Free Republic

A local architecture firm that recently won an $8.3 million federal contract to redesign a U.S. border crossing in California is being investigated by the Federal Election Commission for irregular campaign contributions to Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada, who is up for re-election next year. Henderson resident Randy Spitzmesser prompted the FEC probe of his former employer, Tate Snyder Kimsey Architects. On behalf of the architecture firm, Las Vegas attorney Stan Hunterton told the Las Vegas Review-Journal by fax last month, "We do not believe that anything was intentionally done wrong" regarding campaign finances. Spitzmesser also thinks Henderson-based Tate Snyder...

From http://query.nictusa.com/cgi-bin/can_detail/P80003338/ at FEC.gov, it shows you the information for “Contributions Made by This Candidate’s Committees” and “Committees Who Gave to This Candidate,” but it won’t show you any information for “Individuals Who Gave to This Candidate.” After a couple minutes of waiting, you’ll be presented with the page, “Failed to open page.” It's been this way as early as July 2009. It does show you which individuals gave to John McCain. Detailed information here: http://fauxcapitalist.com/2009/10/20/fec-dot-gov-wont-show-you-which-individuals-donated-to-president-obama/

WASHINGTON – Independent advocacy groups will be able to spend more money to try to influence federal elections under a decision Friday from a federal appeals court that overturned rules limiting nonprofits' campaign spending. Three judges of the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington agreed with Emily's List, a nonprofit that backs women Democratic candidates who support abortion rights, that the regulations limited free speech rights. The Federal Election Commission enacted the rules in 2005, after concerns were raised about the amount of unlimited "soft money" contributions used to fund attacks in the 2004 election. The FEC said nonprofits would...

The First Amendment, as rewritten under the McCain-Feingold campaign finance law: "Congress shall make no law ... abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, except if it is funded by a corporation, unless it is a media corporation, or if the speech occurs just prior to an election, unless it is in the form of a book, which, even though the law covers books, too, the Federal Election Commission would never apply that law to books because we say so, though we said something entirely different a couple of months ago." In an apoplexy of righteous indignation over...

The SCOTUS today appeared poised to strike down at least a portion of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of '02, after a majority of justices fiercely questioned Solicitor Gen. Elena Kagan and an atty for the legislation's sponsors, including Sens. John McCain (R-AZ) and Russ Feingold (D-WI). The case -- Citizens United v. FEC -- was first heard by the court on 3/24, but, in an unusual move, the court held over the case and ordered a re-hearing before the start of its Oct. term. Citizens United, a nonprofit advocacy org, produced a 90-min. film titled "Hillary: The Movie" meant...

The Supreme Court on Wednesday will hear arguments from campaign finance reform advocates and opponents in a case many insiders say will be the most significant decision in more than 35 years. The case the court will hear, Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, has the potential to overturn key elements of campaign finance law that prevent corporate spending on elections, a move that would open the door to millions of dollars that could not be spent previously. “This is the biggest case in campaign finance law, really, since Buckley v. Valeo in 1976,” said Rob Kelner, a partner at...

THE Supreme Court seems poised to reshape cam paign-finance law, affirm ing fundamental First Amendment rights by overturning restrictions on corporate political speech when it rehears Citizens United v. FEC next Tuesday. At issue is whether the government can ban distribution of a political documentary, "Hillary: The Movie," produced by Citizens United, a conservative group that received some corporate funding to make the film. The government argues that it can -- relying on a 1990 case, Austin v. Michigan Chamber of Commerce, that upheld a state law banning corporate political spending, and McConnell v. FEC, the 2003 case that upheld...

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — The Federal Elections Commission has found that former Gov. Sarah Palin's political action committee gave excessive contributions to two well-known Republicans. The problem is highlighted in a letter sent to SarahPAC treasurer Tim Crawford. Crawford told The Anchorage Daily News that the problem has been fixed. He said SarahPAC has sorted out the $5,000 contributions to Sens. John McCain and Lisa Murkowski, and the campaigns have already refunded $200 each. Crawford blamed the problems on election software used to deal with required disclosures. . . . . . Crawford said SarahPAC has redesignated the $5,000 going...

WASHINGTON - Organized labor gave more money to congressional campaigns than any other interest group at a time when overhauling health care and easing the ability of unions to organize sit atop Congress’ agenda. Union political action committees shelled out $11 million to lawmakers during the first six months of this year. Ranking second were health care interests, which gave $9.5 million from Jan. 1 through June 30, according to a CQ MoneyLine analysis of the latest filings with the Federal Election Commission (FEC). While labor PACs were the top contributors in the previous election cycle, the health care industry...

