Stealth spending on the rise as Election Day approaches
Thursday, October 18, 2012 - 13:45 Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images Romney campaign pins are on display for sale in the GOP gift shop during the third day of the Republican National Convention. The top two spending organizations taking advantage of the Citizens United decision are Republican backers. After the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2010 ruling that unleashed corporate and union spending on elections, there seemed to be a silver lining: the identity of those who fund all those annoying ads would be revealed to the public on a regular basis. It hasn’t quite worked out that way. Since Labor Day, spending by outside groups taking advantage of the high court’s Citizens United decision totaled a little more than $229 million, including unions. Forty-four percent of the total — $100 million — has come from non-disclosing, nonprofit corporations. The clearest example comes from the top two spenders. Both organizations are Republican backers. And they also happen to share the same ...
action
advocacy
american
americans
anti-obama
anti-romney
barack obama
california
center
chamber
collaboration
commerce
commission
congressional
contran
contributions
convention
corp
corporation
court
crossroads
decision
democrat
democratic
district
donations
duckworth
dunbar
eighty-eight
election
fec
federal
forty-four
frontline
getty images
gop
government
gps
harold
house
identity
ies
illinois
imagination
integrity
iraq
john
karl
labor
limited
majority
marcus
missouri
national
office
ohio
organization
pac
pacs
post-citizens
president
priority
pro-obama
pro-romney
rachael
republican
romney
rove
sarah
senate
service
simmons
somodevilla
stealth
steelman
story
strategists
super
supreme
tammy
texas
twenty-seven
type
united
usa
virginia
washington
wisconsin
Cold March Keeps Shoppers’ Spending Tepid
NEW YORK — So much for new spring shorts and T-shirts. As cold weather lingered across most of the country, Americans shopped modestly in March. U.S. retailers reported a key revenue figure rose slightly during the month, as shoppers held back on spending because of the cold weather across the nation, particularly the Midwest and East Coast, and continued fears about the economy. Economists monitor consumer spending because it accounts for more than 70 percent of economic activity. According to a preliminary tally of 15 retailers by the International Council of Shopping Centers, revenue in stores open at least a year rose 1.6 percent, or 2.5 percent excluding drugstores. That was below expectations, said Michael Niemira, chief economist at the ICSC. Weather was a factor, with March being the coldest in seven years. The comparison with last March was especially tough. Last year saw the warmest March on record, according to weather research firm Planalytics Inc. “Wintry weather conditions ...
activity
american
americans
coast
conditions
council
decision
department
east
easter
economists
expectations
fashion
government
icsc
international
ken
labor
michael
midwest
movement
nation
niemira
perkins
planalytics
specialist
t-shirts
unemployment
york
Economy Gains Steam Adding 236,000 Jobs; Unemployment Rate Falls to 7.7%
For some time time now, the American economy has been a strange dichotomy. On the one hand, we’re in the midst of an historically strong four-year bull market, yet the unemployment rate remains stubbornly high. The real estate market is showing impressive strength, yet GDP growth is sluggish. The result is a situation where consumers, businesses, and even the government have become overly cautious, each waiting for the other to make the first move before they start behaving like we’re in a real recovery. Last month, however, the situation began to look a bit brighter. The Labor Department announced that the economy added 157,000 jobs in January, but revised its previous estimates to show that job growth in the later half of 2012 was much better than expected. And this morning’s report — which shows that the economy added 236,000 jobs in February, and that the unemployment rate fell to 7.7% — is more evidence that the thawing of the labor market has picked up speed of late. Looking ...
ability
american
ben bernanke
business
construction
department
employment
evidence
fed-watchers
gdp
government
implications
labor
situation
unemployment
U.S. Unemployment Aid Applications Fall to 341,000
(WASHINGTON) — The number of people seeking unemployment benefits fell by 27,000 last week, an indication that hiring could improve. The Labor Department says weekly applications dropped to a seasonally adjusted 341,000, the lowest level in three weeks. The four-week average, a less volatile measure, rose to 352,500, after reaching a five-year low two weeks ago. The huge snowstorm that hit the Northeast this weekend seems to have had little impact on the data. The report covers the week ended Feb. 9, before the storm hit. A department spokesman said Connecticut was unable to report data to the federal government earlier this week because state offices were closed after the storm. Illinois also didn’t provide data, so both states’ figures were estimated by the Labor Department. MORE: U.S. Unemployment Aid Applications Decline to 366K
application
connecticut
department
feb
government
illinois
indications
labor
northeast
office
unemployment
washington
Does President Obama Really Believe in Deficit Reduction?
It should come as no surprise that President Obama began last night’s State of the Union address discussing both the economy and federal government finances. After all, much of the debate in Washington has been focused on the historically large budget deficits the federal government has been running since the financial crisis. The President called for Congress to act to reduce the deficit by $1.5 trillion over the next ten years, through a combination of tax increases and spending cuts, but he offered no real specifics on how he’d like to get there. And that lack of specifics, combined with spending proposals elsewhere in the speech, have made many Republicans skeptical that the President considers deficit reduction a priority. This sounds like the same old story we’ve been hearing for years now: Republicans accusing the President of not really caring about deficits and debt. But given the improving economy and deficit reductions already in place, Republicans may have a point this ...
air
american
billion
break-up-the-banks
combination
congress
finance
furthermore
gdp
government
house
obama
office
president
priority
reduction
republicans
responsibility
service
trillion
union
washington
white