Free Republic

Recently, prodded by a letter from campaign finance reform groups, and after the New York Times pointed out that the Obama campaign had not updated its bundler list for months, the Web site added a flotilla of names, along with each bundler's city and state. However, the Web site does not provide the bundlers' occupations or employers, although those should be readily available to the campaign from the bundlers' individual contributions.

A watchdog group filed complaints with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) and the Senate Ethics Committee Wednesday against Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) over a discounted mortgage he received from Northern Trust. Judicial Watch, a conservative legal watchdog group, filed the report after The Washington Post reported that Obama received a discount on a mortgage for a Chicago home valued at $1.65 million. The complaints said the Illinois senator received a loan at the interest rate of 5.625 percent, which Judicial Watch says is lower than the standard rate of between 5.93 and 6 percent indicated by surveys....

The Senate confirmed five new commissioners for the Federal Election Commission last night, ending a six-month impasse during which the agency was paralyzed by its lack of a quorum. "We're finally going to restore the FEC," Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) said as the chamber prepared for the voice vote. The six-member panel has been unable to consider action this election year because only two commissioners were left after three recess appointments expired in December. Democrats blocked consideration of any replacements over objections to one of President Bush's choices, former Justice Department official Hans von Spakovsky, whom they...

The Democratic National Committee today filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in D.C. to compel the Federal Election Commission (FEC) to investigate John McCain's decision to unilaterally withdraw from the FEC's matching funds program despite using the program to financially benefit his campaign -- just one of many McCain campaign improprieties.

WARREN, Mich (Reuters) - Three former chairmen of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission endorsed Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama on Wednesday, bolstering the Illinois senator's economic credentials and bipartisan appeal as he closes in on his party's nomination. Former SEC head William Donaldson, who was appointed by Republican President George W. Bush, joined Arthur Levitt and David Ruder in backing Obama, who leads rival Hillary Clinton in the number of delegates necessary to become the Democratic White House nominee. Levitt was appointed by former President Bill Clinton, a Democrat, while Ruder was appointed by former President Ronald Reagan, a...

WASHINGTON - President Bush nominated two new Republicans and one new Democrat to the Federal Election Commission Tuesday in an attempt to break a Senate confirmation deadlock that had paralyzed the regulatory agency. Bush resisted efforts to withdraw the nomination of Hans von Spakovsky, a former Justice Department official whom he nominated in 2007 but who had not been able to win votes in the Senate to get confirmed. The White House said the latest compromise would permit a separate vote on von Spakovsky. The stalemate over von Spakovsky had left the six-member FEC without a quorum to conduct business...

McCain Campaign May Have Accepted In-Kind Contribution from Foreign Nationals in Contravention of Federal Election Laws Contact: Press Office 202-646-5188 Washington, D.C. Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, announced today that it filed a formal complaint, dated April 22, 2008, with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) related to a fundraising luncheon held at London’s Spencer House to benefit Senator John McCain’s presidential campaign. The venue for the event was apparently donated to the campaign by foreign nationals, in violation of federal campaign finance laws. “Recent news reports suggest that Sen. John McCain and John...

When he effectively wrapped up the Republican nomination on Tsunami Feb. 5, John McCain completed one of the greatest comebacks in American political history. Unfortunately, while spending much of the subsequent 12 weeks taking well-deserved victory laps, Mr. McCain has also apparently taken a worrisome vacation from fund-raising. The McCain campaign recently filed yet another disappointing fund-raising report (this one was for March) with the Federal Election Commission. The presumptive Republican nominee raised only $15.2 million last month. In February, which included 24 days after he clinched the nomination, Mr. McCain raised only $11 million. That was actually less than...

Complaint filed against Elton John/Hillary fundraiser By Michelle Malkin • April 14, 2008 Judicial Watch has filed a complaint with the FEC over that Elton John/Hillary fundraiser. Not that there’s anyone actually at the FEC who’ll do anything about it, what with the stalemate over FEC nominees rendering the office completely dysfunctional. Oh, well. Here’s the press release: Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, announced today that it filed a formal complaint with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) related to a fundraising concert by musician Sir Elton John on behalf of Hillary Clinton’s presidential...

