Corporations would be required to give their shareholders an annual vote on how much money to spend on political activities under a bill approved by the House Financial Services Committee on Thursday.

The business community has spent mightily trying to defeat the Democratic-backed DISCLOSE Act, which suffered a bruising loss in the Senate earlier this week. Lobbying disclosure reports show that the campaign finance bill set off a flurry of lobbying activity in recent months.

It didn't take long for new independent expenditure organizations to take advantage of recent court rulings to maximize their impact on the 2010 election.

Since Friday, at least three groups filed new documents with the Federal Election Commission stating that they intend to raise unlimited funds from individuals, corporations and unions to run ads before the Nov. 2 midterms.

In the wake of the recent Supreme Court ruling allowing unlimited spending on elections by unions and companies, coal giants are looking to form a group to pump cash into state races. Among the potential members is Massey Energy, the coal company notorious for the worst mining disaster in recent history when 29 miners were killed in April at its Upper Big Branch mine in West Virginia.

Senate Republicans on Tuesday blocked legislation requiring fuller disclosure of the money behind political advertising, derailing a major White House initiative and virtually ensuring an onslaught of attack ads during this year's midterm election season.

President Obama urged Republican members of the Senate to cross party lines and vote in favor of H.R. 5175, titled: Democracy Is Strengthened by Casting Light on Spending in Elections (DISCLOSE Act). Obama warned lawmakers that shadow groups are already forming and building war chests of tens of millions of dollars to influence the fall elections.

Despite some last-minute prodding from President Barack Obama on Monday, Senate Democrats still are scrambling to find the remaining few votes needed to overcome a filibuster of a campaign finance bill that appears destined to fail Tuesday.

Ten states have swiftly passed new laws requiring additional disclosure of political spending, following a Supreme Court ruling that lets corporations and unions pump unlimited amounts of money into certain campaign commercials.

Sen. Charles Schumer has introduced a new version of a controversial campaign-finance reform bill opposed by Republicans and special-interest groups — changes he hopes will give Democrats enough votes to break a filibuster when the bill comes up for a vote Tuesday.

The Federal Election Commission on Thursday greenlighted two opinions that illustrate how drastically campaign finance rules have changed after recent court decisions.

Less than three years ago, the FEC slapped the Club for Growth with a $350,000 penalty for spending millions in unrestricted soft money on ads during the 2004 elections. But at an open meeting Thursday, commissioners overwhelmingly approved a request that would essentially allow the conservative anti-tax organization to do the same thing in 2010.

Party treasurer faults Steele

The Republican National Committee failed to report more than $7 million in debt to the Federal Election Commission in recent months - a move that made its bottom line appear healthier than it is heading into the midterm elections and that also raises the prospect of a hefty fine.

Political watchdogs at the Federal Election Commission fined Vice President Joe Biden for his acceptance of what they termed "excessive campaign donations" during his run for the Democrat nomination for President of the United States.

Yes, Robert Gibbs — and everybody else — there certainly are enough House seats in play this year to flip the chamber from Democratic control to the Republicans in November.

For additional proof, you need look no further than the fundraising chart we printed in Roll Call on Monday.

Several groups that support the DISCLOSE Act, the Democratic campaign finance reform bill that is being pushed as a response to the Supreme Court's Citizens United decision, organized a conference call with reporters today on which two former chairman of the Federal Election Commission spoke out in favor of the bill.

Election watchdogs have directed Joe Biden's 2008 presidential campaign to pay the U.S Treasury more than $219,000 to resolve issues caused by sloppy bookkeeping and accepting excessive contributions, including a discounted flight on a private jet.

A sweeping overhaul of the campaign finance system seems destined to stall in the Senate – adding to tensions with House Democrats who have grown tired of taking politically risky votes only to see their proposals die on the Senate steps.

The Federal Election Commission (FEC) had on the agenda advisory opinion requests from the Club for Growth and Commonsense Ten for its July 15 meeting, but the agency has put them off for now.

It's turning into the year of setbacks for campaign finance regulations.

A federal appeals court this week tossed out parts of Connecticut's sweeping campaign finance law, marking the latest in a series of dramatic defeats for advocates of strong limits on campaign contributions and other political activities.

This January the U.S. Supreme Court issued a shattering ruling that will intensify corporate influence in our democracy to an unprecedented degree. In Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, the Court ruled that government restrictions on corporate campaign contributions are unconstitutional because such restrictions violated corporations' right to free speech as set out in the first amendment of the Bill of Rights.

COLUMBIA, S.C. — An unemployed military veteran will face no state charges over the $10,440 filing fee for his successful bid to win South Carolina's Democratic nomination to run for U.S. Senate, the state's top police official said Friday.

WASHINGTON -- The Tennessee Republican Party failed to report thousands of dollars in campaign donations and spending in 2005 and 2006 and violated other campaign finance laws, the Federal Election Commission has determined.

The FEC last week voted to approve the findings of a staff audit that was initiated in 2007. The commission could begin an enforcement action related to the audit's findings.

When the Supreme Court ended its term last week, its ruling extending gun rights was the big news. But the real headline of the term was the court's decision earlier this year giving corporations and unions sweeping new rights to spend money to elect candidates to office. It is not an overstatement to say that the 5 to 4 decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, which was handed down in January, could permanently change American democracy.

House Majority Whip James Clyburn (S.C.) theorized that an operative ran unemployed Army veteran Alvin Greene’s (D) South Carolina Senate campaign to create a “mess.”

Greene managed to win the June 8 Democratic primary even though he didn’t actively campaign.

His victory was allowed to stand by election officials and the state’s Democratic Party. But the South Carolina State Law Enforcement Division is now investigating whether he misused taxpayers' money by getting a public defender to fight charges he showed pornography to a 19-year-old student.

Senate Democrats remain confident that they can pass a House-passed campaign finance bill even though it contains a controversial carve-out for the National Rifle Association. Read full story >

WASHINGTON — After nine months and 73 decisions, the Supreme Court's newly concluded 2009-10 term is defined by a single case whose continuing political ramifications were on display this week in Senate hearings for Elena Kagan.

Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, which stripped away federal limits on corporate and union spending in political campaigns, was invoked repeatedly — by Democrats and Republicans— during the questioning of high court nominee Kagan. Reverberations are likely into the fall elections and the next term.