The Center for Public Integrity

California Assembly Speaker Jesse M. Unruh once famously said of moneyed political interests: “If you can't take their money, drink their booze, eat their food, screw their women, and vote against them, you don't belong here.” In other words, giving cash to politicians is no guarantee they’ll carry your water. But campaign contributions to elected officials don’t hurt either. The links between money and votes is an endlessly debated subject in official Washington. Cynics say campaign cash often buys support. Others claim that examining who opened their wallets most for a politician is simply an indication of who those backers think best advocates their agenda. Either way, though, following the money is often illuminating.

The House Office of Congressional Ethics has asked the Justice Department to probe the relationship between campaign contributions and earmarks based on evidence the ethics office collected while examining the now-defunct PMA Group.

Businesses, trade groups and other interests hired more than five lobbyists for each member of Congress to influence financial regulatory reform legislation pending before the Senate, according to a Center for Public Integrity analysis.

The Democratic chairman of the House Transportation Committee is questioning whether Republicans are sticking to their earmark moratorium when it comes to a water bill intended to upgrade ports, locks and waterways. But House Republicans say the chairman’s questions are misleading and motivated by partisan politics.

An examination of lobbying records filed by the American Maritime Officers (AMO) union has revealed a stunning long-term pattern of Lobbying Disclosure Act violations by the union, and a lack of oversight by congressional offices tasked with ensuring the accuracy of such reports.

One full year after being nominated to the Federal Election Commission, Service Employees International Union (SEIU) lawyer John J. Sullivan is still waiting for Senate confirmation, caught in a dispute over other nominations for the agency. As a result of the standoff, the Obama administration has yet to put any stamp on the FEC.

New legislation to address a U.S. Supreme Court ruling allowing unlimited campaign advertising by corporations and labor unions includes an unexpected carrot to attract support from Republicans. A provision in the bill would change the law to allow political parties to spend unlimited amounts of their own funds in support of their party’s candidates and to coordinate that effort with the candidate, as long as the candidate does not “direct or control” the spending.

A new earmarks guessing game has emerged as some lawmakers thwart the intent of House disclosure rules by keeping the public in the dark about the specific earmarks those lawmakers requested of the powerful House Appropriations Committee, according to a spending watchdog group.