The Securities and Exchange Commission accused Bank of America on Monday of misleading investors about plans to pay billions of dollars in bonuses at Merrill Lynch, the troubled brokerage giant it bought last year. The development once again turns an uncomfortable spotlight on a defining moment of the financial crisis — the ill-starred merger of Bank of America and Merrill — and on Bank of America’s embattled chief executive, Kenneth D. Lewis. The $50 billion merger, completed at the behest of federal officials, has been the subject of heated hearings in Congress, as has the question of who knew what,...

Bank of America has agreed to pay a $33 million penalty to settle government charges that it misled investors about Merrill Lynch's plans to pay bonuses to its employees.

Lou Dobbs reported tonight that the Federal Election Commission does not require any proof of citizenship to run for Presidency.

That's right, five months -- not six --  bacause as Allah notes at Hot Air -- SarahPAC wasn’t fully operational until the end of January: "By comparison, Romney’s PAC raised $1.4 million through the end of May, but then fundraising is pretty much Mitt’s full-time gig these days and he already has a polished team around him left over from the primaries. Let’s see what happens in the second half when he and Palin go toe-to-toe." Not only that, but as Meg Stapleton told Politico: SarahPAC was actually 'dark,' meaning it took in no money, from a period in mid-April...

Pair Try to Force Naming of More Commissioners. BY DAN EGGEN Seven years after their landmark campaign finance legislation became law, Sens. John McCain and Russell Feingold are reuniting under the banner of spending reform at a time when restrictions have come under fire both in the courts and at the embattled Federal Election Commission. McCain (R-Ariz.) and Feingold (D-Wis.) announced this week that they were blocking the appointment of Democratic union lawyer John Sullivan to the FEC until President Obama agrees to fill two other open panel seats. The two senators, who co-sponsored legislation in 2002 that banned "soft...

An investigator at the Securities and Exchange Commission warned superiors as far back as 2004 about irregularities at Bernard L. Madoff's financial management firm, but she was told to focus on an unrelated matter, according to agency documents and sources familiar with the investigation. Genevievette Walker-Lightfoot, a lawyer in the SEC's Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations, sent e-mails to a supervisor, saying information provided by Madoff during her review didn't add up and suggesting a set of questions to ask his firm, documents show. Several of these questions directly challenged Madoff activities that much later turned out to be...

FEC Complaint Filed To Cancel Hillary Clinton 2006 Immunity Deal New Evidence Offered of Hillary Clinton’s Admissions To Raising Illegal Funds May 2, 2009, Washington, DC. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, former President Bill Clinton, Harold Ickes and the Hillary Clinton for Senate Committee, Inc. have become the subjects of a new Federal Election Commission Complaint filed today. An original FEC complaint was filed against then-Senator Clinton and her agents including President Clinton, DNC Chair Ed Rendell, Finance Director David Rosen and Treasurer Andrew Grossman in July 2001. It detailed the facts surrounding the illegal solicitation and false reporting of...

Like any individual citizen, corporations have a stake in the outcomes of federal elections. A candidate’s economic, foreign, social and environmental policies can either threaten or provide hope for a particular organization. The stakes for corporations aren’t necessarily greater than those of the individual, but they are on a greater scale of complexity and scope. It’s no surprise, then, that corporations have long played a role in influencing the outcome of federal elections. For as long as campaign finance has existed, corporations have been a part of it – pushing the candidates who are best for business to the top....

Al Sharpton and his group, the National Action Network (NAN), have been fined $285,000 by the Federal Election Commission (FEC) for violating a host of election laws during Sharpton’s 2004 presidential campaign during which he received 2% of the Democratic primary vote. NLPC, which filed Complaints against Sharpton on February 2, 2004 and February 6, 2004, was notified of the FEC action last week and make it public today. As NLPC Chairman Ken Boehm was quoted in the New York Post today: We are pleased that the FEC has ruled on our Complaint and found that Sharpton ran an “off...

The Rev. Al Sharpton and his National Action Network have been slapped with a record $285,000 fine for violating a slew of federal election rules during his 2004 bid for president, the Post has learned. In a decision to be made public next month, the Federal Election Commission found that Sharpton's Democratic primary campaign accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars in contributions from private sources. It also "kept poor records of its activities and expenditures" and commingled funds with Sharpton's civil-rights group. All are prohibited under the Federal Election Campaign Act. Earlier this month, Sharpton and former campaign manager...

