending played a greater role in the Montana Senate race than almost any other.
This is the most expensive U.S. election in history with a total price tag of around $6 billion spent. That wouldn't be possible if not for the billionaires and the super PACS who gave and gave and gave some more. So which rich donors got the most bang out of their buck? (Hint: it's not Sheldon Adelson.)
The election is almost over, and thanks to a combination of near-constant fundraising and outside spending, the 2012 race will go down as the most expensive election in history (until we hold the next presidential race, you can assume).
A summary of the best reads found behind the paywall of The New York Times.
A summary of the best reads found behind the paywall of The New York Times.
It's official: politicians are better at spending rich people's money than rich people are at spending their own money on politics.
According to several news reports, President Obama is in danger of losing his re-election bid because he just can't stomach the indignities of campaign fundraising.
American Crossroads released a video Friday calling on President Obama to repudiate a Priorities USA ad that links Mitt Romney to a woman's death from cancer, and in it, they show a lot of skepticism that the Obama campaign operates independently from the Priorities Super PAC.
Haim Saban, the man famous for bringing Power Rangers to North America, donated $1 million dollars to a Democratic Super PAC, marking the biggest celebrity donation since March.
By now, Karl Rove's juggernaut fundraising vehicle Crossroads GPS is famous for its influence and wealth. What's less visible is one of its principal financiers: casino mogul Steve Wynn, a billionaire ex-Democrat who voted for President Obama in 2008.
Let's just call Game of Thrones for what it is: A sexy political campaign featuring two years and twenty episodes of people making empty promises to the masses, and power plays for one dumb job. The only thing missing were attack ads, and thanks to Mother Jones, we now have them.
By donating $10 million to a pro-Romney Super PAC today, the right's favorite money man, casino mogul Sheldon Adelson, brought himself a little closer to making good on his boast of possibly contributing $100 million to the GOP cause in 2012.
It has become clear that the Super PAC is perfectly designed to extract money from rich guys with bad ideas, and so it's only natural that Donald Trump, a very rich guy with some of the most famously terrible ideas, is looking to start one.
One of the most annoying parts of running for president for guys like Mitt Romney and Barack Obama -- men who are not natural back-slappers like Bill Clinton -- is that they have to pretend to be interested in all the terrible ideas offered by the rich guys who donate tons of money to their campaigns.
As if anyone watching needed confirmation of the very negative tone the 2012 election has taken, a new report from the Wesleyan Media Project notes that 70 percent of TV spots aired so far for the presidential race have been negative.
The Pentagon plans to roll out a new slate of clean- and renewable-energy initiatives on Wednesday as part of its long-term “Operational Energy Strategy” aimed at reducing the military’s dependence on fossil fuels while increasing its front-line fighting power.
Sheldon Adelson has been spouting off about the mathematical improbability of Newt Gingrich getting more delegates, which sounds like the casino mogul is ready to stop spending any more on a loser.
The biggest donor to the Romney Super PAC was Bob Perry, most well-known for funding the Swift Boat ads that helped defeat Sen. John Kerry in 2004, notes The Washington Post's Aaron Blake, who made the good catch while looking through the latest FEC filings.
There may be another benefit for corporations from the Supreme Court's 2010 Citizens United decision that opened up the way for unlimited corporate spending on politics: tax breaks.
Stephen Colbert hasn't done much with his super PAC in the last month, but he still has to file FEC paperwork, and according to his latest filings, he can still afford to pay someone to do that for him.
Thanks to Citizens United and other recent court decisions, individuals, corporations and unions can make unlimited donations to so-called super PACs that support a candidate. The money is flowing in. So, exactly who is donating, and what do they want?
Like many "non-profits" that take in millions of dollars of unregulated money, the ballooning super PACs supporting this year's presidential candidates are paying some of their top executives huge salaries to spend other people's money.
We know how the super PACs have come to dominate the presidential campaign, but a further digging into financial disclosure numbers shows how just a tiny handful of billionaires are dominating those super PACs.
Cartoonist Lisa Benson on the president's change of heart.
He may still find super PACs distasteful, but Barack Obama and his campaign have decided to throw their support behind Priorities USA, one that's been fund-raising on his behalf.
An analysis by The Los Angeles Times has found that there are 17 people or companies who gave more than $1 million to a super PAC last year, showing how just one wealthy individual can make a big impact on the election.
Super PACs draw a lot of attention when they're smearing opponents with vicious advertisements but what happens when the dream dies and the committee's candidate drops out?
It may not stack up to Karl Rove's American Crossroads but Stephen Colbert's super PAC Americans for a Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow puts a whole host of serious super PACs to shame when it comes to fundraising.
The pro-Obama superPAC Priorities USA isn't raising much money because President Obama just can't stand the thought of all that unaccountable anonymous big-donor money being spent on his behalf, Politico reports.
In his deepest dive yet into the intricacies of campaign finance law, Stephen Colbert blazed through a series of open-ended questions about super PACs last night, and even schooled at least one seasoned political reporter.
The comedian, already enjoying a run of glowing press, launches — through his totally independent Super PAC — an anti-Romney, pro-corporation attack ad in South Carolina. Spoiler: There will be Lithgow.
The direct order Newt Gingrich gave to a pro-Gingrich super PAC to alter its anti-Mitt Romney ads raises an immediate question: Isn't it illegal for candidates to coordinate with their super PACs?
If Stephen Colbert's announcement to explore a presidential run was one part ratings ploy, it was at least two parts civics lesson.
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