Free Republic

During her comments, she said “by the way we’re asking people to contribute to us if they want to elect more reformers to Congress so we can do away with super PACs – we can do away with secret contributions.”

“Wayne LaPierre Falsely Claims ‘All’ The NRA's Money Comes From Small Donors,” Chris Brown of Media Matters sneers in triumph. He’s focusing on an interview with Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre by Glenn Beck, where the association head was asked about how NRA could hope to match union political contributions. LaPierre’s response: We raise it all through 5, 10, 15, 20 dollar contributions that Americans are willing to preserve freedom. And they're willing to support it. But, you know, that's what NRA is about. I mean, I always say we're about our membership and we're about giving voice to our...

EXCLUSIVE: Internet sites on their SOPAStrike may be conducting a blackout but Hollywood studios are conducting a boycott. I’ve learned that Hollywood studio chiefs individually and as a group are drawing a line in the sand on the piracy issue with the Obama re-election campaign and refusing to give any more donations. The blowup came after President Obama on Saturday dashed moguls’ hopes that he would remain on the sidelines in the dispute over the U.S. House Of Representatives’ Stop Online Piracy Act and the U.S. Senate’s Protect IP Act.

Drudge Report this morning Jan. 18: From information in some tax reports released, showing Romney gave $4 million + to LDS church during past 5 years, plus shares and stakes in Bain holding companies including Burger King, Domino's, etc.

Last week the 2009-2010 Planned Parenthood annual report was released and it shows that the leading abortion group had suffered a significant decline in private contributions. In 2009 they reported 308 million in private donations from individuals, corporations, and foundations yet in 2010 they saw that number fall to 223.8 million. The chart below illustrates the drop-off:

Duluth made history last week when it became the first city in the state to pass a resolution in support of a constitutional amendment that would essentially overturn a U.S. Supreme Court decision, namely Citizens United vs. the Federal Election Commission. The court ruled in 2010 that corporations are entitled to the same constitutional rights as individual U.S. citizens. A majority of justices also concluded that political spending was a form of free speech and that corporations should be able to spend an unlimited sum of money to influence voters, without disclosing financial details of their activities. Although Duluth is...

Dear FReepers, Sun tsu cautioned smart leaders to 'keep your friends close, your enemies even closer' Besides, it's always fun to know what's happening inside your opponent's camp. For that reason, I volunteer time and contribute money to MoveOn, the community Presidential 'brownshirts' and true believers. So, after almost 500 daily emails from MoveOn, I was quite taken a back and concerned by their latest e-mail, parts of which I've posted below.

NEW YORK (AP) - The Occupy Wall Street movement, which has spent a month bashing banks and other corporations, has become a money manager itself. The movement has $435,000 - $85,000 of it donated in person at the Manhattan park that's become the epicenter of the global "anti-greed" protests and the remainder from online credit-card donations, said Darrell Prince, an activist using his business background to keep track of the daily donations. "It's way more support than we ever thought would come in," Prince said.

Anti-Wall Street protests are growing in number across the country and around the globe, but their political impact remains unclear and will likely depend upon their staying power. At a minimum, the protests have become a channel for public anger over rising economic inequality and Washington's ineffectiveness. "They are a pretty good thermometer for the level of discontent in the country," said John Green, director of the Ray C. Bliss Institute of Applied Politics at the University of Akron. "But the connection between Republicans and Wall Street and the banks will surely be an election issue next year." Romney used...

This holiday season is a time to examine who's been naughty and who's been nice, but I'm unhappy with my findings. The problem is this: We liberals are personally stingy. Liberals show tremendous compassion in pushing for generous government spending to help the neediest people at home and abroad. Yet, when it comes to individual contributions to charitable causes, liberals are cheapskates. Arthur Brooks, the author of a book on donors to charity, "Who Really Cares," cites data that households headed by conservatives give 30 percent more to charity than households headed by liberals. A study by Google found an...