Obama Exploit Election Commission? by Marion Harrison Issue 104 - March 26, 2008 Opinions vary as to the worth of the role of the Federal Election Commission (“FEC”) when it fully is functioning as prescribed by law. Regardless of one’s opinion as to whether the Federal election law scheme as legislated and implemented is the ideal, FEC is the duly constituted Federal regulatory agency and the only one. How dysfunctional - maybe just plain bizarre - that FEC should be stalemated as the country enters a time when both political parties could be disabled by its inaction. FEC by statute...

A few years ago, the Federal Election Commission ruled that bloggers are eligible for the same exemptions from campaign-finance law as mainstream media outlets have enjoyed for decades. But the FEC's membership will change over time, meaning that the beliefs of the commissioners are likely to change as well. So a future FEC could rule differently. That's what concerns Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas), a longtime proponent of preventing the federal government from extending campaign-finance laws to the Internet. His answer: On Thursday, Hensarling introduced a four-page bill he's calling the Blogger Protection Act of 2008. Hensarling intends to enshrine into...

Are Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Elton John breaking U.S. laws by allowing the British pop singer, a foreign national, to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for Mrs. Clinton's presidential campaign by performing a concert on her behalf? That's the question Inside the Beltway put to the Federal Election Commission (FEC) yesterday, which does not rule out the possibility. First, some background supplied by the FEC: The goal of the 1966 Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) was to "minimize foreign intervention" in U.S. elections by establishing a series of limitations on foreign nationals. In 1974, the prohibition was incorporated...

Are Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Elton John breaking U.S. laws by allowing the British pop singer, a foreign national, to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for Mrs. Clinton's presidential campaign by performing a concert on her behalf? That's the question Inside the Beltway put to the Federal Election Commission (FEC) yesterday, which does not rule out the possibility. First, some background supplied by the FEC: The goal of the 1966 Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) was to "minimize foreign intervention" in U.S. elections by establishing a series of limitations on foreign nationals. In 1974, the prohibition was incorporated...

The Supreme Court can do much today to remove the McCain-Fein gold speech-regulation law's stain if it decides to hear the case of Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission.... The 2008 election season is well under way, yet political speech remains decidedly un-free in America- held hostage to the vanity of John McCain and the cynicism of his accomplices in Congress and the media, who seek to silence their political opponents in the name of clean government.... Citizens United, an activist conservative group, wants relief from burdensome disclosure and disclaimers rules in ads for its documentary, "Hillary: The Movie." While...

This Commentary on January 9, 17 and 28 discussed the irresponsible and unprecedented understaffing of Presidential appointees in a host of Federal regulatory agencies, including the Federal Election Commission. (The January 17 Commentary follows: All three are accessible on the Free Congress Foundation Website, www.freecongress.org.) Understaffing alone can cause ineffective functioning in a Federal agency, as elsewhere. Understaffing to the extent of denying a regulatory agency its quorum necessary to function is, of course, completely debilitating. The bulk of this understaffing is the fault of leftist United States Senate activity and inactivity, not of President George W. Bush. The Federal...

Oberlin College has come up with a creative way for students from out of state to show they reside in Ohio, so they can vote. The college in northern Ohio is sending out dummy utility bills to dorm residents. There are no charges for students to pay for their phone and high-speed Internet connections, but there's a bold-faced note at the bottom saying the statement can serve as proof of ID at a polling place. The arrangement got a blessing from the state's top election official. Colin Koffel from Madison, Wis., says he and other out-of-state students at Oberlin were...

Mike Huckabee said today he's staying in the Republican presidential race because Sen. John McCain might have run afoul of the Federal Election Commission and be unable to campaign for much of the rest of this year... "He wrote these laws," the former Arkansas governor said, adding they were "one of the worst things to happen to American politics." "It may very well be that the law he pushed comes back to bite him." At issue is Mr. McCain's request last summer to take part in the federal matching funds program for the primary election and his request earlier this...

