Free Republic

the top ten DNC donors outspent the top ten RNC donors by nearly 2 to 1 since 1989 ... The political left always accuses the Republican Party of being the “party of rich guys.” It’s a lie. ... C) Committed Democrat donors have outspent committed Republican donors by nearly $486 million since 1989 D) Overall, the top ten DNC donors outspent the top ten RNC donors by nearly 2 to 1 since 1989. E) The largest committed DNC donor group has outspent the largest committed RNC donor group by 67% since 1989 ... The arguments by Democrats that the RNC...

A top Hollywood fund-raiser embezzled more than $1 million from her employer---the Warner Music record label.....one of several “2012 Hollywood power women” touted for their clout in fund-raising for Pres Obama’s re-election... pulling in between $200,000 and $500,000 for Obama. Danielle Smith, 45, flew from California and turned herself in at the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office. She was arraigned on charges of first-degree grand larceny. The California-based national director for Warner Music, allegedly racked up $1.3M in unauthorized charges. Her duties at Warner Music, HDQ'ed in Manhattan, included scouting and signing artists, arranging travel and lodging. But Smith also funded...

Just hours after DNC Chair Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) conceded that Democrats aren’t likely to win control of the House of Representatives this fall, Politico ran a story noting that many high-dollar donors are shifting their focus to the Senate races in which vulnerable Democrats are running: With Democrats’ grasp on the Senate increasingly tenuous — and the House all but beyond reach — some top party donors and strategists are moving to do something in the midterm election as painful as it is coldblooded: Admit the House can’t be won and go all in to save the Senate....

Two days ago, the Paulding County Republican Examiner (reported) on a new Obama scandal that was emerging over the weekend that the Obama campaign was accepting illegal overseas donations and that the report would be released by an unnamed tax payer watch group. This morning, the non-partisan group, (Government Accountability Institute) (GAI) released its 108 page report, the first ever analysis of election campaign donations issues called, “America the Vulnerable: Are Foreign and Fraudulent Online Campaign Contributions Influencing U.S. Elections?” raises indications the Obama campaign has potentially violated federal election law by failing to prevent the use of fraudulent or...

Earlier this month, Bob McDonnell became former Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell. On Tuesday, he became indicted former Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell. Just days after he left office, the Republican and and his wife, Maureen McDonnell, were charged in federal court with more than a dozen counts related to the tens of thousands of dollars in gifts and loans they accepted from a wealthy Virginia businessman. (The ex-governor maintained on Tuesday that he had done nothing illegal.) The fact that the McDonnells were under scrutiny from prosecutors was no secret. Stories about the investigation, and the relationship between the McDonnells and...

HOUSTON — The Mostyn Law Firm and its attorneys are spending a small fortune to ensure Texas Sen. Wendy Davis' political ambitions come to fruition. The most recent contribution came on Dec. 31, with the Mostyn Law Firm ringing in the New Year by donating $1 million to the Texas Victory Committee -- a joint project of Wendy R. Davis for Governor and Battleground Texas, according to the Texas Ethics Commission. Davis, a Democratic gubernatorial candidate, is no stranger to law firms specializing in civil litigation, as she first joined the Fort Worth law office of Haynes & Boone in...

What if conservative FReepers/bloggers/online activists were to instigate a boycott of major donors to Karl Rove's 'American Crossroads' and 'Crossroads GPS' SuperPACs- so that underwriting Rove's war on the Gee-Oh-Pee's own base comes at as heavy a price as possible? Then perhaps they'll realize what they're doing is wrong.   Crossroads GPS is a 'dark money' PAC -thus not required to release donor info- but we've got enough on the original American Crossroads group to make our presence felt (via pain inflicted) while we try and sniff-out the rest. Karl Rove and his congressional allies need to be taken-out-at-the-knees...

I've not read the official obituaries because they are predictable. "Billionaire." "Reclusive." "GOP donor." "Swift Boat Vets." "Industrialist." "Controversial." "Dallas." And there you have it: the death of a sinister figure driven by greed, the puppeteer manipulating the political process, a 21st century J.R. Ewing. (Or is it Mr. Burns?) If this is what you've read, it's written by someone who didn't know Harold Clark Simmons. I never knew a man quite like him. I met him in 1981 while panhandling for some political cause or another. Back then, he kept a ledger of his political donations on 5-by-7 cards....

The Minneapolis Star Tribune investigates independent political spending over the last few election cycles. The results are stark, but won’t surprise anyone who has been paying attention: A Star Tribune analysis of ­campaign finance records found that just three dozen individuals or entities have contributed more than $27 million to political action and independent expenditure committees over the past three election cycles. The analysis shows those donations heavily favored Democrats. Unless that trend is reversed, Republicans could find themselves at a disadvantage heading into the 2014 elections…. No kidding. One union — the powerful ­Education Minnesota teachers union — poured...

