By
Eliza Newlin Carney
| Jan. 20, 2013, 11:30 a.m.
Four years after President Barack Obama promised to change the culture of Washington, it’s hard to imagine how his ethics, transparency and campaign finance pledges could have backfired more thoroughly.
By
Eliza Newlin Carney
| Dec. 7, 2012, 7:28 p.m.
Unions buffeted at the state level are enjoying more success on Capitol Hill, where the fiscal cliff debate is shaping up as a key test of labor movement political clout.
By
Eliza Newlin Carney
| Nov. 21, 2012, 3:41 p.m.
Unrestricted spending in the 2012 elections has created tantalizing openings for advocates of overhauling the campaign finance system, but it’s also fueled a rush of competing remedies that might complicate attempts to rewrite the rules.
By
Eliza Newlin Carney
| Oct. 25, 2012, Midnight
The specter of voter intimidation in all its guises, from sensational billboards to aggressive poll watchers to threats from employers, hangs over the 2012 elections.
By
Eliza Newlin Carney
| Oct. 23, 2012, Midnight
Labor unions long legendary for their powerful get-out-the-vote machines face an unprecedented test this year, as unfettered conservative groups spend record sums on campaign ads and newly minted ground operations.
By
Eliza Newlin Carney
| Oct. 2, 2012, Midnight
As secret political spending escalates in the final weeks before Election Day, it's not too early to ask: What can be done to bring "dark money" out from the shadows?
By
Eliza Newlin Carney
| July 9, 2012, Midnight
Are big corporations taking over American elections? It depends whether you ask liberals or conservatives, who cant even agree on the basic facts.
By
Eliza Newlin Carney
| June 18, 2012, Midnight
In an election increasingly defined by big money, the Federal Election Commissions recent move to permit campaign contributions via text message strikes many as the perfect antidote.
By
Eliza Newlin Carney
| May 21, 2012, Midnight
With the stroke of a pen, a federal appeals court ruling has drastically altered the calculus for nonprofits and trade groups poised to spend millions of dollars in this election, from well-funded partisan players to grass-roots groups on the left and right.
By
Eliza Newlin Carney
| March 20, 2012, Midnight
In an election that until lately has been dominated by super PACs, politically active nonprofits are the new bad guys, drawing ethics complaints, letters to the IRS and legislative action.
By
Eliza Newlin Carney
| Feb. 7, 2012, Midnight
Democratic super PAC organizers are putting a brave face on recent disclosures that show GOP-friendly super PACs have outraised them by more than 3-to-1.
By
Eliza Newlin Carney
| Jan. 19, 2012, Midnight
Presidential hopeful Mitt Romney has said that unrestricted super PACs are a disaster and should disappear including the one thats spent close to $8 million pummeling his GOP primary opponents.
By
Eliza Newlin Carney
| Dec. 19, 2011, Midnight
Buoyed by the Occupy Wall Street movement, average citizens have made an unusual push to contact federal regulators engaged in the arcane process of writing new rules to regulate big banks. But they may be drowned out by financial industry players who are spending record sums on lobbying.