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Columbia Journalism Review content tagged Liz Cox Barrett

1. February 16, 2011 05:14 PM

   “How You Raise Money” in D.C. (Hint: “Frugging”)

   WaPo on Gingrich's "money-making machine"

   By Liz Cox Barrett

   That Newt Gingrich's sanguinely named 527 group, American Solutions for Winning the Future, "pulls in big money" has been reported. (And, because it is a 527, we also know from where this money is pulled—including six- and seven-figure chunks from Las Vegas billionaire Sheldon Adelson, North Carolina real estate investor Fred Godley, Ohio insurance billionaire Carl Lindner, and NASCAR executive...

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2. December 27, 2010 01:00 PM

   Best of 2010: Liz Cox Barrett

   Barrett picks her top stories from 2010

   By Liz Cox Barrett

   Target Corp.'s "Perfect Storm." Target was but one of several Minnesota-based companies to spend corporate money on election 2010, as permitted by the Supreme Court's January Citizens United decision. So why did Target's contribution alone spawn weeks of headlines in August (and an in-store flash mob/protest?) And, for corporate executives, was the takeaway from Target's PR "imbroglio," don't spend company...

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3. January 3, 2012 06:00 AM

   Best of 2011: Liz Cox Barrett

   From Nevada to Paint Creek, Barrett picks her top stories from 2011

   By Liz Cox Barrett

   Unpacking Rory Reid’s 91 PACs Maneuver Where there are campaign finance laws, there are work-arounds. And Jon Ralston, as a seasoned political reporter and self-described campaign finance report “obsessive” in Nevada --a state with, in Ralston’s words, “a Swiss cheese amalgam of statutes that allow all manner of nonsense”-- Ralston knows from loopholes. Still, Ralston told me back in...

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4. March 1, 2011 12:24 PM

   How a Defense Contract Is Won

   NYT's Boeing report left out the lobbying

   By Liz Cox Barrett

   You're a giant aerospace company pursuing a defense contract potentially worth $100 billion: so, what's your lobbying budget for that? A tip of the hat to the National Journal for detailing for readers how a years-long battle between Boeing and European Aeronautic Defense and Space Company (EADS) for a lucrative contract to supply the Air Force with aerial refueling tankers...

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5. March 4, 2011 11:50 AM

   Lean, Mean Campaign Money Machine

   Crossroads groups tell WSJ, world what they aim to spend on election 2012

   By Liz Cox Barrett

   The paper that is home to a weekly column by Karl Rove got first dibs Tuesday on the announcement of how much the Rove-affiliated political advocacy groups, American Crossroads and Crossroads GPS, hope to raise for and spend on election 2012. Reported the Wall Street Journal: Two conservative groups founded last year with the help of Republicans Karl Rove and...

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6. January 10, 2011 12:56 PM

   PAC Man

   USAT, NYT on skirting federal campaign donation limits (creatively)

   By Liz Cox Barrett

   How do potential presidential candidates circumvent donation-limiting federal campaign laws? Let us count the ways. There’s the federal PAC way. There’s also the state PAC way. USA Today recently reported on these work-arounds and their use by a number of possible presidential aspirants. From that report: Six prominent Republicans considering challenging President Obama in 2012 have raised millions in campaign...

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7. March 11, 2011 04:09 PM

   Relax! IRS Rules Are “Lax”

   WaPo has good news for anonymous political donors

   By Liz Cox Barrett

   Are you a 501(c)(4) group that spent millions of anonymous dollars on attack ads during the midterm elections (or, perhaps, a corporation or individual who, unbeknownst to the public, gave money to such a group)? Are you concerned, as you gear up for 2012, that the IRS might revoke your 501(c)(4) status (i.e., that which allows you to keep your...

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8. January 25, 2011 03:56 PM

   What Not to Do in Campaign Reporting

   Star Tribune writes down Bachmann’s “strong opinions”

   By Liz Cox Barrett

   Campaign 2012 is underway, even with but one declared Republican contender. And so comes an example of What Not to Do in Campaign Reporting, courtesy of the Minneapolis Star Tribune (h/t, MinnPost's David Brauer). Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn) visited Iowa (Iowa!) on Friday and delivered a speech “covered by a corps of roughly 50 Iowa, Minnesota and national media,” according...

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