campaign contributions

October 9, 2013 - Under fire for using his personal fortune to buy elections, North Carolina's leading conservative financier denies giving money to super PACs -- but campaign finance watchdogs say his denial amounts to playing word games while he's building a "government of the obscenely rich, by the obscenely rich, and for the obscenely rich."

October 7, 2013 - The U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in an important case tomorrow about aggregate campaign contribution limits -- and it will make time to hear the even more extreme arguments of U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) that campaign contribution limits in general are a burden to free speech. What would happen to our democracy should McConnell prevail?

September 20, 2013 - A private political nonprofit that does not have to publicly disclose its donors is running TV ads across North Carolina touting the governor's agenda amid widespread criticism and slipping poll numbers.

September 20, 2013 - The Republican governor is traveling to states led by Democrats in an effort to lure companies to Texas -- an effort financed largely by corporations that risk alienating political allies and residents in the targeted states.

September 12, 2013 - The U.S. Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments next month in McCutcheon v. FEC, a case that has social justice advocates worried about how looser campaign finance limits worsen America's growing wealth gap.

August 29, 2013 - The conservative mega-donor, now the state budget director, played important but behind-the-scenes roles in the passage of one of the nation's most restrictive voting laws, from ginning up fear of voter fraud to backing politicians who fought for voting restrictions.

August 8, 2013 - The Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection Authority was formed after Hurricane Katrina to ensure qualified experts -- not politicians' friends -- were in charge of flood control. But now the authority is under pressure from Gov. Bobby Jindal and other Louisiana politicians for filing a lawsuit to force oil and gas companies to pay for the damage they've done to the state's coastal wetlands.

July 25, 2013 - A new report from environmental groups documents widespread disregard for the Clean Water Act by electric utilities -- and an effort by the White House Office of Management and Budget to dilute proposed EPA rules trying to curb the industry's water pollution problem.

July 24, 2013 - "If you know this history," said Rev. William Barber of the N.C. NAACP, "you understand why every North Carolinian ought to be sick to their stomach."

July 17, 2013 - Democracy North Carolina criticizes the $99,000 fine that's part of the proposed settlement between the utility giant and state regulators over water contamination from its coal-fired power plants as "piddling" while raising concerns about the company's political influence and close ties to Gov. Pat McCrory.