Howard Dean is upset that John McCain wants out from public matching funds for the primary. So much so that's he's filed a complaint with the FEC. Very well. If that's how he really feels about it, he'll tell Senate Democrats to give up their extraordinary block against the President's FEC nominees -- a block that is preventing the FEC from holding a pro-forma vote to allow McCain out of the system. And who put the hold on Hans Von Spakovsky, one of the FEC nominees in limbo? Barack Obama. (In fact, this left-wing blogger asserts that Obama is THE...

Democrats file complaint against McCainComplaint asks FEC to look into McCain's decision to opt out of public financing system Posted: Monday, February 25, 2008 at 3:19 p.m. WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Democratic Party has filed a complaint against Republican John McCain with the Federal Election Commission. It's calling on the FEC to investigate McCain's decision to withdraw from the primary election's public financing system. The Democratic National Committee contends McCain cannot reject the public funds because he faces questions over the terms of a loan he obtained late last year. McCain was entitled to $5.8 million in federal matching funds...

WASHINGTON — The national Democratic party wants campaign finance regulators to investigate whether Sen. John McCain would violate money-in-politics laws by withdrawing from the primary election’s public finance system. McCain, who had been entitled to $5.8 million in federal funds for the primary, has decided to bypass the system so he can avoid spending limits between now and the GOP’s national convention in September. Federal Election Commission Chairman David Mason notified McCain last week that he can only withdraw from public financing if he answers questions about a campaign loan and obtains approval from four members of the six-member commission....

The national Democratic party wants campaign finance regulators to investigate whether Sen. John McCain would violate money-in-politics laws by withdrawing from the primary election's public finance system. McCain, who had been entitled to $5.8 million in federal funds for the primary, has decided to bypass the system so he can avoid spending limits between now and the GOP's national convention in September. Federal Election Commission Chairman David Mason notified McCain last week that he can only withdraw from public financing if he answers questions about a campaign loan and obtains approval from four members of the six-member commission. Such approval...

The Democratic National Committee (DNC) will file a complaint against Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) Monday, charging that the presumptive Republican presidential nominee is breaking the law by trying to get out of a public financing agreement. In a Sunday afternoon conference call with reporters, DNC chairman Howard Dean said McCain's attempt to withdraw from a loan agreement that hinged on an acceptance of public financing speaks directly to McCain's "integrity." "This is a classic example of someone who talks one way and does another when it benefits him," Dean said. On the call, Dean...

Greg sends this news my way: The founders of Ben & Jerry's endorsed Barack Obama on Monday, and lent his Vermont campaign two "ObamaMobiles" that will tour the state and give away scoops of "Cherries for Change" ice cream. Hmmm. Is the value of two retrofitted Honda Elements for a week and the ice cream worth more than the maximum $2300? Even if it's $2300 each from Ben and Jerry? Will the ice cream be distributed by Obama campaign staff, or by Ben and Jerry staff? Would the labor cost put it over $2300? Cost of gas?

The author and chief proponent of much of the tangled web of campaign finance rules and regulations, has decided that he can continue write the rules as they apply to his campaign while on the fly.Last summer, McCain asked to participate in the public financing system when his campaign hit the skids after the immigration amnesty debacle. After his request was approved by the FEC, he was scheduled to receive some $5.8 million. The money, however, would not come without strings attached. The restraints on fundraising as well as the state-specific spending limits imposed by the law, would mean that...

5 Million Internet Views of Hillary!Uncensored Film Helps Derail Hillary White House Bid! 13 Minute Segment of Hillary! Uncensored Film Ranked By Google As #1 Video in the World in November, 2007 Hillary Clinton’s sinking political fortunes have been linked in part to the viral phenomenon surrounding the unedited 13 minute segment of the first ever documentary on Hillary R Clinton, Hillary ! Uncensored. The documentary presents and documents the illegalities claimed in the landmark civil fraud suit against the Clintons pending in California, Paul v Clinton et al. The 13 minute segment of the 65 minute documentary Hillary! Uncensored-...