U.S. wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya may weigh on the minds of voters next year, but during the early months of the 2012 election cycle, members of the U.S. Armed Forces who are active political donors are mainly rallying around two candidates, according to a new analysis by the Center for Responsive Politics. Those candidates are President Barack Obama and libertarian-leaning Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas). Overall, individuals who listed their occupation as one of the branches of the military or the U.S. Department of Defense have donated about $78,000 to presidential candidates, according to the Center's analysis of donors...

Madison - A quirk in state law will allow Gov. Scott Walker and state senators to fight looming recalls by raising unlimited campaign contributions of the kind never before seen in Wisconsin. That ability to collect donations many times larger than the regular limits could prove a significant advantage to the Republican governor and incumbent senators from either party if they face recalls. That also could push spending in the latest possible round of recalls even higher than the record $44 million in estimated spending in the round of Senate recall elections held this summer. In that previous round of recalls,...

Links to some of the stories I've read/browsed through (in no certain order)... Google Google Google Google For more, follow this search link on Google: Google

In a shameless attempt to guilt Texas resident’s into donating to President Obama’s campaign sent out the email below. Friend – Here’s something you don’t have in common with 45,829 other supporters of this movement who tell us they live in Texas. That many of your neighbors have decided to own a piece of this campaign by making a donation of whatever they could afford. For some, that meant just $5. For others, it meant $100 or more. But each had their own personal reason for giving. Our records show that you aren’t one of the 45,829 people in your...

Full title: Panic In DC As Starbucks' Schultz Calls For CEO Boycott Of Campaign Donations, Urges Americans To Go On Strike Against Their Politicians In today's most underreported news of the day, which could potentially have the biggest impact on the future of America, none other than America's CEOs, or at least one of them: Starbucks' Howard Schultz, has mass blasted an email to fellow CEOs asking for a consensual boycott on donating to political campaigns in order to encourage the nation's muppets, elsewhere idiotically called "leaders", to solve America's budget and debt impasse. Bloomberg quotes from the CEO's e-mail...

The Rise of the Democratic Super-Secret PACs. Posted by Moe Lane Friday, June 17th at 7:00PM EDT Super PACs are, of course, the political groups that were set up after the Supreme Court’s landmark free speech decision in Citizens United: they are able to raise and spend unlimited amounts of money advocating both for and against political candidates, but may not donate to those candidates directly. The Left ostensibly hates them, which did not stop them from using them to raise over 28 million dollars in the 2010 election cycle (44% of total Super PAC fundraising) to the Right’s over...

WASHINGTON, June 14 (Reuters) - The White House is under pressure from consumer activists to follow through with its plan to force government contractors to disclose their political contributions, a rule that companies say will politicize awards of government business. Consumer group Public Citizen said on Tuesday it is among those worried that the White House attempt to throw more light on campaign spending will be put on the shelf after harsh criticism from the business community. President Barack Obama is working on an order to compel bidders for federal contracts to disclose two years worth of political contributions. ......

Among those unlikely to be persuaded are the longtime Democrat fundraising powerhouse husband and wife team of Steven L. Rattner and Maureen White. Rattner is a founder of the Quadrangle Group and served as Obama’s Counselor to the Secretary of the Treasury and White is the former finance chair for the Democratic National Committee. One former Democratic donor, who spoke to the New York Times under terms of anonymity, “said it was ironic that the same president who once criticized bankers as ‘fat cats’ would now invite them to dine at Daniel, where the six-course tasting menu runs to $195...

The reach of Citizens United v FEC just got longer, if only temporarily. Relying on the controversial ruling, a federal judge in Virginia threw out part of an indictment against two men accused of secretly reimbursing donors to Hillary Clinton with corporate cash. Judge James Cacheris ruled that Citizens United established that corporations have a right to donate to political campaigns, as well as to spend their own money: A judge has ruled that the campaign finance law banning corporations from making contributions to federal candidates is unconstitutional. …Cacheris says that under last year’s Citizens United Supreme Court case, corporations...

America’s got a fee-vah and the only prescription is … Mitt Romney? The all-but-declared Republican presidential contender, who has kept his head low for much of the year as he collected cash, raised $10.25 million in a single day Monday after bringing together his network of wealthy donors to dial for dollars in a city with no shortage of them. It’s a hefty one-day total that Romney’s team hopes will show his strength in the emerging GOP field…During his 2008 run for the GOP nomination, Romney used more than $40 million of his own money to pay for campaigns in...

