Politics

Daily Disclosures

By Bill Allison

A roundup of what we’re noticing in the Reporting Group as we dig into government data and disclosures:

5 day tracking: Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is top spender over the last five days, with $23 million reported spent. National Republican Senatorial Committee is next ($9.7 million). Top outsider over the same period: Conservative group Crossroads GPS, which doesn’t disclose donors, at $3.9 million. Pennsylvania Senate gets largest portion of spending over same period ($5.5 million) while the candidate most expensively mentioned is Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif. ($3.2 million). Details here.

Fading: Over the past five days, the National Republican Congressional Committee has reported spending just $1.6 million. Rival DCCC has reported spending more than $22 million over the same period.

Dark money: Who benefits most from Super PACs and other groups that don’t disclose their donors? What races are they targeting? Who are the biggest spenders? Find out soon at the Reporting Group site.

Be sure to check out our Follow the Unlimited Money tool–updated hourly!–to get all the latest info on outside groups.

Drug money: RightChange.org, a 527 running ads in nine Senate Races and 17 House races, is funded almost entirely by Fred Eshelman, owner of a pharmaceutical firm.

In other news: It’s not just all elections all the time (though of late it’s felt that way). We’re also working on public facing apps for the Knight Foundation (details here) and looking at health care data. GAO reports on an issue we’ve been frustrated with: reliable, complete reporting of ownership data for health care facilities, including nursing homes (the subject of the GAO report).

Can we have Gus instead? Rep. Heath Shuler, D-N.C., a two-term blue dog who was once the Washington Redskins quarterback before losing the job to the more popular journeyman Gus Frerotte, is considering challenging Rep. Nancy Pelosi for Speaker, should Democrats hold onto the House, Politico reports. Being a leader means raising money, so here are Shuler’s top donors in today’s Politiwidget:

Daily Poligraft: Contractors brace for austerity, Politico tells us. Original here.

Full post as published by Sunlight Foundation on October 28, 2010 (boomark / email).