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• US court questions company campaign spending limits 

Corporate spending limits in U.S. political campaigns may be too broad and silence free-speech rights of small businesses like a local hairdresser, Supreme Court conservatives said on Wednesday.

But the court's four liberals, including new Justice Sonia Sotomayor, said more harm than good could be done by overturning precedents upholding the restrictions on corporations and labor unions.

The comments came during arguments in a special session to consider ending long-standing limits on corporate and union spending in political campaigns. . . .

During the arguments, Roberts said a tobacco company might want to run an ad opposing a candidate who wanted to make tobacco illegal. The law restricts broadcast ads by companies and unions right before elections.

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• Political Contributors Do an End-Run in New Jersey Gubernatorial Race 

New Jersey's campaign finance system may have restricted the flow of big money into statewide elections and cut down on the abuses known as pay to play, but determined donors and fund-raisers always seem to find a loophole.

Indeed, newly available records show that big donors to the Democratic and Republican Parties -- along with law firms, engineers and others who do business with the state -- are sidestepping the state's contribution limits and pay-to-play rules by giving to the parties' governors' associations, which turn around and spend heavily in New Jersey.

Harry Pozycki, chairman of the Citizens' Campaign, a nonpartisan group that is an advocate of the pay-to-play rules, said on Monday that the two associations were providing "a huge back door for the evasion of contribution limits." He added, "Following the money becomes that much more difficult." . . .

The Republican Governors Association, which has spent nearly $3 million already in support of Christopher J. Christie, the former federal prosecutor who is challenging Mr. Corzine, has raised $90,000 from the National Rifle Association since December. . . .

Big tobacco also seems to be backing Mr. Christie, who as a securities lawyer once represented the industry in an antismoking lawsuit: Tobacco interests have given the Republican group nearly $300,000.

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• Senators say tobacco votes based on regulations, not campaign contributions  

The 17 senators who voted against allowing the Food and Drug Administration to regulate tobacco included some of the top recipients of campaign contributions from tobacco manufacturers.

Georgia Sen. Saxby Chambliss is the third highest recipient of the group.

The historic anti-smoking legislation that the Senate passed Thursday sped to final congressional passage on Friday. Lawmakers and the White House quickly declared that it would save the lives of thousands of smokers of all ages. Even more important, they said, the measure could keep countless young people from starting in the first place. . . .

"I voted against the FDA tobacco bill because I'm opposed to the overregulation of an industry that's already highly regulated, from farmer to manufacturer," Chambliss said. "The bill saddles the already overburdened FDA with even more oversight duties, and does nothing to reduce the rate of smoking among Americans -- cigarettes already on the shelves will remain on the market."

Bunning, whose campaigns received $42,500 from R.J. Reynolds, says his vote reflects his state's interests. According to 2007 figures from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Kentucky ranks second in overall tobacco exports, and the crop pumps $386.4 million into the state's economy.

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• Senators who opposed tobacco bill received top dollar from industry  

Among the 17 senators who voted against allowing the Food and Drug Administration to regulate tobacco are some of the top recipients of campaign contributions from the tobacco industry, which has donated millions of dollars to lawmakers in the past several campaign cycles.

Over the course of his nearly quarter-century Senate career, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell , who hails from the tobacco-rich state of Kentucky , has received $419,025 from the tobacco industry, more than any other member of Congress , according to the Center for Responsive Politics , a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that analyzes the influence of money on politics and policy.

North Carolina Republican Sen. Richard Burr , who led the opposition to the bill, is the second highest recipient and netted $359,100 from tobacco-related political action committees and individual contributions. His state is the nation's largest tobacco grower and is home to R.J. Reynolds , the nation's second largest tobacco manufacturing company, which contributed $196,850 to Burr's campaigns.

Georgia Sen. Saxby Chambliss , the ranking Republican on the Senate Agriculture Committee , is the third highest recipient with $228,700 . Kentucky Sen. Jim Bunning , who's up for re-election next year and is considered the most vulnerable Senate Republican, ranks eighth with $194,166 . . . .

Virginia Democratic Sens. Mark Warner and Jim Webb supported the measure, as did Altria Group , the Richmond, Va. , company that owns Philip Morris . Altria contributed $78,418 to Warner.

"We think it's important to stay active in the political process," said William Phelps

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• Smoke-filled rooms? 

