Photograph by Daniel J. Groshong/Bloomberg

Sheldon Adelson, chairman and chief executive officer of Las Vegas Sands Corp. and chairman of Sands China Ltd., in Macau, China.

A political donation of $32,400 may seem like couch change for Sheldon Adelson, the casino executive with a $27.9 billion net worth who gave tens of millions of dollars to Republicans during the 2012 election.

Yet $32,400 is the maximum annual amount an individual can donate to a national party committee like the National Republican Congressional Committee. House Republicans’ campaign arm surely was happy to bank that payment from Adelson and a matching amount from his wife, Miriam, on April 16.

Former Texas Sen. Phil Gramm and his wife, Wendy, also each gave $32,400 to the NRCC last month, the committee said in a filing to the Federal Election Commission yesterday.

The NRCC also received $32,400 from Robert B. Rowling, a Texas businessman who was a seven-figure donor to American Crossroads, a pro-Republican super-political action committee, during the 2012 campaign.

The Adelson, Gramm and Rowling donations helped the NRCC raise $5.1 million last month, as did larger contributions from committees linked to members of Congress, which are permitted to transfer funds in unlimited amounts to national party committees.

Two committees linked to House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio transferred more than $1.2 million to the NRCC last month.

The NRCC began May with $8.75 million in available cash and $6.25 million in debts, compared to $9.6 million in cash-on-hand and $7.5 million in debts two years ago, according to the FEC reports.

Original post is Adelson and Boehner Help House Republicans Raise $5.1 Million by Political Capital.

Photograph by Krisztian Bocsi/Bloomberg

The new Apple Inc. store in Berlin, Germany.

That’s how much Apple Inc. is holding in overseas accounts, according to a report from congressional investigators.

The Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations released the report ahead of a hearing today about multinational companies that shift profits to countries with more favorable tax rates. Apple executives including Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook are scheduled to testify at the hearing.

Apple, the world’s biggest technology company, “sought the Holy Grail of tax avoidance” and “created offshore entities holding tens of billions of dollars, while claiming to be tax resident nowhere,” Sen. Carl Levin, a Michigan Democrat who leads the investigations panel, said in a statement.

“Apple safeguards the capital entrusted to it by its shareholders with prudent management that reflects the Company’s extensive international operations,” the company said in prepared testimony posted on its website. “Apple complies fully with both the laws and spirit of the laws. And Apple pays all its required taxes, both in this country and abroad.”

Bloomberg’s Laura Litvan has more here.

Original post is Bloomberg by the Numbers: $102 Billion by Political Capital.

Now a rancher in Fort Collins, Colorado, Laffey has the political bug again: He’s running for governor of his adopted home state.

A “Steve Laffey for Governor” political committee was created May 17, according to a filing with the Internal Revenue Service. Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper is seeking re-election.

“I’m running, and it’s time to fight now before it’s too late, ” Laffey told Political Capital in a telephone interview today.

Laffey said he moved to Colorado from Rhode Island about three years ago, thinking he wouldn’t again run for political office. While he hasn’t been involved in Colorado Republican politics, Laffey said he felt compelled to run “for the future of Colorado and for my family and for Colorado families.”

He wrote and produced a 2012 documentary, “Fixing America.”

In 2006, Laffey was the mayor of Cranston, Rhode Island, when he challenged Sen. Lincoln Chafee for renomination in the Republican primary. Laffey drew backing from the Club for Growth, a group that wants to slash spending, taxes and regulations.

Chafee, a liberal-leaning Republican, was aided by party groups who saw him as the more electable in Democratic-tilting Rhode Island. He beat Laffey by 54 percent to 46 percent before losing the November election to Democrat Sheldon Whitehouse by about the same margin.

The following year, Chafee left the Republican Party and Laffey wrote a book, “Primary Mistake: How the Washington Republican Establishment Lost Everything in 2006 (and Sabotaged My Senatorial Campaign).” Chafee was elected Rhode Island’s governor in 2010 as a political independent.

Original post is Ex-Rhode Island Mayor Laffey Seeks Colorado Governorship by Political Capital.

Photograph by Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg

Delegates stand at the Republican National Convention (RNC) in Tampa, Florida, on Aug. 30, 2012.

The Republican organization working to secure state offices for the party will focus on recruiting Hispanic and female candidates in the 2014 election cycle, when it plans to raise $50 million.

The Republican State Leadership Committee is “on track” to meet that fundraising goal after raising $39 million for the 2012 election, committee president Chris Jankowski told reporters today. The group focuses on state legislative races and “down-ballot” statewide contests for lieutenant governor, attorney general and secretary of state. As a 527 organization, the RSLC can accept donations in unlimited amounts.

Fielding more Hispanic candidates is a top priority for the group. While the RSLC met its goal of recruiting more than 100 Hispanic candidates for state legislatures in 2012, Jankowski said, they won just 16 races instead of the 30 to 35 he expected.

