Photograph by Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images

President Barack Obama delivers remarks from the wharf near the PortMiami tunnel project in Miami, Florida on March 29, 2013.

With a quartet of California fundraisers, President Barack Obama will test his ability to replenish his party’s campaign accounts without the threat of his defeat to motivate Democratic donors.

Obama leaves Washington today for a Western trip that is four parts fundraising and one part presidential business. He will begin with an official event in Denver, Colorado to press Congress to pass a bill to address gun violence. Then he heads to the San Francisco area for the fundraisers.

The president will be pressing his contributors to help him win back Democratic control of the House of Representatives in 2014 and shore up the national party’s finances.

He may be met with some donor fatigue.

“Raising money is never easy,” said Bill Burton, a former White House spokesman who is co-founder of Priorities USA, a political action committee that supported Obama in the 2012 election. “But it’s particularly difficult following a general election cycle that started earlier and burned through more money than any other in history.”

The president’s fundraising starts tonight with a reception at Pacific Heights home of Thomas Steyer, the founder of Farallon Capital Management LLC, and his wife, Kat Taylor, at a cost of $5,000 per person, according to a copy of the invitation. That event, with proceeds going to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, will be followed by a dinner at the home of Ann and Gordon Getty at a cost $32,400 per seat.

The next day, Obama will raise money for the Democratic National Committee, which had $21.9 million in debt at the end of February, with a $32,400-per-person brunch at the Atherton home of Liz Simmons and Mark Heising, the founder and managing director of Medley Partners, according to a person familiar with the matter. His final event, also in Atherton, is at the home of Levi Strauss heir John Goldman. Tickets there range in price from $1,000 to $20,000.

Obama is expected to raise $1.8 million at the two DNC events, and has committed to total of six fundraising trips before June 30, said the person, who requested anonymity.

The president reactivated his campaign’s donor network last month to raise money for Organizing for Action, a nonprofit advocacy group founded this year by former campaign aides. The events today and tomorrow mark a return to traditional party-building.

“Democrats should be heartened by the fact that even though donors may be a little low on enthusiasm, the president is not,” said Burton.

Original post is Obama’s Post-Election Fundraising: Replenishing a Party by Political Capital.

Photograph by Tim Pugmire/Minnesota Public Radio/AP Photo

A billboard on Interstate 94 east of downtown St. Paul, Minn. makes an appeal to soldiers and military veterans to support a proposed voter ID amendment on the ballot in Minnesota.

Advocates trying to overturn the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision or otherwise enact new limits on campaign spending are finding a common cause with civil rights groups fighting Republican efforts to enact voter-identification laws.

They say the issues are related.

“Voter suppression is the flip side of buying elections,” Benjamin Jealous, president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said on a conference call this week to discuss outside spending in the 2012 elections.

Rallies across the country are being held today, over the weekend and into next week to mark the third anniversary of the Jan. 21 decision, which overturned decades of previous court decisions and legislation and removed restrictions on corporate and union spending in elections. The decision led to the creation of nonprofit groups such as Crossroads GPS that hide their donors, and super-political action committees such as Priorities USA Action that can take in unlimited donations, often from the same contributors who already have given the maximum to the candidate the PAC is supporting.

Groups such the NAACP have been fighting efforts in Republican-controlled legislatures to enact voter-ID laws, which studies show disproportionately affect minorities and other groups that tend to support Democratic candidates. Studies by the Brennan Center at New York University show that there are virtually no cases of voter fraud that the ID laws are supposed to prevent.

“Groups who work on a wide spectrum of issues recognize that the threats posed to democracy by big money in politics and voter suppression are two sides of the same coin: an attempt to take political power away from the general public and to concentrate it in the hands of a few wealthy donors and special interests,” said Blair Bowie, democracy advocate for the U.S. Public Interest Research Group, which favors stronger campaign finance laws. “We’ve realized that we’re going to need to combine our collective organizing power.”

Original post is Citizens United Foes, Civil Rights Pros: Common Ground on Voter ID by Political Capital.

Photograph by Paul Taggart/Bloomberg

A private jet in New York.

There was that night at the Four Seasons in Seattle.

And a couple of check-ins at the W Hotel in San Francisco.

There were dozens of flights on United — even a chartered plane.