Rep. Elton Gallegly (R-Calif.) is asking the Federal Election Commission for permission to use up to $7,500 in campaign funds to pay for increased security at his home, charging that he and his wife have repeatedly been harassed by an alleged drug addict. In a request to the FEC, Gallegly recounts a months-long ordeal for his family that began on Oct. 23, just two weeks before Election Day. According to FEC documents, a man approached Gallegly’s wife at their home, claiming to be a gardener. Gallegly’s wife told the man that she had no work for him and asked him...

On Mar. 24, the Supreme Court heard arguments in Citizens United v. FEC, the latest installment in an ongoing series of challenges to the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (BCRA), better known as McCain-Feingold. This case has far-reaching implications for the future of campaign activities, and draws an important line between the right of citizens to speak out and the power of government to imprison them if they do. The group Citizens United produced a documentary critical of Hillary Clinton during her failed presidential campaign. (Citizens United also made a similar film about Barack Obama, though this lawsuit focused on the...

The Supreme Court will hear oral argument at 10 a.m. Tuesday on Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (08-205). Theodore B . Olson of Washington will argue for Citizens United. Deputy Solicitor General Malcolm L. Stewart will represent the FEC. ———————- Movies, somewhat akin to documentaries but with a distinct and sometimes sharp political edge, are becoming a prominent mode of campaigning in national election cycles. The scope of federal regulation of their timing and content is before the Supreme Court in its latest major campaign finance case – Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission. The case, however, has broader...

Democratic National Committee files motion to intervene in RNC v. FEC WASHINGTON, Jan. 29 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Today the Democratic National Committee announced that it filed a motion to intervene in the case of the Republican National Committee v. FEC, in which the RNC is seeking to dismantle the soft money provisions of the bi-partisan McCain Feingold campaign reform act (BCRA) of 2002. After a bruising defeat in November 2008, the RNC filed suit in the District of Columbia, challenging the constitutionality of the central tenet of BCRA - the ban on national party soft money. In its suit, the RNC...

Candidates for federal office will be able to squeeze just a little more money out of their major contributors in the 2010 campaign cycle as the Federal Election Commission announced new individual gift limits Friday morning. Individual donors will now be able to give up to $2,400 per election, or $4,800 for both a primary and a general, according to the new guidelines. That's up from the $2,300 per-election limit during the 2008 cycle. Donors are also able to fork over $30,400 to national parties, higher than the $28,500 they were allowed to give last cycle. A single donor is...

Nearly 100 wealthy families and power couples contributed at least $100,000 each to help Barack Obama over the past two years, creating an elite set of donors to whom the president-elect repeatedly turned in financing his campaign, transition and inauguration, a Washington Post analysis shows. As inaugural donations become public, a list of Obama's most loyal backers has emerged...The families gave to as many as five committees, records show, and 27 of the 94 families also bundled money from others, collecting millions of dollars on top of their personal donations. Among the supporters were well-known families such as the Rockefellers,...

Sometime early next year, the six commissioners who run the Federal Election Commission will face an interesting dilemma--whether to approve a "for cause" audit of the presidential campaign of a sitting president, Barack Obama. From a legal standpoint, this should be an easy vote. Serious issues were raised in numerous media reports chronicling the Obama campaign's probable violations of federal law. If the career staff at the FEC follow the ordinary, regulatory model of investigations, they will recommend such an audit to the commissioners. However, the odds are that the three Democratic commissioners will be under enormous pressure to vote...

A legal scholar and former member of the Federal Election Commission says the decision by the Democratic-controlled Senate to deny Roland Burris entry to the chamber today was an "arbitrary" move and a "gross abuse of the Constitution."

If money talks, we'll likely soon hear the real reason why Barack Obama beat John McCain. Both men and the national parties will report to the Federal Election Commission today how much money they raised in October and November. And what the numbers will probably show is that Mr. Obama outspent Mr. McCain by the biggest margin in history, perhaps a quarter of a billion dollars. It's been reported that the Obama campaign accepted donations from untraceable, pre-paid debit cards used by Daffy Duck, Bart Simpson, Family Guy, King Kong and other questionable characters. If the FEC follows up with...