“The biggest demographic challenge is the Hispanic challenge, but we as a party need to do better, period, and we intend to try,” Jankowski said.

President Barack Obama won 71 percent of the Hispanic vote in the 2012 election, exit polls show, helping him carry politically competitive states like Florida, Nevada and Colorado while aiding Democrats down the ballot.

Jankowski said the Republican party does not always value female candidates “as much, but they are a great asset as candidates” because they “bring a different approach to campaigning.”

“We obviously need more women to enter public office and get on the escalator to higher office so that our leadership reflects stronger women in the Republican Party,” he said.

The RSLC will work to elect more Republicans to state legislatures in Virginia and New Jersey this fall. Both states also are holding elections for governor.

Republicans hold a 67-32 advantage in the Virginia House of Delegates, whose members are up for re-election this November. Each party holds 20 seats in the state Senate, whose members are next up for election in 2015.

The tie-breaking vote is held by the lieutenant governor, an office that’s up for election in November. On May 18, Republicans nominated E.W. Jackson, a black pastor who’s drawn attention for comments opposing abortion and homosexuality.

“It is very important that we can disagree without being disagreeable, that we highlight issues that are relevant and what we can actually accomplish,” Jankowski said when asked about Jackson.

All 120 state legislative seats in New Jersey are on the ballot in November. Even a landslide re-election by Republican Gov. Chris Christie over Democratic challenger Barbara Buono may not be enough to overturn Democratic majorities of 48-32 in the Assembly and 24-16 in the Senate.

Jankowski acknowledged that ”the districts are very unfavorable and present a challenge” for Republicans.

“If Christie stays strong, we think there are some excellent opportunities for pickups in the Assembly and in the Senate, and we will be very engaged to do so,” he added.

Original post is Republican Group Seeks More Hispanic and Female Candidates by Political Capital.

Photograph by Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg

Jeffrey Zients, acting director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), speaks during a news conference on April 10, 2013.

That’s how much President Barack Obama’s budget proposal would trim federal budget deficits over the next decade, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

Obama’s budget would produce deficits of $5.2 trillion between fiscal 2014 and fiscal 2023, compared with $6.3 trillion under the CBO’s baseline projections, the nonpartisan budget agency said in a report May 17.

Obama’s proposals would increase the deficit in this fiscal year and in the next two, relative to the amounts the CBO projects in its baseline. The deficits would be smaller than the baseline figures between 2016 to 2023, ranging between 0.1 percent and 1.4 percent of gross domestic product.

The CBO last week projected a fiscal 2013 deficit of $642 billion, or 4 percent of GDP, the smallest shortfall in five years. The deficit was 10.1 percent of GDP in fiscal 2009.

The policy changes in Obama’s budget would increase revenues by $974 billion and reduce outlays by $172 billion, according to the CBO report. The biggest policy changes include reducing military spending in Afghanistan, limiting deductions that lower taxpayers’ income tax liability, and changing the way some benefit programs are indexed for inflation by adopting a “chained” consumer price index.

Original post is Bloomberg by the Numbers: $1.1 Trillion by Political Capital.

Maguire, 74, filed a federal statement of candidacy to seek the northern 5^th District seat held by Republican Scott Garrett, according to documents on file at the Federal Election Commission.

Maguire was elected to the House in 1974 at 35, a member of the big Democratic class of “Watergate Babies” elected three months after President Richard Nixon resigned in disgrace. Maguire served through 1980, when he was unseated by Republican Marge Roukema.

Maguire ran for the Senate in 1982, placing second in a Democratic primary won by Frank Lautenberg, who was elected to the first of five terms.

Garrett succeeded Roukema after the 2002 election and is serving his sixth term. He leads the House Financial Services panel that oversees capital markets and government-sponsored enterprises.

New Jersey’s 5^th District takes more than 70 percent of its population from Bergen County, including the communities of Hackensack, Fair Lawn, Paramus and Ridgewood. It also includes parts of Sussex, Warren and Passaic Counties. The district has a median household income of $86,213, 14^th-highest in the nation, according to a 2011 Census Bureau estimate.

The district, redrawn before the 2012 election, backed Republican Mitt Romney over President Barack Obama by 51 percent to 48 percent, according to data compiled by Political Capital.

An e-mail to Maguire’s campaign wasn’t immediately returned.

Original post is Ex-Rep. Maguire Readies New Jersey Comeback Campaign by Political Capital.

Photograph by Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg

Customers shop at a Macy’s Inc. store in New York.

That’s the Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index for the week ended May 12.

The index, which is based on Americans’ opinions about the economy, the buying climate and their own finances, fell from minus 29.5 in the prior week. It can range from plus 100 to minus 100.

In a separate monthly gauge of economic expectations, 32 percent said the economy is getting worse and 31 percent said it’s getting better. The minus 1 reading was the best in five months and rose from minus 4 in April.