Super-political action committees spent more than $1 million on travel for their employees, consultants and associates, Federal Election Commission data show. Those expenses were part of the more than $88 million that super-PACs invested in overhead in the past two years.

A Bloomberg review of FEC data found that 167 of the 782 registered super-PACs — defined by the FEC as “independent expenditure-only committees” — spent nothing supporting candidates with IEs while burning through donor money to pay for things like rent, salaries and travel.

Revolution PAC spent 83 percent of the $1.2 million it raised on overhead, including $30,000 for hotel stays, plane tickets and car rentals. The group pitched itself as a booster of Texas Rep. Ron Paul’s presidential bid — and spent less than $200,000 on independent expenditures to promote his candidacy.

The bigger super-PACs flew around the country pursuing donor dollars.

Priorities USA Action, a super-PAC that backed President Barack Obama’s reelection bid, was among the best-traveled during its quest to raise more than $63 million. One consultant alone — Paul Begala, a former aide to President Bill Clinton — was reimbursed $20,000 for travel expenses.

The aforementioned W and Four Seasons stays were billed to Priorities. The super-PAC also spent more than $70,000 on lodging, catering and other items during the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte.

The chartered jet? Majority PAC, which spent its money helping Democrats retain their Senate majority, paid $12,245 to Pinnacle Aviation Charter of Scottsdale, Arizona, on Aug. 27. The reports don’t reveal a purpose for the charter — other than “travel.”

It wasn’t all 1 percent-style luxury for the super-PACs. The FEC data show dozens of payments to travel deal  Web-sites like hotels.com and hotwire.com. Even Priorities used both of those.

See the full story at Bloomberg.com.

Original post is Have Super-PAC, Will Travel by Political Capital.

Photograph by Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in Washington.

Coming off an election season in which groups that keep their donors hidden spent more than $300 million on political activity, the Internal Revenue Service has left the question of nonprofit regulation off its initial Priority Guidance Plan.

This is the plan that outlines the areas where the agency will focus its resources.

Lawmakers and advocacy groups have argued that “social welfare” groups such as Crossroads GPS, Priorities USA and Americans for Prosperity are misusing their tax-exempt status by spending millions on political ads and other activities designed to elect candidates, allowing million-dollar donors to keep their identities hidden.

“The IRS is abdicating its responsibility to the American people by failing to adopt new regulations and take the steps necessary to prevent the abuses that occurred in 2012 from occurring in future elections,” said Fred Wertheimer, president of Democracy 21, which wrote a letter to the agency today arguing that nonprofit regulation should be a priority next year.

Original post is IRS: Nonprofit Regulation no Priority by Political Capital.

Photograph Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

A woman holds political literature during a Mitt Romney campaign event at Paramount Printing January 26, 2012 in Jacksonville, Florida.

Anyone seeing more TV ads or getting more campaign literature in the mail than ever isn’t imagining it.

Spending on the 2012 presidential and congressional races will exceed $6 billion, according to an estimate released today by the Center for Responsive Politics.

That’s $700 million more than in 2008.

Fueling that increase is spending by nonprofit groups such as Crossroads GPS and super-political action committees such as Priorities USA Action. They’re estimated to spend $970 million by Election Day, up from $276 million in 2008.

“The real driving force is the outside activity,” said Bob Biersack, a senior fellow at the center. “There’s a lot more of it.”

Original post is $6 Billion Election: $700 Mln Increase by Political Capital.

Photograph by Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel/MCT/Getty Images

Florida Governor Rick Scott greets Mitt Romney during a rally at Flagler College, in St. Augustine, Florida, on August 13, 2012.

Florida Gov. Rick Scott, who won election despite a business record including a company engaged in Medicare fraud, is not the most popular politician.

The super-PAC backing President Barack Obama is counting on both that and the Medicare voucher plan that Mitt Romney’s running mate included in a Republican House-passed budget to work against Romney in the closing days of the campaign.

In one ad, Priorities USA Action has wrapped Scott’s history, Rep. Paul Ryan’s Medicare plan and Romney’s already reported involvement in a company that defrauded Medicare into  a “connect the dots” message for senior voters in the Sunshine State.