Government: Under the guise of rooting out Chicago-style political corruption from government contracting, President Obama seems intent on signing an executive order that would enshrine it. Last month, the White House drafted an order that would require any company bidding on a federal contract to disclose not only its company donations to federal candidates going back two years, but those of its directors and officers as well. It would also force these firms to disclose contributions to independent groups that might spend some of the money on campaign ads. And it would warehouse all this data in a searchable government...

Ex. Pro WWE Wrestler Rocky Jones with be doing a one man fitness challenge of 1,000 free hand squats to raise money and awareness to out Fallen Heroes. On Memorial Day in Times Square, Military Island @ 9am Rocky will attempt to do this challenge. "We ask that everyone pleae support our heroes" 100% of the proceeds goes right to the fund. Every dollar counts!!

Arizona lawmakers want to erect a fence along the border with Mexico - whether the federal government thinks it's necessary or not. They've got a plan that could get a project started using online donations and prison labour. If they get enough money, all they would have to do is get cooperation from landowners and construction could begin as soon as this year. Governor Jan Brewer recently signed a bill that sets the state on a course to building a permanent barrier along its borders, and a website is being launched to raise money for the work.

To Japanese and Japan-based Freepers: What's the best, quickest way of getting aid to people on the ground directly -- via local groups, religious instutitons, etc. I'd rather not give it to an international bureaucracy like the Red Cross (Japanese website was confusing), other NGO's or government. This is being posted Front/Breaking because I imagine a lot of other Freepers want this info and, let's face it, it's an emergency over there and these people need quick, effective help as soon as they can get it. I've seen too many stories of waste, corruption and abuse (Haiti, Katrina, etc.) and...

Bishops advise against charitable gifts to groups they say support abortion, stem cell research or contraception The two Roman Catholic bishops in North Dakota issued guidelines last week naming several well-known, and in some cases, church-related, organizations they say Catholics should not support, with money or volunteer workThe two Roman Catholic bishops in North Dakota issued guidelines last week naming several well-known, and in some cases, church-related, organizations they say Catholics should not support, with money or volunteer work. Bishop Samuel Aquila of the Fargo Diocese and Bishop Paul Zipfel of the Bismarck Diocese released a joint document “Guidelines on...

In conservative James O’Keefe’s Project Veritas’s third major National Public Radio (NPR) sting tape release, Betsy Liley, the taxpayer-funded radio network’s director of institutional giving is heard saying controversial left-wing billionaire George Soros has donated to the organization before last October’s $1.8 million gift. Liley is currently on administrative leave, but her bosses, Ron Schiller, the president of NPR’s nonprofit foundation, and NPR CEO Vivian Schiller (no relation) were both fired. Liley brought up Soros and his nonprofit organization, the Open Society Institute, while discussing what kind of on-air publicity the Muslim Education Action Center (MEAC) Trust would want in...

From the website of the Embassy of Japan, a list of venues for donations and/or offers of assistance.

Lenin was reported to have said that "Capitalists will sell us the rope with which we will hang them." I got that feeling reading this story in the Daily Caller about another NPR executive saying something outrageous. This time, Betsy Liley, a senior vice president for Institutional Giving promised a fictitious front group for the Muslim Brotherhood that NPR could shield their $5 million donation from a government audit, thus making the donation invisible: When a man posing as Ibrahim Kasaam asked, "It sounded like you were saying NPR would be able to shield us from a government audit, is...

Folks, I have been in lurk-mode for about a year. However, the awful events in Christchurch NZ have prompted me to post this general update, for anyone in FReeperland who may be interested. By now, you will have heard the bare facts concerning the Christchurch earthquake, so I won't reiterate them here. The official death toll currently sits at just under 100, with expectations it may well rise to 300+. It is a terrible situation, one that New Zealand was never expecting. My beloved Guardian Angels NZ organization has 3 Lads in Christchurch. They are all OK, as are their...

