New IRS Rules On Dark Money Likely Won’t Be Ready Before 2016 Election

“For the people who are pinning their hopes on IRS rules changing how these groups operate, I think they’re kidding themselves, … I don’t think it’s going to happen.”

Theodoric Meyer, ProPublica
By Theodoric Meyer, ProPublica

Photo: Light Brigading/cc/flickr The Internal Revenue Service says it won't come out with new proposed rules for so-called dark money groups until late spring at the earliest, increasing the likelihood that no changes will take effect before the 2016 elections. These groups — social welfare nonprofits that can engage in politics, but do

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Like Eric Garner, We Are All Caught In A System Designed To Fail Us

Like the cop who choked out Eric Garner, our corrupt, unjust and unbalanced system is crushing the life out of the economy for everyday working people, who are increasingly falling behind and becoming ever more insecure as time goes on.

Jeffrey Cavanaugh
By Jeffrey Cavanaugh
Arrest Struggle Death

A mourner places a candle at a memorial for Eric Garner, a Staten Island man who died while being arrested by New York City police, Tuesday, July 22, 2014, in New York. Demonstrators gathered at a park Tuesday, near where police attempted to arrest Garner, 43, on suspicion of selling untaxed cigarettes. The final words the late Eric Garner

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In Record ‘Dark Money’ Election, Chamber Of Commerce Top Shadowy Spender: Report

‘When large corporations decide they want to get their own candidates into office but they don’t want to be seen doing it, they call the U.S. Chamber.’

Sarah Lazare
By Sarah Lazare

This election season, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is coming out ahead—as the number one dark money spender of 2014, watchdog Public Citizen revealed in a report released Wednesday. "In a record year for dark money expenditures, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is leading the way," reads the report, entitled The Dark Side of

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Dark Money Spending in Key Senate Races ‘Shattering’ Records: Report

Outside spending ‘giving wealthy spenders more power than ever to buy influence over our political process and elected officials,’ says report author

Lauren McCauley
By Lauren McCauley
money_in_politics

Unknown donors and big-monied, outside groups are pouring record amounts of cash into key Senate races set to determine which political party will take control over the upper house come November's election, according to a new report published Tuesday by the Brennan Center for Justice. The report, Election Spending 2014: 9 Toss-Up Senate

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FBI Sting Shows San Francisco Chinatown Underworld

Raymond “Shrimp Boy” Chow, the dragonhead of one of the most powerful Asian gangs in North America, is said to have lured state Sen. Leland Yee with money and campaign contributions in exchange for legislative help.

Associated Press
By Associated Press

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Beneath the strings of red paper lanterns and narrow alleyways of the nation's oldest Chinatown lies a sinister underworld, according to an FBI criminal complaint that has stunned even those familiar with the neighborhood's history of gambling houses, opium dens and occasional gangland-style murders. The federal charges,

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The Hidden Power Of Dark Money (Podcast)

Pro Publica dives into the shady world of campaign finance.

Nicole Collins Bronzan for Pro Publica
By Nicole Collins Bronzan for Pro Publica

Midterm races are approaching, and tax returns continue to yield telling tidbits from the 2012 election. In their campaign finance reporting, ProPublica's Kim Barker and Theo Meyer look for ways to help Americans understand the effects of the U.S. Supreme Court's 2010 Citizens United ruling on political spending. For the latest podcast, they

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