The Lockheed Martin Corp. is cutting ties with the Boy Scouts of America because the group does not allow gay Scout leaders, officials told the MDJ on Wednesday. “While we applaud the mission of the Boy Scouts and the good things they do in our communities, their policies that discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation and religious affiliation conflict with Lockheed Martin policies,” said Lockheed spokesman Gordon Johndroe. The reference to “religious affiliation” has to do with the Boy Scouts’ ban on atheist members.

The Justice Department has reportedly delayed until next year a decision on whether to indict outgoing Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell and his wife in connection with a gifts scandal — a decision that came after a face-to-face appeal by the couple’s lawyers. A report by The Washington Post late Wednesday night said U.S. Attorney Dana Boente told lawyers for the governor and first lady Maureen McDonnell a week ago that he planned to ask a grand jury to return an indictment by this past Monday over allegedly inappropriate help they gave dietary supplement maker Star Scientific after receiving gifts from...

(RNS) Dozens of Catholic leaders are protesting the decision by the Catholic University of America to accept a large donation from the foundation of Charles Koch, a billionaire industrialist who is an influential supporter of libertarian-style policies that critics say run counter to church teaching. Charles Koch and his brother, David, “fund organizations that advance public policies that directly contradict Catholic teaching on a range of moral issues from economic justice to environmental stewardship,” says a four-page letter to CUA President John Garvey, released Monday (Dec 16) The letter was signed by 50 priests, social justice advocates, theologians and other...

Justice Minister Tzipi Livni appealed a bill declaring donations to anti-Israel non-governmental organizations from foreign governments no longer exempt from tax, after it was approved by the Ministerial Committee for Legislation on Sunday. Eight ministers from Likud, Yisrael Beytenu and Bayit Yehudi approved the bill in the ministerial committee, while Hatnua and Yesh Atid ministers voted against it. The legislation proposed by Bayit Yehudi faction chairwoman Ayelet Shaked and MK Robert Ilatov (Likud Beytenu) amends the Income Tax Law so that NGOs will have to pay 45 percent tax on donations from foreign governments if the organization or members of...

Though Democrats have railed against the influence of money in politics after the Supreme Court's Citizens United ruling, liberals have accounted for 70% of the so-called "dark money" that has been spent this year. According to Open Secrets, "liberal dark money in 2013 makes up 70 percent of all the dark money spent so far. At this point in 2011, liberal money accounted for less than 6 percent of the dark money spent, and in 2009, the total was a little higher, at 6.5 percent." Open Secrets describes "dark money organizations" as "501(c)(4) and 501(c)(6) nonprofits that don't have to disclose their donors."...

Breitbart News has confirmed that much of the credit for Terry McAuliffe’s narrow 47.9 percent to 45.5 percent victory over Republican Ken Cuccinelli in Tuesday’s election is attributable to a $4 million donation the McAuliffe campaign gave to the Democratic Party of Virginia, which used those funds to run a highly effective ground game for the party’s full slate of candidates. Ashley Bauman, press secretary for the Democratic Party of Virginia, told Breitbart News in an exclusive interview on Wednesday that "[w]hile we used that money [the $4 million donated to the Democratic Party of Virginia from the McAuliffe campaign]...

A tech firm linked to a campaign-donor crony of President Obama not only got the job to help build the federal health-insurance Web site — but also is getting paid to fix it.

"WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Billionaire financier George Soros, a major Democratic donor, is backing an effort to persuade former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to run for president in 2016, a spokesman said on Thursday."

The Democratic National Committee has narrowly edged its Republican rival in fundraising for the first time all year. In a Sunday release, the Republican National Committee reported raising $7.1 million in September. Democrats on Friday reported a cash haul of nearly $7.4 million in September, while finishing the month with more than $5 million on hand.

Virginia gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe was one of dozens of investors with a Rhode Island estate planner charged with defrauding insurers by using the stolen identities of terminally ill people, according to court documents filed Wednesday by federal prosecutors in Providence. McAuliffe’s name appeared on a lengthy list of investors with Joseph A. Caramadre, an attorney and accountant who obtained the identities of dying people to set up annuities that ultimately cost insurance companies millions of dollars, the documents say.

McAuliffe to donate funds from convicted Rhode Island businessman to charity Terry McAuliffe's name popped up today on a list of investors who bought annuities from a Rhode Island businessman who pleaded guilty in 2012 to stealing the identities of terminally ill patients. The convicted businessman, Joseph Caramadre, was also a donor to McAuliffe's failed 2009 bid for the Democratic nomination for governor of Virginia. Caramadre donated more than $26 thousand to McAuliffe and hosted a fundraiser for the candidate. Caramadre(Court sketch of Caramadre courtesy of WJAR) According to our NBC affiliate in Providence WJAR, there is no evidence that...