A federal grand jury indicted two Virginia men on Wednesday for allegedly trying to illegally reimburse donors who gave to Hillary Clinton’s senate and presidential campaigns. The Department of Justice (DOJ) has accused the two men, William Danielczyk and Eugene Biagi, of paying back $186,600 in contributions to the senate and presidential campaign committees of a candidate for federal office, and obstructing the Federal Election Commission (FEC) and the FBI.

Bracing for a half-billion-dollar onslaught of outside GOP cash in (2012) President Barack Obama President Barack Obama’s advisers are quietly working to bring back together the major donor base that produced a record-breaking fundraising haul in his first run for president. In the past few months, (DNC) aides have contacted several of Obama’s earliest financial backers to brainstorm about when and where to host the first money-raising events. Several big donors said they expect the Obama 2012 operation to open its doors this spring, with a string of fundraisers to generate the early cash needed to rebuild the president’s high-tech...

10. Riverside, Calif. => Riverside, CA is home to the organization called, “Inland Empire Atheists and Agnostics”. 9. Chula Vista, Calif. => President Barack Obama signed the plan approving of a bridge to Tijuana airport. In 2009, Chula Vista was ranked as one of the most boring cities in America by Forbes Magazine. 8. Toledo, Ohio => Tony Packo's Cafe is located in Toledo and features hundreds of hot dog buns signed by celebrities.[16] 7. Garland, Texas => The Effluent from Garland’s Wastewater Treatment Plant reduces the sediment and nitrogen contents of the water to a drinkable level providing millions...

MSNBC said Friday that it is suspending “Morning Joe” co-host Joe Scarborough for two days after he acknowledged giving eight previously unknown $500 contributions to friends and family members running for state and local offices during his tenure at the network, a violation of parent NBC’s ban on political contributions by employees without specific permission from the network president. “I recognize that I have a responsibility to honor the guidelines and conditions of my employment, and I regret that I failed to do so in this matter,” Scarborough said in a statement. “I apologize to MSNBC and to anyone...

Hi, pretty self-explanatory. I'm seeking freeper advice on a good reliable veteran's organization I can donate to today in recognition and as a way of giving thanks to our veterans.

Now that election 2010 is over, let’s go back over to OpenSecrets and look at which evil corporations stole our democracy and bought Congress for the Republicans — the RepubliCorp! First suspect: the military-industrial complex! •Defense Contractors: 55% Democrat, 44% Republican ($18 million) Oh, really? Well, then, it must have been Wall Street! That’s it: Wall Street bought Congress for the GOP! •Securities & Investment: 53% Democrat, 46% Republican ($8.2 million) Oh. Well, even if Wall Street as a whole preferred Democrats, it must have been the real bad guys, those risky Hedge funds and exotic investors… •Hedge Funds: 53%...

If you are inclined to want to help out any additional races besides the ones you have already here are a few (not all) suggestions: Sharron Angle - running well against Reid. Probably will win. Marco Rubio - running for senate against Crist - florida. Probalby will win. Could use support though. Sean Bielat - running against Barney Frank. Within 4 points I believe. If you ever wanted to safely 'stick it' to Barney, this could be your chance. Sean Duffy - running for open WI house seat David Obey (40+ years) is not running again. expected to win. Michelle...

SCROLL DOWN FOR THE FUN AND GAMES) "September 19, 2007 Rudolph Giuliani is raising campaign cash in London. Only U.S. citizens and green-card holders can legally give to U.S. campaigns. But Giuliani, Barack Obama and Bill Clinton are all holding events for Americans living in the British Isles. ROBERT SIEGEL, host: Today, Republican Rudolf Giuliani campaigned for the White House in England. Tonight he's got a lecture and dinner with former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. But in this cash-craze race for the White House, he also did something no other presidential candidate has ever done: He held a fundraiser on...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 17 (Xinhua) -- Donations to the U.S. biggest charities dropped sharply last year, as people appeared to be less generous in a still struggling economy, according to a new report released on Sunday. Donations to the nation's biggest charities dropped 11 percent last year, a decline that was the worst in the two decades since the Chronicle of Philanthropy, a biweekly newspaper that covers the nonprofit world, started its Philanthropy 400 ranking of the organizations that raise the most from private sources. The drop in contributions was nearly four times as great as the next biggest annual decrease:...