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Constitutional Lawyer: If Obama Takes Oath, It Will Be Perjury - Plus Maps Out The Specific Chaos That Will Absolutely Ensue Obama Fomenting A Constitutional Crisis: Constitutional Lawyer Discusses Ramifications To Country The Philadelphia Bulletin Error 404, page removed!By John P. Connolly 12/01/2008Controversy continues to surround President-elect Barack Obama’s eligibility to serve as president, and a case involving his birth certificate waits for its day before the U.S. Supreme Court. A constitutional lawyer said were it to be discovered that Mr. Obama is not a natural-born U.S. citizen, it would have grave consequences for the nation.According to the Constitution, a president must...

WASHINGTON – You can make sure the Supreme Court justices have a piece of your mind when they review a case Friday challenging the eligibility of Barack Obama under Section 2, Article 1 of the Constitution, which stipulates the position can only be filled by "a natural born citizen." Because the Supreme Court justices do not accept faxes, e-mails or telephone calls, there is only one way to make your voice heard in time for Friday's preliminary hearing – overnight delivery of your letter. To make that process simpler, more convenient and less expensive, WND has devised a plan to...

American Patrol Report Letter to Supreme Court Justices I am writing about a possible threat to all of humanity. Under present law the President of the United States has sole authority to authorize the use of nuclear weapons. The possibility of holding the fate of the entire human race in ones hands is an awesome responsibility. The person to whom we grant that responsibility must be of the highest moral and ethical character. While the popular vote is a necessary prerequisite to assume the powers of the presidency, it should not be sufficient. I have become aware of serious questions...

Headline and link only due to copywrite. http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/2008-11-24-obamadonors_N.htm

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's team has told the Federal Election Commission that she continued her campaign even after endorsing Democratic presidential rival Barack Obama on June 7, a claim that lets her transfer millions of dollars from her presidential bid to her Senate campaign. The former first lady made the $6.4 million transfer from her White House campaign, which remains more than $7 million in debt, to Friends of Hillary on Aug. 28. That date would fall outside the legal deadline for making such a move if her campaign were to have ended June 7. Her campaign treasurer told federal...

Is there some way to get this to the FEC or anyone? If you go to the blog you will see that this is Barack Obama advertising and asking for donations from Kenyans. I think that it is illegal even if you get a mere $5 donation from any foreign sources? It never ends does it...

According to a published report earlier this week, the Federal Election Commission is unlikely to vote to audit the Obama campaign finances, and will sweep aside a formal demand for an full audit that was filed by the Republican National Committee on Oct. 6. But interviews with current and former FEC officials, as well as a review of public statements by FEC commissioners, suggest that the commission could pursue an “audit for cause” of the Obama campaign, based in part on allegations of widespread fraud and illegal donors as reported by Newsmax.com and other publications during the election season. “There...

Abstract: The runoff for a U.S. Senate seat in Georgia is providing a stark example of how candidates in the 2008 election have been able to skirt campaign-finance limits -- without actually breaking the law. Federal campaign-finance law limits individuals to donating $2,300 to a candidate per election. Yet Republicans and Democrats are soliciting donations more than 10 times that amount for the Dec. 2 runoff in Georgia. GOP fund-raisers are asking people to give as much as $65,500 toward incumbent Sen. Saxby Chambliss's campaign, while Democrats are seeking donations up to $30,800 for challenger Jim Martin. So how are...

****UPDATE**** SEC Charges Mark Cuban With Insider Trading The Securities and Exchange Commission filed insider trading charges against Mark Cuban, the outspoken owner of the Dallas Mavericks, for allegedly dumping shares in Mamma.com upon learning it was raising money in a private offering.... http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122693827604333637.html

SEC charges Mark Cuban with insider trading:

PRESS RELEASE November 14, 2008 Contact: James Bopp, Jr. Cell Phone 812/243-0825; Phone 812/232-2434; Fax 812/235-3685; jboppjr@aol.com Supreme Court to Review Citizens United’s Hillary:The Movie Case Today the U.S. Supreme Court accepted the case of Citizens United v. FEC for review. The case concerns Citizens United’s desire to broadcast television advertisements for its documentary titled Hillary: The Movie (hillarythemovie.com). Because the ads qualify as “electioneering communications” under McCain-Feingold, Citizens United is required to report its donors and put political disclaimers on the ads. Citizens United objects to these requirements because its advertisements are “political speech” that is fully protected from...

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1108/15497.html The Federal Election Commission is unlikely to conduct a potentially embarrassing audit of how Barack Obama raised and spent his presidential campaign’s record-shattering windfall, despite allegations of questionable donations and accounting that had the McCain campaign crying foul.

