Some money in politics issues are truly, frustratingly complicated. At other times, what seems complex might actually be a matter of inside baseball, explanations that only beltway insiders know and understand by heart. The rest of us might not be privy to some of the more intricate and complex rules and practices that are employed by special interests in their attempts to influence policy. Here's a handy guide to some of the "tricks of the trade" that you might not be aware of.
By OpenSecrets.org
1) A Lobbyist is a lobbyist is a... Senior Advisor?
At first glance, calculating how much money is spent on lobbying should be straightforward. But even groups that do report some lobbying activity are not required to disclose exactly how much they spend. A significant level of undercounting is likely due to a carve-out in the law that allows some highly-paid political operatives to avoid disclosing any of their lobbying activities.
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2) Good Things Come in Big Bundles
Top campaign fundraisers, commonly known as "bundlers," have had a growing role in presidential and congressional campaigns over the past decade, drawing substantial rewards to match. Despite this trend, there's no law requiring disclosure of campaign bundlers, as long as the fundraisers are not currently active, federally registered lobbyists. Beyond that, bundler disclosure is entirely voluntary.
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3) Dark Money Matters
In the 2006 midterm elections, groups that didn't disclose their donors reported spending less than $700,000 on ads and other activities designed to sway electoral outcomes. By the time of the 2010 midterms, these "dark money" groups spent $127.1 million, more than 1,800 times as much. And in the 2012 election cycle, their spending jumped to more than $308 million. If you thought disclosure was a given in the campaign finance system that grew out of the long-ago Watergate scandal, think again.
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4) What Personal Financial Disclosure Statements Don't Disclose
Personal financial disclosure statements (PFDs) are filed annually by members of Congress, their staffs, Supreme Court justices and thousands of upper level executive branch employees. They list investments, transactions made in those investments throughout the year, and any substantial debts. They also reveal income, gifts received, and travel paid by others. The idea behind the filing requirement is to reveal conflicts of interest, both preemptively and after the fact. But the transparency provided by these filings is less than you might think. Just try using them to pinpoint how much a lawmaker is worth or investigate detailed aspects of his or her finances.
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5) Where Does All the Campaign Money Go?
Big money in elections has two sides: contributions and expenditures. The cash and checks that flow to federal candidates and political committees can flow out in any number of ways -- not all of which help win elections. Committees can fritter money away ineffectively, use it to enrich friends and family, or otherwise abuse their supporters' trust with little fear of being found out.
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6) Going for a Spin
When a former lawmaker or senior White House aide leaves the government payroll and goes to work as a lobbyist, some say he or she is cashing in. A slightly more genteel way to put it in Washington is to say the person has gone through the revolving door.
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7) Shell Games
Many Americans think of super PACs as secretive, mysterious groups behind the attack ads clogging the airwaves before an election. But actually, despite how they're often portrayed, super PACs themselves are largely transparent. By law, they disclose all of their donors.Sometimes, though, the information disclosed masks the identity of the true donor.
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8) Dollars from Doha, Dakar or Dengzhou?
Unfortunately, it's impossible to say how much foreign money is influencing our elections. After the 2010 Citizens United decision opened the electoral landscape to greater participation by nonprofit social welfare groups known as 501(c)(4) organizations, the possibility for foreign involvement in campaign finance increased greatly.
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9) Joint Victory Committees and the Mega-Donor
A joint fundraising committee, or victory fund, is an account set up by two or more candidates, PACs, and/or political party committees hoping they can reap more together than they can on their own. Donors write one large check, and the money is divvied up between the partners. While neither can collect more from a single donor than they'd be able to on their own, it's often an efficient way to raise more money for everyone involved.
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10) What, Me Coordinate?
The concept of "coordination" is one of the most important aspects of campaign finance rules -- and one of the murkiest post-Citizens United. Super PACs and other outside spending groups are allowed to spend unlimited amounts of money in federal races as long as they don't collaborate with candidates. However, the rules about what constitutes coordination keep loosening. In practice, there are few practical limits on cooperation between outside groups, candidates and parties.
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Reprinted with permission from OpenSecrets.
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