This year, however, the Legislature simultaneously raided the tobacco settlement fund and gutted the Hawai'i Tobacco Prevention and Control Trust Fund, which uses money from the tobacco settlement fund to run those anti-smoking programs. Senate Bill 292 diverts 25.5 percent of the settlement fund's money to the General Fund and shrinks the Prevention and Control Trust Fund's share of the settlement fund's money from 12.5 percent to 6.5 percent. SB 884, which raids various special funds to bolster the General Fund, finds that the Tobacco settlement fund has an "excess" of $20 million and appropriates it to the General Fund.

According to Evans, the tobacco settlement fund had already taken a beating from the bad economy: "The trust fund corpus was about 55 million last year, and it's been losing money ever since due to the market. The current balance is about 33 million." Subtract $20 million from that, and then cut 12.5 percent of that to 6.5 percent, and there's not a lot left for anti-smoking programs. . . .

Tracking tobacco money isn't always easy. Reynolds American, formerly RJ Reynolds, usually donates in its own name -- but the world's biggest tobacco peddler, Altria, donates under a host of names, including Altria, Altria Client Services, Altria Corporate Services, Philip Morris USA and UST Public Affairs. At least one company executive has donated in his own name. And the company also hires a whole network of lobbying firms. In Hawai'i, it uses the services of three lobbyists: Celeste Y.K. Nip, Dan Smith, and George A. "Red" Morris. Reynolds uses John Radcliffe to lobby in Hawai'i. Smith made a $2,000 donation to Honolulu councilmember Romy Cachola's unsuccessful bid for the Senate; Cachola's campaign spending report lists Smith as a District Director for Altria in Richmond, Virginia. Morris, Radcliffe and Nip distributed tens of thousands in campaign donations to dozens of candidates during the 2008 election season -- but since they represent multiple clients, it's difficult to say whether the money they pass out is tobacco money or not.

But even without counting Morris's, Radcliffe's and Nip's contributions, Altria, its subsidiaries and officers passed out at least $51,309 to Hawai'i politicians during the 2008 elections, while Reynolds chipped in at least $19,500. . . .

Cigarette paper

Who got how much and from whom

Rep. Henry Aquino

Altria Client Services $1,000

Reynolds American $1,000

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• Senator Kay Hagan Opposed FDA Tobacco Regulation  

Tough questions tonight for Senator Kay Hagan about her campaign funding from big tobacco and her opposition to the Food and Drug Administration regulating tobacco. In fact both of North Carolina's Senators oppose the idea. And both got thousands of dollars in support for their political careers from tobacco companies. We wanted to know the real reason behind the opposition. . . .

Reporter: "I know that in the past you've received some financial support from tobacco groups for your campaign. Does your current position on this bill have anything to do with that?"

Hagan responds, "You know I think tobacco companies have given quite a bit of funding to Republican candidates and it certainly has no bearing whatsoever. I am primarily interested in jobs in North Carolina and the impact this will have on the farming community and I am certainly here to advocate on behalf of North Carolina's best interests.

Which begs the question: is our states best interest the health of our people or the health of our tobacco industry?

Hagan says, "I think it goes back to the public at large knows that tobacco smoking is harmful and I think that's one of the things that's already currently known and the FDA has too much on their plate to deal with." . . .

We posted this story online before it aired and were immediately contacted by a member of Senator Hagan's staff, who questioned the accuracy of our story. When they could not provide a single example of anything factually incorrect, the staff member said they deeply resent the questions raised in this story.

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• Tobacco Money & Politics 

Tobacco interests maintain a strong presence in California policymaking through spending millions of dollars on campaign contributions and lobbying expenditures. All of this information is public information and is required to be reported to the California Secretary of State.

The Database of Campaign Contributions of Tobacco Interests is a searchable database of contributions from tobacco interests to Members of the California Legislature. It contains data from the 2001-2002 election to the present and is searchable by Legislator name, legislative district and county.

Quarterly updates on tobacco interests’ spending are produced every three months to provide information about how much money tobacco interests spend, who they make contributions to and what bills they lobby on. Every two years, a comprehensive report for the complete election cycle is produced. Below are the reports organized by election cycle.

2007-2008 Election Cycle

Campaign Contributions and Lobbying Expenditures of Tobacco Interests in California: January- December 2007

Lobbying Expenditures of Tobacco Interests in California: January-September 2007

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• Report Shows Tobacco Money Flows to Campaigns, Lobbying 

Tobacco interests spent nearly $2 million to influence California elections and legislative policy in 2007, according to a new report by the American Lung Association of California's Center for Tobacco Policy & Organizing (the Center).

