| By Paul Abowd and Andrea Fuller Despite outraising its Democratic counterpart by a 2-to-1 margin, the Republican Governors Association won only four of 11 races in the 2012 election, a far cry from the success it enjoyed two years ago. The Washington D.C.-based political organization raised almost $100 million, according to recently released Internal Revenue Service data. The group targeted six states it considered winnable, losing five of them. Democrats won seven of the 11 contests, but the GOP still managed to pick up one seat in North Carolina, long held by Democrats. The top donors to the so-called "527" organization, which can accept unlimited contributions from billionaires, corporations and unions, are familiar Republican Party patrons — No. 1 is Bob Perry, a Texas homebuilder and perennial RGA supporter, who gave $3.25 million. That's a little more than half of what he gave in 2010. Billionaire casino magnate Sheldon Adelson is No. 2, with $3 million in donations between him and his wife. According to the latest Federal Election Commission reports, Adelson is the top donor to super PACs in 2012, doling out more than $93 million along with his family. Conservative billionaire David Koch — who has not made any contributions to super PACs — was the organization's third-highest donor, writing two checks totaling $2 million. Koch is co-owner of the second-largest privately held company in America, Koch Industries, an energy conglomerate. Seven of the RGA's top 10 donors are corporate executives who gave at least $1 million. Two of them, Paul Singer and Kenneth Griffin, are hedge fund managers. Six of the Democratic Governors Association's top donors were unions. The American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees topped the DGA donors list, giving about $1.3 million. The Service Employees International Union gave about $1.1 million, while the American Federation of Teachers gave at least $772,000. Top corporate donors to the DGA included pharmaceutical giants Pfizer, which gave almost $700,000, and AstraZeneca, which contributed nearly $600,000. The companies also gave comparable sums to the RGA. The DGA also got corporate support from health insurer United Healthcare Services Inc., and AT&T. The DGA raised nearly $50 million, the organization's "strongest fundraising year ever," according to spokeswoman Kate Hansen. 'Enormous impact on state elections' "They've had an enormous impact on state elections across the nation," said Ciara Torres-Spelliscy, an election law expert at Stetson Law School. "In many states they were consistently a top spender." The circuitous methods used by both organizations to inject corporate and union cash into state races and mask the identity of its donors have raised legal questions, prompted lawsuits, and tested the capacity of state election boards to enforce limits on outside spending. Both organizations have told the Center for Public Integrity that they fully comply with campaign finance laws, and that they report their donors and spending to the IRS. The RGA set up a federal super PAC called RGA Right Direction, and fed it with $9.8 million in contributions. The super PAC — another type of organization that can accept unlimited donations from individuals and corporations — then made a large contribution to Indiana Republican candidate Mike Pence, and bought ads in tight state races in Montana, Washington, New Hampshire, and West Virginia. Super PACs are normally used to spend money on federal campaigns. By passing the funds through the super PAC, which reported its sole donor as the RGA, the association effectively shielded the identities of the donors who paid for ads in the state races. In North Carolina, the RGA spent millions of dollars, directly from corporate treasuries to win in a state long led by Democratic governors. The unlimited contributions from dozens of corporations across the country went toward ads supporting Republican candidate Pat McCrory, who won convincingly over Democratic Lt. Gov. Walter Dalton. The DGA, too, used a network of state-affiliated PACs, to fund ad campaigns in battleground states like Montana and North Carolina. It was the primary funder of a PAC called North Carolina Citizens for Progress, which purchased ads attacking McCrory. While America's wealthiest corporate executives tend to prefer the RGA, and unions give almost exclusively to the DGA, some donors played both sides this election. Agricultural giant Monsanto, credit card company Visa and health insurance company Humana were large donors to both the RGA and DGA — each giving about $100,000 to both groups. Despite the Republicans' win-loss record, RGA spokesman Michael Schrimpf called 2012 "a successful year by any standard" with Republicans now in control of governorships in 30 states. Most of those gains, however, came in 2010. The North Carolina win and the failed effort to recall Scott Walker, Wisconsin's Republican governor, in June, were high points for the GOP this year. In addition, in five states targeted by the RGA where it lost, the Democrats held advantages unrelated to fundraising. Missouri and West Virginia featured Democratic incumbents. Three other states — Montana, Washington and New Hampshire — had open seats where a Democrat had previously been in power. The two organizations will put their fundraising powers to the test again in 2013, when Virginia and New Jersey choose their next governors. Michael Beckel contributed to this report. The Center for Public Integrity is a non-profit independent investigative news outlet. For more of its stories go to publicintegrity.org More from Open Channel:
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12/12/2012
How outside money was poured into governors' races