Just how desperate is Democrat Congressman Alan Grayson to get re-elected now that even liberals such as Contessa Brewer have questioned both his credibility and ethics? So desperate that Grayson is now pleading for donations at the Democratic Undergound. And in keeping with his normal operating procedure, Grayson accompanied his donation plea with a flat out lie. Here is Grayson making his pitch to the DUers with his lie highlighted: On Friday, the DC newspaper "Politico" reported that: (a) "conservative outside groups" have now spent over $9 million "slamming vulnerable House Democrats," and (b) the total against me will reach...

WASHINGTON - A Minnesota campaign law requiring disclosure of corporate donations is fast becoming a national model in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that allows corporations to spend unlimited amounts in elections. Finding their elections awash in secret donations, other states are looking for a way to replicate Minnesota's law, which requires disclosure of funding sources for groups that spend on political advertising for or against a candidate.

Barack Obama is being politically crushed in a vise. From above, by elite opinion about his competence. From below, by mass anger and anxiety over unemployment. And it is too late for him to do anything about this predicament until after November's elections. With the exception of core Obama Administration loyalists, most politically engaged elites have reached the same conclusions: the White House is in over its head, isolated, insular, arrogant and clueless about how to get along with or persuade members of Congress, the media, the business community or working-class voters. This view is held by Fox News pundits,...

Health care law changes spur surge of political donations from industry ### Faced with wide-ranging new requirements in the health care law, the insurance industry is pouring money into Republican campaign coffers in hopes of scaling back regulations while preserving the mandate that Americans buy coverage. Since January, the nation's five largest insurers and the industry's Washington-based lobbying arm have given three times more money to Republican lawmakers and political action committees than to Democrats. *snip* "The industry would love to have a Republican Congress," said Wendell Potter, a former executive at Cigna Corp., one of the country's biggest insurers....

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THIS IS A VANITY, and I'm sorry

The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) announced today that Randy Demmer (MN-01) has reached 'Young Gun' status, the premiere level of its three-tiered Young Guns program. Founded in the 2007-2008 election cycle by Reps. Eric Cantor (R-VA), Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), and Paul Ryan (R-WI), the Young Guns program is a member-driven organization dedicated to electing open-seat and challenger candidates nationwide. “I am honored to receive this recognition as an acknowledgement of the support that we have received from voters across Southern Minnesota,” Demmer said. “Throughout my campaign I have heard nothing but frustration with Tim Walz. His active support for...

My husband wants to legally donate to candidates before the election but wishes to stay off mailing lists. (We have managed to get on about 100 by donating during previous election cycles.) He was wondering about sending cash in amounts less than $200 in an envelope with no return address. I apologize for this vanity, but my husband really wanted input from others on this topic.

TSUNAMI DOWN THE SHORE! Catch the wave sweeping through the nation! Support ANNA LITTLE in the first Anna Little for Congress Tsunami Down the Shore MONEY BOMB! From the convenience of your PC help sustain the 'wave' that is building into a tsunami! ANNA LITTLE FOR CONGRESS, DISTRICT 6 NJ You can mail a check or contribute securely via PayPal HERE: http://www.annalittleforcongress.com/paypal/donation3.html ... With less than 2 months until the November election, Anna needs to close the poll gap and surpass Pallone. Costs increase rapidly as elections draw nearer, and the radio and TV campaigns start soon. So your dollars...

The controversial website WikiLeaks, which argues the cause of openness in leaking classified or confidential documents, has set up an elaborate global financial network to protect a big secret of its own—its funding.

Redford Solicits Donations For Boxer CampaignAug 19, 2010 3:09 pm US/Pacific WASHINGTON (CBS 5 / AP) - Hollywood icon Robert Redford is trying to help Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer raise money for her re-election campaign in a letter championing her efforts on the environment. The actor and director is a longtime environmental activist who has been a regular donor to Democratic candidates over the years. He says in an e-mail to potential donors that Boxer, in the wake of the Gulf Coast oil spill, has sought to extend a moratorium on drilling in federal waters along the Pacific Coast. Boxer's...