CQ.com - MoneyLine

CQ Politics: Obama Raises $1.2 Million for Transition, Discloses Donors

President-elect Barack Obama raised $1.2 million for transition costs through mid-November, his transition team announced today. Obama released the names, residency and employer information of the 1,776 private donors who made contributions as of Nov. 15 on its transition Web site. The list will be updated on a monthly basis.
• Full story | List of transition donors

Dec. 1, 2008 - 3:06 p.m.

CQ Weekly: Travel Decreases As Ethics Rules Complicate Privately Funded Trips

Rules meant to prevent junkets such as the golfing trips to Scotland organized by lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who is now serving time in federal prison, have also swept up fact-finding and oversight in South America and sub-Saharan Africa. Though slightly different in the Senate and the House, the rules effectively ban travel with registered lobbyists, including those from nonprofit groups. Full story

Dec. 1, 2008 - 5:12 p.m.

Obama Inaugural Committee Sets Limits, Rules for Individual Donors

President-elect Barack Obama will limit individual contributions to his official inauguration organizing committee to no more than $50,000. That figure is 10 times the cap for individual donations to Obama’s presidential transition organization.
On the other hand, the $50,000 maximum donation an individual can give toward Obama’s inaugural expenses is dwarfed by the $250,000 top rate employed by President George W. Bush for his second-term inauguration in 2005. Full story

Nov. 26, 2008 - 10:34 a.m.

FEC Seeks to Define Issue Ads

An opinion released today by the Federal Election Commission (FEC) addressed one of the most complicated facets of campaign finance law: the legality of issue ads aired by interest groups in the weeks leading up to an election — and funded by unregulated entities — that specifically identify candidates for federal offices by name.
• Full story | FEC Advisory Opinion

Nov. 25, 2008 - 7:36 p.m.

Parties Top $1 million in Louisiana Runoff Spending

Both major parties have spent more than $1.1 million since the election on advertising and other campaign efforts to influence the runoff race for Louisiana’s 4th District House seat. Democrat Paul Carmouche and Republican John Fleming received less than half of the vote on Nov. 4, prompting a Dec. 6 runoff. The National Republican Congressional Committee has spent $621,519 against Carmouche, while the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has spent $548,433 on efforts to defeat Fleming.

Nov. 25, 2008 - 11:18 a.m.

Obama’s Small Donations Add Up

While half of Barack Obama’s campaign contributions came from small donations of $200 or less, many of them were made by the same donors who gave multiple times, according a report by the nonprofit Campaign Finance Institute. By the middle of October, approximately 80 percent of Obama’s campaign funds had come from these individual donors whose total contributions added up to $1,000 or more.
• CFI Report

Nov. 24, 2008 - 1:41 p.m.

CQ Weekly: Big Three PACs Went With the Times

The Big Three automakers have had trouble adjusting to market trends, such as relying too long on gas-guzzling SUVs, but Detroit did change course rapidly with its political giving once Democrats won control of Congress in 2006.
• Full story | Graphic

Nov. 24, 2008 - 12:15 p.m.

Money Increases the Focus on Georgia Senate Race

Georgia Democratic Senate candidate Jim Martin has stepped up his fundraising efforts against incumbent Saxby Chambliss, but his recent gains moving into the final full week before their Dec. 2 runoff may not be enough. Full story

Nov. 21, 2008 - 6:24 p.m.

Clinton Appointment Would Bar Her From Fundraising

The fundraising may slow down, but it won’t completely stop if Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton becomes the next secretary of state. Her 2008 presidential committee can still continue raising money to help retire her campaign debt, she just can’t be involved personally in any fundraising activities. Full story

Nov. 21, 2008 - 5:16 p.m.

FEC Chairman — 2; FEC Auditors — 0

For the second week in a row, Federal Election Commission Chairman Donald F. McGahn II has intervened to lighten a potential penalty against a Democratic organization for allegedly violating campaign finance laws.
     Last week, McGahn, who happens to be a Republican, stepped in to question an audit finding against former Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards’ 2004 campaign. As a result, the FEC penalty against Edwards involving violations of contribution limits was lowered from $681,000 to $173,000.
     Today, McGahn raised concerns about an FEC audit recommending that the Missouri Democratic State Commission be penalized for failing to provide receipts for more than $700,000 in expenditures made during the 2004 election cycle. McGahn’s objection, centering on whether the expenditures were even related to federal elections, forced the six-member panel to postpone a vote on the matter until the audit report on the Missouri committee can be revised to address McGahn’s concerns.
     “I don’t think that we need to create a presumption or inference that if you don’t have documents, that it’s a get out of jail free card,” McGahn said at the commission hearing. “But on the other hand, when we rely solely on an inference that the absence of documentation means that you broke federal law, I think that goes too far as well.”

Nov. 20, 2008 - 2:32 p.m.

CQ Today: Former Aide Pleads Guilty on Tax Charges in Abramoff Scandal

A former congressional aide who also worked for convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff pleaded guilty Thursday to failing to report thousands of dollars in illegal gifts from lobbyists on his 2003 tax returns. Full story

Nov. 20, 2008 - 2:40 p.m.

CQ Today: PACs Put House Democrats on Top for First Time Since 1994

House Democratic candidates raised more money this election than their Republican counterparts for the first time since 1994, due in large part to a swing in giving among political action committees away from the GOP. Full story

Nov. 18, 2008 - 1:32 p.m.

Joint Fundraising Soars in ‘08

Two is evidently much better than one. And candidates and party committees applied this old adage to fundraising with new levels of success during the 2008 election cycle.
Candidates for the House, Senate and White House, as well as their parties, used joint fundraising committees to raise more than $415 million through Oct. 15, according to a CQ MoneyLine analysis of campaign finance reports. The figure shatters the previous record of $111 million raised by joint committees during the 2004 presidential campaign.
The top 10 joint fundraising committees so far during the 2008 cycle:
• Obama Victory Fund, $161,971,737
• McCain Victory 2008, $75,812,352
• McCain-Palin Victory 2008, $59,589,866
• McCain Victory California, $15,396,847
• McCain Victory Committee, $11,878,426
• Committee For Change, $11,776,739
• Democratic White House Victory Fund, $9,857,484
• McCain-Palin Victory California, $4,594,642
• McCain Victory Ohio, $4,384,290
• McCain Victory Florida, $3,182,704

Nov. 17, 2008 - 12:08 p.m.

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