“Mitt Romney and Rick Scott. Connect the dots,” the narrator of the super-PAC’s ad says. “Scott ran a company that paid a record fine for committing Medicare fraud.  Then, as governor, Scott cut millions from healthcare. Romney was director of a company that stole millions from Medicare.  Now, Romney’s plan would end Medicare as we know it.  We’ve seen this picture before. Just connect the dots.”

“If Romney wins,” the ad concludes, “the middle class loses.”

In his private equity career at Bain Capital, Romney served on the board of Damon Corp., which defrauded $25 million From Medicare for unnecessary blood tests. He made $473,000 when Corning Inc. purchased Damon in 1993, the Boston Globe has reported.  Damon Corp. pleaded guilty in 1996 to a federal conspiracy charge of defrauding the government of $25 million between 1988 and 1993. It paid $119 million fine and penalty.

Romney claimed that he helped uncover the fraud, Politifact has reported, but prosecutors gave the credit to Corning for stopping the fraud. In the book, “The Real Romney,” authors Michael Kranish and Scott Helman wrote: “On the one hand, he said he hadn’t known what was going on at Damon; on the other, he said he’d helped to put a stop to practices later found to be fraudulent. One thing that looked good at Damon was the bottom line for Bain. In the end, it was a profitable deal for both the firm and Romney, however tainted by legal troubles and layoffs it may have been.””

Scott was co-founder and CEO of a company that committed the largest Medicare fraud in U.S. history, ending with the hospital-operating company Columbia/HCA paying a record $1.7 billion in fines, penalties and damages.

Scott invested tens of millions of his own money into his 2010 election campaign.

His public approval ratings have run low since narrowly winning the governor’s office.

Florida is the biggest of the swing states, the share of elderly voters there greater than in any other state.

Original post is Medicare Fraud: Obama-Backing Super-PAC Ties Scott, Romney by Political Capital.

Photograph by Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg

Mitt Romney and President Barack Obama following a presidential debate at the University of Denver in Colorado.

$975.9 million.

That’s how much money that President Barack Obama, the Democratic National Committee and the allied super-political action committee Priorities USA Action together have raised since the beginning of 2011 through Oct. 17.

It’s the same sum raised by Republican challenger Mitt Romney, the Republican National Committee and the pro-Romney super-PACs Restore Our Future and American Crossroads.

The numbers underscore the partisan parity in the Nov. 6 election as much as the price tag.

The pro-Obama and pro-Romney efforts actually have raised more than $1 billion each because there are other groups spending tens of millions of dollars to influence the race. They include labor unions that favor Obama and Republican-leaning non-profit groups like Crossroads GPS that don’t disclose fundraising totals to the Federal Election Commission.

Which side actually has more money matters less because each side has plenty of resources for a race that attracts substantial media coverage regardless of how much is spent. No one will say after the election that the loser failed to win because of insufficient funds.

For those keeping score at home, the Democratic total includes $644.6 million from Obama, $267.4 million from the DNC and $63.9 million from Priorities USA Action. The Republican total takes in $413.1 million from Romney, $351 million from the RNC, $131.7 million from Restore Our Future and $80.1 million from American Crossroads.

Original post is Obama v Romney: $1 Billion Parity by Political Capital.

Priorities’ Bill Burton says the ad, “Stage,” is back by popular demand.

Priorities USA Action, the super-PAC backing President Barack Obama, has spent millions portraying the business career of Republican Mitt Romney as ruinous to the lives of people who worked for some of the companies that Romney’s Bain Capital took over.

Now it’s commercial featuring Mike Earnest, who built a stage at his plant only to to see executives use it to announce his firing, is returning to the air in several critical states where Obama hopes to build his Electoral College victory: Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Nevada, Virginia and Wisconsin.

Priorities’ Bill Burton says the ad, “Stage,” is back by popular demand:  “In our Ohio focus groups this week, we asked swing voters to name the television ads that stood out most to them, in all the welter of advertising they have seen. `Stage’ is the ad that most frequently came to mind: participants were able to describe it in detail and recall theemotional impact it had on them, despite the fact that it had not run in that market for over six weeks.

Priorities USA Action, run by former Obama aides, is reporting $15.2 million in September contributions today at the Federal Election Commission, according to an aide with knowledge of the report.

That marks its best fundraising month yet, as Bloomberg’s Julie Bykowicz reports.

