CampaignFinance

NBC's Ted Koppel Talks to 'Leading Authority' Stephen Colbert About Super-PAC 'Lethal Weapons'

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 14:17:00 +0000

Kyle Drennen

At the top of Monday's Rock Center on NBC, host Brian Williams lamented the "avalanche of attack ads this political season" and warned: "...it's only just starting thanks to the U.S. Supreme Court, a boatload of money, and those lethal weapons known as super-PACs."

CBS Touts John Edwards Hiring 'Heavy Hittter' Greg Craig, Who Represents 'Legal Stratosphere'

Fri, 04 Mar 2011 21:58:00 +0000

Kyle Drennen

On Friday's CBS Early Show, co-host Chris Wragge introduced a story updating the John Edwards scandal and potential legal charges against the former senator: "...a grand jury has been looking at evidence that he may have violated campaign finance laws. Now the former Democratic presidential hopeful has hired a political heavy hitter to fight off possible charges."

Michael Luo Notices Media Matters' Left-Wing Fundraising Drive, Leaves Out the Melodrama

admin — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 21:17:00 +0000

After spending the 2010 campaign worrying over the scourge of anonymous deep-pocketed conservative donors out to buy the election, reporter Michael Luo offered a look at a new outlet for left-wing money, American Bridge, a creation of Media Matters founder David Brock.

Clay Waters

After spending the 2010 campaign worrying over the scourge of anonymous "deep-pocketed" conservative donors out to "buy the election," reporter Michael Luo led Tuesday's National section with a look at a new outlet for left-wing money, American Bridge, a creation of Media Matters founder David Brock: "Effort to Set Up Liberal Counterweight to G.O.P. Groups Begins."

Hype: Despite Allegations of Secret Money, Democrats Flaunt $270 Million Advantage

admin — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 02:58:00 +0000

Jeff Poor

There have been allegations waged that many so-called Tea Party candidates running under the flag of the Republican Party are accepting campaign contributions from secretive shady sources that could interfere with the American democratic process. This has led to outlandish claims from left-wingers that Chinese dictators could be paying off some GOP candidates so that they’ll eventually export jobs overseas.

NY Times Whispers Into Ear of IRS: Check Out These Sneaky New Pro-GOP Groups

admin — Fri, 08 Oct 2010 14:53:00 +0000

Michael Luo's wink-wink, nudge-nudge on the rush of campaign spending from corporations currently benefiting Republican issues and candidates: "It remains to be seen whether the I.R.S. or the elections commission will scrutinize their actions more closely."

Clay Waters

The Times continues to be obsessed with the anonymous donors - at least the Republican ones - that have been supposedly unleashed on an unsuspecting public by the 2009 Supreme Court decision Citizens United vs Federal Election Commission, which somewhat loosened regulations on corporate funding of political advertising.

Michael Shear Laments Failure to Heed Obama Over Unregulated Campaign Cash Going to GOP

admin — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 17:34:00 +0000

"Flood of Campaign Cash Becomes the Issue," reads the Times online headline over a Michael Shear story. And just how did it "become the issue"? Because the Times and the Democrats want it to be the issue, given that the cash is flowing to Republicans: "In January, during his first State of the Union address, President Obama predicted that a U.S. Supreme Court decision would 'open the floodgates' of money into campaigns. He warned against elections that are 'bankrolled' by powerful interests."

Clay Waters

Michael Shear's Thursday morning "Caucus" post was titled "Flood of Campaign Cash Becomes the Issue." And how did it exactly "become the issue"? Because the Times, Barack Obama, and the Democratic Congress wants it that way.

Shear wondered why people have failed to heed the Democratic president's wise warnings, which were surely untainted by partisan considerations.

Worst of the Week: Media Fulfilling Their Role in Democrats' 2010 Playbook

admin — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 13:00:00 +0000

Rich Noyes

If Democrats are going to stem their losses, CBS's Jeff Greenfield opined on Monday's Evening News, they need to "convince the voters that this election is a choice" and "Republicans are just too extreme." Greenfield's probably right about this strategy being Democrats' best hope - and his fellow reporters are already hard at work fulfilling their role in painting Republicans as "extreme."

Corporate Campaign Ads: Worse Than Animal Cruelty

admin — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 18:13:00 +0000

The Times has defended the free speech in violent video games and animal cruelty videos, but draws the line at (gasp) campaign ads paid for by corporations.