Welcome to the 2008 general election, YouTube style. No sooner had the polls closed at the end of Super Tuesday, when a video popped up on YouTube attacking newly christened GOP front-runner John McCain where he's most vulnerable: his support for the Iraq war. The 83-second advertisement shows a consumer gamely struggling on the phone with a friendly but unhelpful service representative. It turns out to be the United States government on the line, which informs the befuddled citizen that she has no choice but to pay a hefty monthly recurring charge for the war. "In the past couple of...

NRCC probe scares GOP By: Patrick O'Connor and John Bresnahan February 6, 2008 07:49 AM EST Top House Republicans were told in recent days that a former employee of their campaign committee may have forged an official audit during the contentious 2006 election cycle and that they should brace for the possibility that an unfolding investigation could uncover financial improprieties stretching back several years, according to GOP sources briefed on the members-only discussions. The National Republican Congressional Committee has retained a forensic auditor to review its accounting for the last several election cycles, the sources said. The NRCC’s accounting problems...

Common Sense Issues was formed in 2007. They promised to make 1 million phone calls in support of Mike Huckabee. The main problem is that Common Sense Issues is a 501(c) 4. This allows two things. One, a person is not limited by the Federal limits of donations to a campaign. They can give large sums of money (I’m not personally opposed to this, but everyone should be playing by the same rules). Two, Common Sense Issues does not have to disclose its donors. However, a 501 (c) 4 is not allowed to promote a certain candidate, they can only...

NOTE: status conference for Paul v Clinton will be held in Los Angeles Superior Court on Jan. 15. We expect that a trial date will be set. ===================================================================== Hillary Clinton & FEC Charged With Complicity in Illegal 2006 Report and FEC Settlement Top Donor Says FEC Enabled Hillary Campaign Illegality in 2006 Identical To Offense DOJ Prosecuted Against Hillary Finance Director in 2005 -“Denying the public the right to know that Peter Paul personally gave $1.2 million" to Hillary's Campaign The Vanguard.org, counterpoint to Move On.org, Joins In Challenging FEC Complicity in Clinton Illegalities Washington D.C. -- Jan.7 --The Equal...

Candidates (millions of dollars) All Candidates 416.2 Democrats 241.1 Republicans 175.1

As Primaries Begin, the FEC Will Shut DownNo Quorum on Election Board As Nominees Stall in Congress By Matthew Mosk Washington Post Staff Writer Saturday, December 22, 2007 The federal agency in charge of policing the torrent of political spending during the upcoming presidential primaries will, for all practical purposes, shut its doors on New Year's Eve. The Federal Election Commission will effectively go dark on Jan. 1 because Congress remains locked in a standoff over the confirmation of President Bush's nominees to the panel. As a consequence, the FEC will enter 2008 with just two of six members --...

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) just announced that the Senate will not clear four new appointees for the Federal Election Commission, meaning the panel that acts as a watchdog on political campaigns cannot function during the critical election-year period. Reid is blaming the White House for refusing to withdraw to allow a majority vote on the nomination of Hans von Spakovsky for a seat on the commission. Republicans want von Spakovsky approved as part of a slate of four FEC nominees or they will refuse to consider any of the nominees. Von Spakovsky was recess appointed by President Bush...

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) just announced that the Senate will not clear four new appointees for the Federal Election Commission, meaning the panel that acts as a watchdog on political campaigns cannot function during the critical election-year period. Reid is blaming the White House for refusing to withdraw to allow a majority vote on the nomination of Hans von Spakovsky for a seat on the commission. Republicans want von Spakovsky approved as part of a slate of four FEC nominees or they will refuse to consider any of the nominees. Von Spakovsky was recess appointed by President Bush...

What if the country held an election and there was no one to make sure that candidates played by the rules — no agency that could issue regulations, write advisory opinions or bring enforcement actions against those breaking the law? — The Post, editorially alarmed The Post, dismayed by the prospect, in effect asks: What if we had deregulated politics — including the sort of presidential campaigns that produced 33 presidents (including some pretty good ones — Lincoln, TR, the sainted Coolidge, FDR, Truman, Ike) before the Federal Election Commission was created in 1975? Most of the rules, the possible...