"Campaign Contributions and Lobbying Expenditures of Tobacco Interests" shows which legislators and how much money was accepted from tobacco interests in 2007, as well as which bills the tobacco interests lobbied. This report for 2007 is one of a series of quarterly reports produced by the Center for the 2007-2008 election cycle. Highlights from the 2007 report include:

- Philip Morris USA, Inc., maker of Marlboro cigarettes, spent nearly $345,000 in the fourth quarter (September - December) of 2007 to lobby on ABX1-1, the health care reform bill authored by Speaker Fabian Nunez (D-46) and supported by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. The health care reform legislation would have increased the state tobacco tax by $1.75 per pack.

- Tobacco interests are making campaign contributions to legislators and candidates at the same rate they contributed in the previous election cycle. . . .

In addition to this report, the Center unveiled an expanded online database of campaign contributions from tobacco interests to members of the Legislature. The public can use the database to see if their legislator accepted tobacco money. Additionally, the database contains contributions information for both current and past legislators and you can search by name, legislative district or county. . . .

A full copy of "Campaign Contributions and Lobbying Expenditures of Tobacco Interests" is available at http://www.Center4TobaccoPolicy.org/tobaccomoney .

The searchable database can be accessed at http://www.Center4TobaccoPolicy.org/database .

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• Burst of giving from tobacco giant  

Amid talk of a tax hike on cigarettes, big tobacco is once again flexing its financial muscle in the state Legislature, according to the latest filings with the state Board of Elections.

Altria Group, which owns Philip Morris, maker of cigarette brands such as Marlboro, Benson & Hedges and Basic, gave more than $100,000 to the Republican and Democratic parties in recent weeks.

Much of the money went to the Republican and Democratic Senate campaign committees' housekeeping, or soft money, accounts, including $35,000 to the GOP, which holds the majority, and $30,000 to the Democrats.

The contributions come as the Spitzer administration is considering raising the state's $1.50-per-pack excise tax on cigarettes. . . .

Altria spokeswoman Dawn Schneider said her firm gives money for civic, rather than business purposes.

"We have a long-standing commitment and involvement in the political process, in a bipartisan fashion, on behalf of our shareholders," Schneider said. . . .

Friends of Assemblyman Tedisco: $500Conservative Party of NYS: $10,000

Erie County Republican Committee: $10,000

NYS Senate Republican Campaign Committee: $25,000O

Onondaga County Republican Committee: $10,000

Monroe County Democratic Committee: $9,500

New York State Republican Committee: $10,000

Democratic Senate Campaign Committee: $30,000

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We have a long-standing commitment and involvement in the political process, in a bipartisan fashion, on behalf of our shareholders.
Altria spokeswoman Dawn Schneider, on the company's donations of more than $100,000 to the Republican and Democratic parties in New York recently, as the state legislature considers a large cigarette tax hike.

• Lobbyists Sidestep State Smoking Ban at DIA 

Colorado's largest government building - Denver International Airport - is the only business in the state to allow indoor smoking. FOX 31 wanted to know why, and you will be surprised at what we found. Jon Bowman has the tangled story of Big Tobacco's government payoffs.

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• Transaction Search Results: Stop the Measure 50 Tax Hike  

133002 11/01/2007 Original Stop the Measure 50 Tax Hike The Dolphin Group Cash Expenditure $882.17

133003 11/01/2007 Original Stop the Measure 50 Tax Hike Goddard Claussen Strategic Advocacy Cash Expenditure $1,464.00

126965 10/30/2007 Original Stop the Measure 50 Tax Hike Goddard Claussen Strategic Advocacy Cash Expenditure $7,749.08

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• State's campaign finance disclosure praised 

Oregon voters can find out more about the money being given and spent in state election politics than their counterparts in 47 other states, a new study says.

That’s because — enabled by the Legislature — the state Elections Division has created a top-notch electronic campaign finance reporting system.

Voters anywhere in the state can conduct their civic chores in their homes, in their pajamas — if they so choose — without regard for the hour, as long as they have an Internet-linked computer.

“It’s really phenomenal what they have achieved,” said Kim Alexander, participant in the Grading State Disclosure study released Wednesday that compared disclosure in all 50 states.

Oregon ranked third in the nation overall, just behind Washington and California . . .

This is the fourth time a coalition of California-based groups conducted the study.

They are the California Voter Foundation and the UCLA School of Law with money put up by The Pew Charitable Trusts. . . .

