citizens united

Big spending by super PACs in federal races has grabbed headlines, but outside money can have an even bigger influence in state-level politics. Enter FollowNCMoney.org, a landmark project to track the deluge of independent spending in the battleground state of North Carolina.

This week Senate Republicans killed the DISCLOSE Act, which would have expanded transparency requirements for political money. We take a by-the-numbers look at the bill's failure -- and why it matters.

As expected, this week the Supreme Court reaffirmed its 2010 Citizens United decision. While the ruling's impact on federal races has been well-documented, the influence of shadowy money on state-level races has received less attention -- but could be even more important.

Real Jobs NC, a political group backed by Republican donor Art Pope that played a key role in North Carolina's 2010 elections, is preparing for 2012.

Wisconsin Republican Gov. Scott Walker's victory in this week's recall election is being called a crushing blow to organized labor, but the grassroots are stirring across the land -- even in the anti-union South.

With the Supreme Court preparing to hear a sequel to its landmark decision on money in politics, states and grassroots activists are building pressure to reconsider the role of corporations in our democracy.

North Carolina is the scene of an embarrassing national spectacle these days. But it's not the details of Edward's screwed-up personal life that constitute the chief embarrassment -- it's the trial's existence in the first place.

A large majority of U.S. voters say super PACs should be illegal, and a growing number of actions are targeting the Supreme Court decision that made them possible.

For-profit businesses have contributed $31 million to date to super PACs, independent committees that can raise unlimited funds to influence elections -- and companies in Southern states have been especially generous.

The two-year anniversary of Citizens United -- and Stephen Colbert's SuperPAC -- have pushed the issue of money in politics into center stage. The question now: How best to reign in Big Money's big influence?