“Rising home values and stock prices gains may be underpinning expectations and bolstering consumer spending, which accounts for about 70 percent of the economy,” Bloomberg’s Jeanne Smialek reported yesterday. “Nonetheless, the lagged effect of higher payroll taxes are crimping the discretionary budgets of low- to middle-wage earners, preventing total demand from accelerating.”

Original post is Bloomberg by the Numbers: -30.2 by Political Capital.

Photograph by Rainier Ehrhardt/AP Photo

Former South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford arrives to give his victory speech on May 7, 2013, in Mt. Pleasant, S.C. Sanford won back his old congressional seat in the state’s 1st District in a special election.

That’s how many U.S. House members in the current 113^th Congress have served non-consecutive tenures.

The total includes Mark Sanford, a South Carolina Republican who was sworn in yesterday to the House, where he previously served from 1995 to 2001. Sanford was South Carolina’s governor from 2003 to 2011.

Sanford won a special election on May 7, beating Democrat Elizabeth Colbert Busch in a Republican-tilting district in and around Charleston that includes much of the territory he previously represented.

Sanford is one of seven House Republicans now serving a second stint in the House, along with Reps. Steve Chabot of Ohio, Steve Pearce of New Mexico, Matt Salmon of Arizona, Mike Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, Tim Walberg of Michigan and Steve Stockman of Texas.

Sanford, Chabot, Salmon and Stockman were all members of the big House Republican freshman class of 1994, when the party won control of the chamber for the first time in four decades.

The nine Democrats who have served non-consecutive terms are Reps. David Price of North Carolina, Jim Cooper of Tennessee, Richard Nolan of Minnesota, Bill Foster of Illinois, Carol Shea-Porter of New Hampshire, Alan Grayson of Florida, Ann Kirkpatrick of Arizona, Dan Maffei of New York and Dina Titus of Nevada.

Original post is Bloomberg by the Numbers: 16 by Political Capital.

Photograph by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Copies of the Obama Administration’s proposed FY 2014 federal budget at the Government Printing Office Book Store on April 10, 2013 in Washington, DC.

That’s the projected budget deficit for fiscal 2013, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

That projection is about $200 billion below the $845 billion estimate that CBO released in February. The decrease is “mostly as a result of higher-than-expected revenues and an increase in payments to the Treasury by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac,” CBO said in a report yesterday.

Revenues have “increased robustly so far this year in part because of the expiration of the 2 percentage-point payroll tax cut in January 2013,” the report said.

The fiscal 2013 deficit is projected to be 4 percent of gross domestic product, compared with 10.1 percent in fiscal 2009, when the economy was in the deepest recession since World War II.

The CBO document provides “great news about this year,” though it “doesn’t say very much about the long-term fiscal outlook” because the “main factors cutting this year’s deficits are one-time effects,” Bloomberg View’s Josh Barro wrote yesterday in the Ticker.

Under current law, the deficit will fall to 2.1 percent of GDP in fiscal 2015 before rising later in the decade “because of the pressures of an aging population, rising health care costs, an expansion of federal subsidies for health insurance, and growing interest payments on federal debt,” the CBO report said.

Original post is Bloomberg by the Numbers: $642 Bln by Political Capital.

Photograph by William Thomas Cain/Getty Images

Rep. Joe Sestak (D-PA), standing onstage with his wife Susan and daughter Alex, concedes the Pennsylvania Senate race to Republican Pat Toomey November 3, 2010 at the Radnor Hotel in St. Davids, Pennsylvania.

Just six months have passed since the last election and 18 months remain until the next one in November 2014. Pennsylvania Democrat Joe Sestak already is planning for the election after that.

Sestak, a former House member who lost a Senate race in 2010, will prepare for a rematch against Republican incumbent Pat Toomey in a 2016 Senate election still 42 months away, Sestak said in a video today.

“The Senate needs a leader accountable only to we the people, not any other interest,” Sestak said in the three-minute video, which uses Independence Hall in Philadelphia as a backdrop.

“Together we can have an honest discussion about the issues and the challenges we face. We will hold our leaders and ourselves accountable to have a government of the people, by the people, for the people,” Sestak said as he announced what his website calls an “exploratory committee.”

Sestak raised $460,250 in the first three months of 2013, according to a report he filed last month with the Federal Election Commission. He may use those funds for a Senate campaign.

Toomey beat Sestak in 2010, a good Republican year, by 51 percent to 49 percent after Sestak beat party-switching Sen. Arlen Specter in the Democratic primary.

Toomey is a former president of the Club for Growth, a group that promotes free trade and supports slashing government spending and taxes, though he’s attracted attention recently as a co-sponsor of an amendment that would have expanded the background check system for firearm purchasers. Toomey was one of four Republicans who supported the amendment, which failed to win the requisite 60 votes last month.

Original post is Sestak Eyes Pennsylvania Comeback — in 2016 by Political Capital.