Clay Waters

The Times again made its free speech priorities clear in Monday's editorial, "Disgusting but Not Illegal," assenting to a Supreme Court ruling finding that a law banning depictions of animal cruelty violated free speech.

WaPo Slams BP for Corporate Contributions

admin — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 17:47:52 +0000

Kyle Gillis

After more than two months criticizing BP for its handling of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, it seems some in the media are desperate for new angles. Now, they’re attacking BP’s corporate contributions.

MSNBC's Schultz Draws Bizarre Connection Between Oil Spill and Campaign Finance Reform

Wed, 02 Jun 2010 14:10:00 +0000

Alex Fitzsimmons

Not letting a good crisis go to waste, MSNBC's left-wing rabble-rouser Ed Schultz insisted on the June 1 edition of Morning Joe that the BP oil spill reinforces the need for new legislation to restrict corporations from engaging in political speech.

"I really believe that this what is happening in the Gulf is a classic [example] of how we do need campaign finance reform," implored Schultz. "It's all interconnected."

Cooper Accuses Justice Alito of 'Breaking With Decorum' at Obama's State of the Union Rant

admin — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 17:46:00 +0000

According to reporter Helene Cooper, Justice Samuel Alito "escalated" State of the Union confrontation with Obama in January, "breaking with decorum" by shaking his head and mouthing, "No, it's not true." Obama himself was not criticized by Cooper for making the false charge against a Supreme Court ruling in the first place.

Clay Waters

In Helene Cooper's Wednesday morning "Caucus" post at nytimes.com, "White House Spars With the Chief Justice," she accused Supreme Court conservative Justice Samuel Alito of "breaking with decorum" at the State of the Union speech in January, when President Obama criticized a Supreme Court decision on campaign finance in blunt - and false - terms.

D'oh! Streisand Says 'Elections Should be Won -- Not Bought' But Has Given Over $600k to Political Causes

admin — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 03:00:40 +0000

Jeff Poor

Really Barbra Streisand, you didn’t think anyone would check?

Perhaps she is worried about having her influence diminished now that there are players on the block that can match her wealth and then some. But Streisand in a 682-word screed published on the Huffington Post on Feb. 23 railed against “entrenched special interests” that can now give money to political campaigns.

Justice Samuel Alito: This Year's Joe 'You Lie' Wilson?

admin — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 16:52:00 +0000

Supreme Court reporter Adam Liptak finds both Obama and the Justice Sam Alito guilty of a "breach of decorum," Obama for attacking the Supreme Court's decision in his State of the Union address, Alito for mouthing two words to himself.

Clay Waters

Is mild-mannered Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito this year's version of Rep. Joe "You Lie" Wilson?

In his Friday "Washington Memo," "A Rare Rebuke, In Front of a Nation," Adam Liptak, ,the paper's Supreme Court beat reporter argued the justice committed a "breach of decorum" when he silently mouthed the words "not true" after a rhetorical attack by the president at the State of the Union Address.

Obama Flubs Facts on Supreme Court Case, Carl Hulse Glides Right By

admin — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 18:46:00 +0000

But his colleagues David Kirkpatrick and Linda Greenhouse nabbed Obama on his SOTU misstatement that: "Last week, the Supreme Court reversed a century of law to open the floodgates for special interests - including foreign corporations - to spend without limit in our elections."

Clay Waters

Congressional reporter Carl Hulse blew another Obama speech to a joint session of Congress.

In his Thursday "Reporter's Notebook" entry on Obama's State of the Union address, Hulse failed to challenge the false charge Obama made against the Supreme Court regarding foreign political donations in U.S. elections.

The 'Common Sense and Moral Clarity' of the Supreme Court's Most Left-Wing Justice

admin — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 19:14:00 +0000

Legal reporter Adam Liptak lauds Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, who holds down the far left of the Supreme Court: "In cases involving prisoners held without charge at Guantánamo Bay and the mentally retarded on death row, his version of American justice was propelled by common sense and moral clarity, and it commanded a majority."

Clay Waters

Legal reporter Adam Liptak's "Sidebar" legal column summed up what may be the last term of liberal Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, "Stevens Era, Nearing End, Takes On An Edge."