The Federal Election Commission is not likely to conduct a potentially embarrassing audit of Barack Obama’s record-breaking fundraising campaign despite allegations of questionable donations and accounting. That’s the disclosure from Politico.com, which reports that Obama will probably escape scrutiny in large part because unlike John McCain, he declined to accept $84 million in public financing.

Expanding Afghan War Awaits New President An expanded U.S. military involvement awaits a new U.S. president in Afghanistan where the unfinished business of September 11 has flared over the past three years into a major insurgency. A raft of assessments and reviews now underway in Washington point to a fundamental rethinking of the Afghan war. But whoever is elected Tuesday will face choices on the size of the military buildup, how to strengthen the central government, how far to go in dealing with insurgent sanctuaries across the border, how to help stabilize Pakistan, and whether and how to reconcile...

The Federal Election Commission is unlikely to conduct a potentially embarrassing audit of how Barack Obama raised and spent his presidential campaign’s record-shattering windfall, despite allegations of questionable donations and accounting that had the McCain campaign crying foul. Adding insult to injury for Republicans: The FEC is obligated to complete a rigorous audit of McCain’s campaign coffers, which will take months, if not years, and cost McCain millions of dollars to defend. Obama is expected to escape that level of scrutiny mostly because he declined an $84 million public grant for his campaign that automatically triggers an audit and because...

The Federal Election Commission is unlikely to conduct a potentially embarrassing audit of how Barack Obama raised and spent his presidential campaign’s record-shattering windfall, despite allegations of questionable donations and accounting that had the McCain campaign crying foul. Adding insult to injury for Republicans: The FEC is obligated to complete a rigorous audit of McCain’s campaign coffers, which will take months, if not years, and cost McCain millions of dollars to defend.

On the subject of campaigns we all know that candidates are not supposed to accept foreign donations (Unless you are Bill Clinton or another very liberal Democrat) If their money can not be used...can they volunteer? The reason I bring this up is from an unrelated news item from the UK. Seems a Mr. Adam Smith in a drunken rant telling his boss to umm to "make love to himself" spoke of his getting on a plane and getting to Miami to "volunteer for the Barack Obama Campaign." While I can't say that I know of any specific prohibition its...

Rahm Emanuel - Freddie Mac Board Member 2000 to 2002. "Freddie Mac agreed to the settlement without admitting or denying the allegations. The SEC alleged that Freddie Mac engaged in a fraudulent scheme that deceived investors about its true performance, profitability and growth trends. Freddie Mac misreported its net income in 2000 by 30.5 percent, in 2001 by 23.9 percent and 2002 by 42.9 percent, according to the SEC. The SEC said that "Freddie Mac's senior management exerted consistent pressure to have the company report smooth and dependable earnings growth."

snips Zeituni Onyango, 56, the half-sister of Mr Obama's Kenyan father, gave a total of $260 to the Obama campaign during the third quarter of this year, records show. US election rules require that individuals making presidential campaign contributions be US citizens, and political campaigns are required to make "best efforts" to verify that, a FEC spokesman said. The AP reports that Ms Onyango is living in the United States illegally after an immigration judge rejected her request for asylum four years ago. Ms Onyango was the first Kenyan relative to welcome Mr Obama on his first visit to his...

Barack Obama's critics appropriately have spotlighted his ties to William Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn, the remorseless co-founders and leaders of the terrorist Weather Underground. However, Obama's detractors largely overlook Ayers' campaign contribution to Obama.On April 2, 2001, Ayers donated $200 to Obama's Illinois State Senate re-election campaign. Though not a jackpot, this represents Ayers' only recorded political contribution.The Illinois State Board of Elections' online database shows that Ayers donated to no other candidate. The websites of the Federal Elections Commission, The Center for Responsive Politics (opensecrets.org), and NewsMeat.com indicate that Ayers has made no disclosed federal campaign contributions.Why is...

A Newsmax investigation of Obama/Biden campaign contributors, undertaken in conjunction with a private investigative firm headed by a former CIA operations officer, has identified 118 donors who appear to lack U.S. citizenship. Some of these “red flag” donors work for foreign governments; others have made public statements declaring that they are citizens of Cameroun, Nigeria, Pakistan, Canada, and other countries. A Newsmax sampling of about 3,400 donors also found hundreds more who showed “yellow flags” such as not having used a Social Security number or a known U.S. address. Most U.S.-born citizens are issued Social Security numbers at birth or...