Billionaires Fund the GOP’s Senate Takeover Attempt, With Tax Cuts at Stake
From Sludge:
Billionaire megadonors are pouring millions of dollars into Republican Senate campaigns, hoping to flip the Senate for next year. Surprisingly, they’re not doing this just out of the kindness of their hearts – major tax cuts for the wealthy are expected to expire next year, and these megadonors really would like to keep them. After all, how else are they supposed to make ends meet after dumping millions of dollars on Senate campaigns? Not to be left out, Democratic candidates are also expected to receive a large portion of their funding from billionaire donors.
Soros nonprofit drops massive 8-figure donation to super PAC bankrolling left-wing groups
From Fox News:
Speaking of Democratic billionaire megadonors, George Soros’s Fund for Policy Reform dropped $60 million on Democracy PAC, which then sent money to top Democratic committees and other liberal groups (side note: how does one reserve a generic name like “Democracy PAC?” Are we gonna start seeing names like “America Is Good PAC” once all the obvious names are taken?). Amazingly, this is only the second-largest donation of the campaign cycle so far, behind the $82.5 million a state-level Super PAC gave to a national PAC backing Ron DeSantis.
Biden’s campaign spending quadrupled in March
From POLITICO:
Another edition of the only part of political reporting that matters, apparently: Which Number Is Bigger? Today, the blue number is bigger, as Biden’s campaign spending more than quadrupled last month, rising from $6.3 million to $29.2 million in March. This comes alongside $43.8 million in new campaign contributions. Most of the spending was on advertisements, so everybody gets to look forward to seeing those until the end of time (or November, which will probably feel like it’s been an eternity by the time we get there).
Super PACs keep testing the limits of campaign finance law
From POLITICO:
Life Hack: If you’re a Super PAC with access to millions of dollars, you can basically do whatever you want. That’s what many Super PACs are discovering, as they continually push the boundaries of our (already weak) campaign finance laws and face no consequences. They’ve started doing things like taking contributions they pay back to inflate their fundraising totals, or receiving money from the ad revenue of a candidate’s podcast (anything that promotes the proliferation of more podcasts should be a crime in itself, if you ask me).
Former Michigan House leader and wife charged with misusing political funds
From the Associated Press:
Prosecutors have filed charges against the former leader of the Michigan House and his wife, alleging that they spent thousands of dollars of campaign funds on personal expenses, including housing and travel. The charges allege that they took money from the Peninsula Fund, a “dark money” group organized as a tax-exempt “social welfare” organization that is not required to disclose its donors. Attorney General Dana Nessel stated that “The Michigan Campaign Finance Act is effectively toothless, useless and utterly worthless as a deterrent to these crimes,” which pretty much sums up our campaign finance system nationwide. I could probably just replace this newsletter with that quote on a loop at this point.
