Politics

Despite widespread complaints about a frenzy of campaign spending, presidential candidates raised and spent about half as much money through the first quarter of 2012 as they did four years ago, according to new data. But the trend is moving in the other direction in congressional races, with candidates raising and spending significantly more than they did in 2008, according to the calculations by the Federal Election Commission.

Both presidential campaigns are citing fundraising spikes following the Supreme Court's decision upholding President Barack Obama's health care law. Mitt Romney's organization said Friday morning it had raised $4.2 million online, and Obama's operation, while not revealing specific numbers, said they had surpassed Team Romney's announced total.

The creators of a newly approved political donation-by-text message platform find themselves at a boom-or-bust juncture.

In their perfect world, the Republican and Democratic national conventions will be political telethons of sorts, where viewers instantaneously text $10 to “OBAMA” or “ROMNEY” — a potential windfall for all.

But at the moment, the companies who want to run the donations by text message system are in drawn-out talks with major mobile phone carriers to figure out how it will all work and how much of a cut everyone will take.

A federal court decision has created the possibility that some public television and radio stations that are perpetually challenged financially could see a windfall of cash from political advertising. Stations that get that chance would have to weigh whether the money is worth the risk of alienating their audiences.

The U.S. Court of Appeals in San Francisco ruled in April that federal law prohibiting public broadcasters from airing political or issue advertising is unconstitutional, even though the same court said a ban on commercials by for-profit products could stand.

The Supreme Court is putting increasing limits on unions’ abilities to raise political funds at the same time it is freeing corporations' ability to spend. That’s the argument being made by some academics after a Supreme Court decision Thursday that requires that nonmembers opt in to contribute to public employee union political fundraising, rather than opt out if they don't want to give.

Although super PACs have received most of the attention when it comes to outside spending during this election cycle, an investigation released Monday by the Center for Public Integrity and the Center for Responsive Politics shows that "social welfare" nonprofit groups spent $3 for every $2 super PACs spent in 2010. The report noted that although super PACs must release their donors, the nonprofit groups as defined by section 501(c)(4) of the U.S. tax code rarely have to disclose where their money is coming from.

Chirpify, the Twitter commerce platform, announced the launch of its new Twitter Fundraising for Politicians platform, and a commitment for at least 25 U.S. Senate and House candidates to use Chirpify for their 2012 political campaigns. Chirpify’s Twitter Fundraising for Politicians enables politicians to raise money for and donors to contribute to campaigns via Twitter with a simple tweet.

The fundraising arm of the Democratic Party working to elect its candidates to the U.S. House of Representatives raised $6.7 million in May, catching up and topping its Republican counterpart for the month.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee figures released on Tuesday showed the DCCC raised more in May than in April and exceeded the National Republican Congressional Committee's haul for the cycle as well.

The NRCC brought in $6 million in May, but continues to have more cash left on hand.

When does a 501(c)(6) trade association have to disclose its members to the public? Not often, as the schedule of contributors provided to the IRS is not a public document. California has other ideas about that. If a 501(c) organization makes independent expenditures in California state races, or is involved in a ballot measure, new rules from the California Fair Political Practices Commission will require disclosure of certain members or contributors.

Mitt Romney’s campaign fundraising significantly outpaced President Obama’s effort for the first time last month, increasing the likelihood that the Republican presidential candidate and his allies will far outspend their Democratic opponents by November.

Romney and the Republican National Committee said Thursday that they raised a combined $76.8 million in May, which is nearly as much as the presumed nominee brought in during the GOP primary season. Obama and the Democratic National Committee amassed $60 million in what was their best month so far, campaign officials said.