A House committee is asking the IRS to turn over emails between the agency and the Federal Election Commission, after discovering a series of 2009 inter-agency exchanges in which embattled IRS official Lois Lerner might have inappropriately shared confidential tax information.
Tag Archives: Federal Election Commission
House panel probing whether IRS-FEC 'inappropriately' sharing confidential tax information
A House committee is asking the IRS to turn over emails between the agency and the Federal Election Commission, after discovering a series of 2009 inter-agency exchanges in which embattled IRS official Lois Lerner might have inappropriately shared confidential tax information.
HUFFPOST HILL – World Learns ‘Royal Baby’ Isn’t A Line Of Velour Tracksuits
By The Huffington Post News Editors
People everywhere congratulated the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge on the birth of their son, while Republicans vowed to rescue the child from Britain’s socialist health care system. The media’s coverage was a bit breathless, but thankfully the New York Post didn’t report the baby’s name as “Dick Gephardt.” And Mitch McConnell greeted his likely primary challenger by calling him “an East Coast con man” but stopped short of demanding he take his stagecoach full of elixirs back home. This is HUFFPOST HILL for Monday, July 22nd, 2013:
GOP ESTABLISHMENT RALLYING AROUND ENZI – Beleaguered folk hero Mike Enzi is getting some help from the little guy: Koch Industries. Politico: “Sen. Mike Enzi’s fundraising efforts have gotten off to a sluggish start this year, but he’s received support from Republican establishment and heavyweight political action committees ahead of his primary fight against Liz Cheney. The Wyoming Republican received $7,500 from Koch Industries PAC, the committee affiliated with the company owned by megadonors Charles and David Koch, according to a POLITICO review of Enzi’s second quarter campaign finance reports filed with the Federal Election Commission. Other PACs affiliated with major politically active companies and trade associations who gave to Enzi between April and June include: Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Time Warner Cable, Pfizer and National Retail Federation. The three-term incumbent also received support from the leadership PACs of establishment Republicans such as Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and Sens. Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina.” [Politico]
CELEBS PROMOTING OBAMACARE – Oprah’s boldly going where the NFL wouldn’t dare. Sarah Kliff: “What do Oprah, Funny or Die and the Grammys have in common? All three, it turns out, have volunteered to promote Obamacare. Senior advisor Valerie Jarrett hosted a meeting Monday with a star-studded group of actors, musicians, writers and producers who have ‘expressed a personal interest in educating young people about the Affordable Care Act,’ according to a White House official.” [WashPost]
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Huffington Post
Fla. Sen. Marco Rubio reportedly raised $3M in second quarter of 2013
Florida Republican Senator Marco Rubio raised $3 million in the second quarter of 2013, a source familiar with a new Federal Election Commission finance report told Fox News.
‘Dark Money’ Enforcement Failures Criticized At Senate Hearing
By The Huffington Post News Editors
WASHINGTON — At a congressional hearing on Tuesday convened by Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), officials from the Justice Department and the Internal Revenue Service were unable to name a prosecution undertaken by either agency for false statements made by a nonprofit engaging in political activities or for super PAC contributions made through a shell corporation.
The hearing before the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism was held to examine enforcement of campaign finance laws since the Supreme Court‘s 2010 ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission opened the door to unlimited independent campaign spending by corporations, unions and, through a subsequent lower court ruling, individuals.
Whitehouse highlighted the lack of enforcement, as far as he could see, against two types of potential violations: the use of shell corporations to conceal a donor’s identity when contributing to a super PAC, and the making of false statements in registering for 501(c)(4) “social welfare” nonprofit status by a group that asserts it will not engage in political activity but, in fact, does.
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Source: FULL ARTICLE at Huffington Post
Marijuana Super PAC Started By Brothers To Push Weed Legalization
By The Huffington Post News Editors
Super PACs, independent-expenditure committees that can raise unlimited campaign contributions, conjure up images of political heavyweights like Karl Rove and the Koch brothers.
But two marijuana-growing brothers from Eugene, Ore., have decided to use the fundraising platform to fight to legalize weed. They’re accepting donations now at the Legalize Marijuana Super PAC.com.
Mark and Dennis Rogers submitted a super-PAC application to the Federal Election Commission on March 11 and were approved on March 25, Mark Rogers told The Huffington Post.
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Huffington Post
Cory Booker: Senate Run Announcement Will Come After Governor’s Race
By The Huffington Post News Editors
Newark Mayor Cory Booker won’t make an announcement about his potential run for the U.S. Senate until after the New Jersey gubernatorial race.
Booker, who filed paperwork earlier this year with the Federal Election Commission to explore a bid in 2014, told BuzzFeed on Tuesday that any announcement will have to wait until after this year’s state elections.
“Not until after the governor’s race,” Booker said. “I’m really going to wait.”
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Campaign Finance Poll Finds Most Support Donation Limits
By The Huffington Post News Editors
The Supreme Court announced this week that it would hear McCutcheon v. Federal Election Commission, a case challenging the cap on the total amount that individuals can give to federal candidates as a violation of free speech. This is not an issue that worries most Americans.
In fact, restrictions on both the amount of money Americans can donate to individual federal candidates and the total amount they can donate over a two-year election cycle enjoy broad support from the public, according to a new HuffPost/YouGov poll.
The survey found that only 12 percent of Americans think there should be no limit on the total amount a person can donate to federal candidates. Forty-four percent said the current limit of $46,200 was too high, while 18 percent said it was about right. Another 5 percent said it was too low, and 23 percent said they weren’t sure.
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Sean Bielat Not Running For Massachusetts Senate After Filing Papers
By The Huffington Post News Editors
Sean Bielat said Wednesday that he would not run for the special election for U.S. Senate in Massachusetts, six days after news broke that he had filed papers to do so with the Federal Election Commission.
“The numbers looked pretty good and the fundraising went well so I think we could have mounted strong campaign, but now is just not the right time for us,” said Bielat, a Republican and local businessman, in an email to supporters. “After spending some time thinking it through with [my wife] Hope, we decided running another campaign just wasn’t a good fit for our family right now, given the age of our one- and two-year-old children and their needs.”
Bielat’s exit leaves state Rep. Dan Winslow, former U.S. Attorney Michael Sullivan and Gabriel Gomez, a former Navy SEAL, in the GOP primary. Any of them face long odds against their better-funded and better-known Democratic challengers, Reps. Stephen Lynch (D-Mass.) and Ed Markey (D-Mass.).
In Hillary's Corner: 2 Super PACs
By Matt Cantor 
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Newser – Home
Ex-Bachmann aide alleges improper payments in Iowa
A former campaign aide to Minnesota Republican Rep. Michele Bachmann says the lawmaker made improper payments to an Iowa state senator who was the state chairman of her failed 2012 presidential campaign, in a complaint filed Friday with the Federal Election Commission.
NJ mayor Booker files to run for US Senate in 2014
The mayor of New Jersey‘s largest city has filed with the Federal Election Commission as a candidate for the U.S. Senate in 2014.
Obama '08 campaign fined $375,000 by FEC
President Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign has been fined $375,000 by the Federal Election Commission for reporting violations related to a set of donations received during the final days of the campaign.