And this year, the Measure 50 cigarette tax for children’s health care, is breaking all records.

Together, pro and con, donors have poured more than $10 million into the contest. Two tobacco companies opposing the tax — the R.J. Reynolds and Philip Morris — chipped in about $9.2 million of the total, so far.

Oregon’s new reporting system, however, isn’t perfect.

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• McConnell claims "victory", McCain "respects" Court decision 

One of the more interesting senatorial rivalries of the last decade was on full display today in a key Supreme Court ruling, with Chief Justice John Roberts deciding for a 5-4 majority that restrictions on corporate- and labor-financed ads attacking candidates by name was unconstitutional. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), a longtime opponent of restrictions on campaign spending, trumpeted the ruling as a huge victory for free speech advocates. And Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), co-author of the bill at the center of the ruling, claimed symbolic victory because the most critical portion of the legislation -- banning House members, senators and their respective party campaign committees from raising these unlimited donations - was still intact. . . .

McConnell and McCain have been rivals dating back to at least the 1997 and 1998 effort to pass a federal settlement to the massive number of tobacco-related lawsuits, an effort led by McCai, who was then chairman of the Commerce committee. McConnell, whose Kentucky tobacco interests opposed the legislation, played the key role in blocking the bill. . . .

The McConnell-McCain battle from the tobacco fight also spilled into the campaign finance dispute. The Arizonan filed motions during the legal fight over McCain-Feingold accusing McConnell of arguing behind closed doors in the late 1990s that big tobacco companies had given huge sums to the NRSC and other GOP senators, urging leniency to the industry because of those large donations. . . .

In recent years McCain and McConnell have gotten along fine, and this year McCain has been a loyal soldier to his party's leadership and the White House, working feverishly for President Bush on the two most controversial issues of the day: the Iraq war and immigration reform.

Both men, if asked, deflect any hint of animosity toward each other. Still, as McCain continues ahead with his campaign for the GOP nomination, he was dealt another small defeat today.

And if later this year, just before the Iowa caucuses, McCain gets hit with some attack ads financed by corporate chieftains opposed to his campaign, he'll have McConnell to thank for those ads.

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• Following the Money Trail Online  

Maplight.org.

It's a new Web site with a very simple mission: to correlate lawmakers' voting records with the money they've accepted from special-interest groups.

All of this is public information. All of it has been available for decades. Other sites, including OpenSecrets.org, expose who's giving how much to whom. But nobody has ever revealed the relationship between money given and votes cast to quite such a startling effect. .. .

A little time spent clicking through to these California lawmakers' pages reveals a similar pattern in most of them.

(A few, on the other hand, appear to be deliciously contrary. Jim Brulte has accepted over $67,000 from the tobacco industry, but hasn't voted in their favor a single time. Is that even ethical -- I mean, by the standards of this whole sleazy business?)

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• Reality intrudes on rectitude 

The new Democratic chairwoman of the House Ethics Committee held a “Manicures and Muffins” breakfast fundraiser at a Capitol Hill nail salon — lobbyists welcome, of course.

And this: Just hours after passing lobbyist reforms in the Democrats’ 100 Hours, Speaker Nancy Pelosi threw a $1,000-a-ticket, celebrity-heavy concert in Washington. Her spokesman later said only 200 lobbyists attended. . . .

Splashing with the rest of them is Sen. Claire McCaskill of Missouri.

Like every politician who buys TV time by the hour, the freshman Democrat has debts to pay.

“I hate the process of raising money. I did when I was running. I do now. I’ve got bills to pay, so I better raise some money.”

That was Wednesday, when several lobbyists gathered at a luncheon fundraiser for her: $1,000 per political action committee, $500 per individual.

Among the invitees were some of Washington’s biggest interests: Big Ag, Big Pharmaceutical, Big Telecom, Big Tobacco — many of which had supported her opponent, Sen. Jim Talent, in the election. . . .

McCaskill, who says the system is broken, touted recent ethics reforms, which followed the jailing of offending congressmen and lobbyists. The measure banned most gifts and travel and made federal-spending earmarks more transparent as a tonic to flush Washington’s system. “The final product is one that is remarkable,” she said. “It removes a lot of the incumbency advantage.”

Critics are underwhelmed, saying reform didn’t address the major issue, so the entrenched Washington culture will simply adapt and endure. . . .

The clout of lobbyists will continue until public financing (which McCaskill says she favors) or other methods of funding evolve, realists say, despite the amount of grief they get come election time.

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