Restore Our Future, a pro-Romney group, reported to the FEC yesterday that it collected $14.8 million in September, making it the group’s second most lucrative month. Restore Our Future raised about $21 million in June after Romney defeated a field of primary competitors.

Restore has raised $111.5 million since the beginning of 2011, more than double the $50.9 million Priorities has collected.

Original post is `The Stage’ is Set in Ohio: Priorities by Political Capital.

Photograph by Kristoffer Tripplaar/Pool via Bloomberg

President Barack Obama speaks during a campaign event at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, on Oct. 19, 2012.

Updated at 5 pm EDT

A super-political action committee backing President Barack Obama slightly outraised a super-PAC supporting Republican challenger Mitt Romney last month.

Priorities USA Action, run by former Obama aides, will report $15.2 million in September contributions when it files tomorrow with the U.S. Federal Election Commission, according to an aide with knowledge of the report. That would mark its best month yet.

Restore Our Future, a pro-Romney group, reported to the FEC today that it collected $14.8 million in September, making it the group’s second most lucrative month. Restore Our Future raised about $21 million in June.

Both super-PACs have been airing thousands of television advertisements in support of their preferred candidates. The presidential candidates and many of the major outside groups involved in the election are due to report their September campaign finance activity to the FEC tomorrow.

Familiar names appear in Restore Our Future’s September filing.

Houston home builder Bob Perry wrote a $2 million check, bringing his total investment in the group to $10 million since the beginning of 2011. Perry has given millions more to other Republican super-PACs.

Harold Simmons, chairman of Dallas-based Contran Corp.,  donated $500,000 for a total of $1.3 million so far. Simmons also has given $11 million since last year to American Crossroads, a Republican super-PAC linked to political strategist Karl Rove.

Oxbow Carbon LLC, a Florida-based energy company founded by billionaire William Koch, gave $1 million to match its 2011 contributions to the group.

Restore Our Future also got a $1 million boost from Robert McNair, the owner of the Houston Texans professional football team. Another $1 million came from Stanley Herzog, the chairman and chief executive officer of Herzog Contracting Corp. in St. Joseph, Missouri.

Restore has raised $111.5 million since the beginning of 2011, more than double the $50.9 million Priorities has collected.

Original post is Obama-Backing Super-PAC Outraises Romney-Backers with $15.2 Million by Political Capital.

President Barack Obama will pay for his health-care act, if one of the super-PACs backing Romney has anything to do with it, its ad declaring: “Obama is the problem.”

The Priorities USA Action-sponsored ad draws its criticism for Romney from Ryan’s proposed federal budget cuts:

“Take away his toys and he’ll play with a stick,” the ad says of children who stand to lose from cuts in education funding. “Take away their bikes and they’ll still find a way to get where they’re going. But if you take away early childhood education… Slash K-12 funding… And cut college aid for middle class families they won’t go far. Yet that’s exactly what Mitt Romney wants to do to pay for a $250,000 tax break for multi-millionaires. If Mitt Romney wins, the middle class loses.”

The ad draws on outside analysis from nonpartisan and partisan groups alike projecting cuts in Head Start, Pell Grants and other federal programs, should Congress pass the budget that Ryan, chairman of the House Budget Committee, has proposed. It overlooks the fact that there is a long road from that bill to law, with a divided Congress, and it ignores the fact that federal funding represents a small share of public school financing.

The claim about the $250,000 tax cut for millionaires comes from a Tax Policy Center analysis of the impact of Romney’s plan to cut taxes by 20 percent. Romney contends that he will offset his cuts with the closing of loopholes, particularly for high-earners, but hasn’t specified the exemptions.

Priorities USA says the ad is airing on TV and online in Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Ohio, Virginia and Wisconsin.

The Crossroads ad, one of many produced by a group co-founded by George W. Bush strategist Karl Rove portraying Obama as “the problem,” attempts to blame the health-care law that Obama won in 2010 and other actions Obama has taken for a reluctance by small business owners to hire more people. It closes with an older man presented as the owner of a longtime family business saying the nation can’t afford four more years of this.

It lacks much in specifics to challenge. The message is the pointed part:

“If he has four more years, I don’t think we’re going to want to see what they look like

Original post is Obama-Romney Super-PAC Duel by Political Capital.