Best-selling author and WND columnist Ann Coulter has been cleared of violating election laws by the Florida Elections Commission following an investigation of a complaint she registered at an address other than hers and voted in the wrong precinct in a February 2006 Palm Beach election. As WND previously reported, Palm Beach County Elections Supervisor Arthur Anderson, a Democrat, referred the matter in November 2006 to State Attorney Barry Krischer, the same Democrat who also handled the probes of radio giant Rush Limbaugh for alleged "doctor shopping" and for carrying Viagra. Authorities in Palm Beach County – including the Palm...

It seems as though the Clinton war machine is geared up to go after the likeability and ethical reform message of Senator Obama. Howard Wolfson, Clinton’s Communications Director, called on Obama to shut down the Hopefund and alledged Obama violated FEC Rules on the CBS’ ‘Face the Nation’ Show on Sunday and stated, “There’s a lot that voters don’t know about Barack Obama,” Wolfson said. “And one thing they don’t know, we found out this week, which is that he has been using and operating a so-called leadership PAC, an apparent contravention of campaign finance laws, taking in money from...

WASHINGTON, (AP) -- Unions and businesses may pay for TV and radio "issue ads" that name candidates in the days before elections, federal regulators said Tuesday, easing previous restrictions and opening the way for interest groups to influence next year's elections with big-money advertising campaigns. Following the lead of the Supreme Court, the Federal Election Commission voted unanimously to soften its advertising rules in a decision that could lead to fresh ads as soon as next month in Iowa. Under the change, an organization that supports a presidential candidate, for example, may use corporate or union money to run independent...

      UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Washington, D.C. 20549   FORM 8-K CURRENT REPORT Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported): November 14, 2007   infoUSA Inc. (Exact name of Registrant as specified in its charter)           Delaware (State or other jurisdiction of incorporation)   0-19598 (Commission File Number)   47-0751545 (IRS Employer Identification No.)       5711 South 86th Circle Omaha, Nebraska (Address of principal executive offices)   68127 (Zip Code)   Registrant’s telephone number, including area code:...

WASHINGTON - A union-financed advocacy group that played a major role in the 2004 elections has agreed to pay a $580,000 fine after the Federal Election Commission concluded it illegally ran advertising against President Bush and in favor of Democrat John Kerry. In an agreement announced Monday, the FEC said the now inactive Media Fund spent $53.4 million during the contest on television, radio and newspaper ads and direct mail that made reference to Bush or Kerry. The FEC said the fund violated campaign finance laws because it accepted unlimited donations from labor unions and expressly advocated the defeat or...

<p>GOP Bloggers' Matt Margolis and Mark Noonan posted their FEC complaint against the Hillary Clinton for President Committee in response to the reports of donors who felt pressure to give money for fear for retribution and a number of poor donors who donated thousands of dollars each to her campaign.</p>

Internal documents obtained by The Examiner shine new light on MoveOn.org’s “General Betray Us” ad and raise fresh questions about the far-left advocacy group’s misleading statements on the issue and its relationship with Google, a major donor to its political action committee.The documents show how MoveOn.org used dubious claims of trademark infringement and threats of litigation to silence critics of its recent controversial full-page ad in The New York Times attacking Gen. David H. Petraeus, the top U.S. general in Iraq, which appeared the day he was testifying before Congress on the war effort. Among those critics was Sen. Susan...

WASHINGTON — One gift that Hillary Clinton is unlikely to enjoy on her 60th birthday Friday is the premiere of "Hillary Uncensored," a scathing documentary whose 13-minute trailer has been No. 1 on Google Video since Oct. 10, with more than 1.1 million views to date. The film's first full-length showing is scheduled for Friday night at Harvard University, followed by viewings at universities through the weekend and a wrap Tuesday at the Metropolitan Club in New York City. Among the allegations summarized in the documentary: — Bill and Hillary Clinton solicited cash from Peter F. Paul, an international lawyer...

As the fundraising quarter draws to a close at midnight tonight, candidates are scrambling to boost their numbers by any means necessary (we've received two fundraising pitches signed by candidates with the subject line "Hey," and one from a spouse headed "Re: Hey"). And while he's gotten little attention outside his fervent and fanatic fan base, Texas Congressman Ron Paul, who finished the second quarter with more cash on hand than Sen. John McCain, could have another surprise in store for the media establishment his supporters so often malign. In the run-up to the filing deadline, Paul's supporters were asked...

WASHINGTON -- A Senate committee took the unprecedented step Wednesday of sending four Federal Election Commission nominations to the Senate floor without recommendation after the committee's chairwoman, California Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein, refused to back a controversial former Justice Department official. Feinstein told colleagues on the Senate Rules Committee that Hans von Spakovsky's record in the department's Civil Rights Division demonstrated that he's too partisan to serve on the FEC. Former career Justice Department voting-rights lawyers have charged that von Spakovsky, while a division counsel from 2003 to 2005, served as the administration's "point man" in a campaign to adopt...

The political arm of MoveOn.org is spending far more money attacking Republicans than on behalf of the Democrats it supports, campaign filings show. Since last year, Federal Election Commission (FEC) filings show the group has spent nearly 90 percent of more than $3 million in so-called independent expenditures to target a dozen Republican candidates, including presidential aspirants Rudolph W. Giuliani, a former mayor of New York City, and Arizona Sen. John McCain. "The political and practical reality is that negative ads work, and they work better than positive ads," said Kenneth A. Gross, former associate general counsel for the FEC....

ALEXANDRIA, Va., Sept. 14 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- American Conservative Union (ACU) chairman David A. Keene announced today that ACU has filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) against MoveOn.org Political Action and the New York Times Company for violation of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, as amended and the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002. On Monday, September 10, 2007, MoveOn sponsored a full-page advertisement in the New York Times attacking General David Petraeus prior to his report to Congress regarding the status of the United States military operations in Iraq. The open rate for a full-page...

WASHINGTON - A federal judge struck down campaign finance regulations Wednesday that govern when candidates and independent groups can coordinate their political messages. The judge called on the Federal Election Commission to write stricter rules in time for the 2008 elections. The decision marks the second time that U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly has invalidated the FEC regulations as too lenient. They were drafted in response to a landmark 2002 law that restricts political donations. Kollar-Kotelly said the FEC regulations too narrowly apply to coordinated advertising that takes place within 90 days of a congressional election or 120 days before...

Corruption Run Amok Within Anti-Gun Ranks Friday, September 07, 2007 A recent spate of contemptible allegations has shaken up some prominent players within the ranks of the anti-gun community. Earlier this week, anti-gun Broward County, Florida Sheriff Ken Jenne resigned after agreeing to plead guilty to federal tax evasion and mail fraud charges stemming from a federal corruption investigation. You may recall Sheriff Jenne’s involvement in the controversial 2003 CNN report where he and reporter John Zarella blatantly and deliberately misled viewers in a staged “demonstration” of semi-automatic “firepower,” and were called to task for their misrepresentation by NRA Executive...

Applies Media Exemption to Political Blogs WASHINGTON – The Federal Election Commission announced today that it has unanimously resolved two complaints alleging that Internet blog activity is subject to Commission regulation, finding that the activity is exempt from regulation under the media or volunteer exemption. In Matter Under Review (MUR) 5928, the Commission determined that Kos Media, L.L.C., which operates the website DailyKos, did not violate the Federal Election Campaign Act. The Commission rejected allegations that the site should be regulated as a political committee because it charges a fee to place advertising on its website and it provides “a...

Bill O’Reilly blasts DailyKos as a “hate site,” but according to a federal ruling released Tuesday, the popular liberal blog is as much a part of the media as Fox News when it comes to campaign finance rules. The Federal Election Commission unanimously dismissed a complaint filed against DailyKos by a right-wing blogger who had argued it was illegally acting as a political committee by giving support and free advertising to Democratic candidates. Adam Bonin, the lawyer who represented DailyKos, called the ruling “a big victory, but everything about the rulemaking and the precedent strongly suggested that there was no...