Feds: US seizes Mexico politician's condo over drugs
 Daniel Aguilar / Reuters, file Tomas Yarrington, of the Institutional Revolutionary Party, seen in Mexico City May 23, 2005, is a fugitive over suspicions he aided drug traffickers. By Reuters MCALLEN, Texas -- The U.S. government seized a luxury Texas condominium purportedly owned by a fugitive former Mexican governor wanted on suspicion of aiding drug traffickers, the U.S. Attorney's Office said Tuesday. Federal prosecutors for the southern district of Texas said the $640,000 condominium on South Padre Island is owned by the former governor of Mexico's Tamaulipas state, Tomas Yarrington, also the former national leader of Mexico's ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI. Prosecutors allege that the property was purchased with money that came from Mexican drug traffickers. 'Unique' smuggling attempt: $42,500-worth of marijuana shot into Ariz. by cannon Yarrington served as governor of Tamaulipas from 1999 to 2004 and unsuccessfully ran for president in 2005. Before that, he was mayor of Matamoros, the U.S.-Mexican border hometown of the Gulf Cartel, once one of that country's dominant drug-trafficking gangs. In June, Yarrington denied the allegations against him in the United States, although he has still not come forward to face a warrant issued for his arrest in Mexico in August. As protesters clashed, incoming Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto said he aims to reduce drug-related violence, which has killed more than 60,000 people in the last six years. NBC's Lester Holt has more. Senior PRI politicians say in private Yarrington could end up behind bars to show the party is serious about fighting corruption. On Monday, U.S. District Judge Nelva Gonzalez Ramos granted the government's motion to take full possession of the condo, sell it and pay off taxes and homeowners' association fees owed, the U.S. Attorney's Office said in a news release. The government expects to sell the property at a public auction "in the near future." A civil forfeiture complaint alleges that Napoleon Rodriguez, a business associate of Yarrington, made a straw purchase of the condo in 1998 so the politician would avoid attention from U.S. authorities. Mexico's new president takes office -- 'establishment guy' returns PRI to power Court records show Yarrington began investing millions from drug-trafficking kickbacks in various properties in Mexico and Texas after he left public office, prosecutors said. Rodriguez is currently in custody in Mexico. The case against Yarrington, who was suspended in May from the PRI, emerged ahead of Mexico's presidential election in July as the centrist party attempted to shed its reputation for graft. Mexico seeks to pivot relationship with US as new president takes office The PRI ruled Mexico from 1929 to 2000, and returned to power earlier this month after the election of President Enrique Pena Nieto. Pena Nieto has vowed to fight organized crime and end the drug violence that claimed more than 60,000 lives during the term of former president Felipe Calderon. More world stories from NBC News:
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Cannon fires $42,000-worth of drugs into Ariz.
| By Lauren Steussy, NBCSanDiego.com Over 30 cans of marijuana were shot into Yuma, Ariz., using a cannon, Customs and Border Protection officials said Tuesday. The suspicious cans were discovered near the Colorado River in Yuma on Friday. Border Patrol agents said the discovery was "another unique but unsuccessful attempt" to smuggle drugs into the U.S. An investigation of the area determined that the cans were fired from about 500 feet away with a pneumatic-powered cannon. A carbon-dioxide tank was found nearby. Read more news on NBCSanDiego.com Mexican authorities were also looking into the incident. The marijuana weighed 85 pounds and was valued at $42,500. It will be destroyed, according to a statement from the agency. |
$42,500-worth of drugs shot into Ariz. via cannon
| By Lauren Steussy, NBCSanDiego.com Over 30 cans of marijuana were shot into Yuma, Ariz., using a cannon, Customs and Border Protection officials said Tuesday. The suspicious cans were discovered near the Colorado River in Yuma on Friday. Border Patrol agents said the discovery was "another unique but unsuccessful attempt" to smuggle drugs into the U.S. An investigation of the area determined that the cans were fired from about 500 feet away with a pneumatic-powered cannon. A carbon-dioxide tank was found nearby. Read more news on NBCSanDiego.com Mexican authorities were also looking into the incident. The marijuana weighed 85 pounds and was valued at $42,500. It will be destroyed, according to a statement from the agency. |
Shopper at Oregon mall: 'I thought I was going to die
Emergency vehicles gather outside the Clackamas Town Center mall after a gunman opened fire, killing two people on Tuesday, December 11, in Clackamas, Oregon. The shooter died on the scene from a self-inflicted gunshot, said Lt. James Rhodes of the Clackamas County Sheriff's Office. 
The Clackamas Town Center mall is filled with emergency vehicles and law enforcement. 
Memebers of a SWAT team take position outside the mall. 
Lt. James Rhodes of the Clackamas County Sheriff's Office works with other responders in the parking lot of the mall. 
Panicked customers rushed to the exits when the gunman opened fire. Some people huddled behind store counters and hid behind racks of clothing. 
Authorities closed entrances and exits in the mall parking lot, said Lt. Gregg Hastings of the Oregon State Police. 
A law enforcement officer talks to people waiting outside the mall. 12/11/2012
Health insurance: US paying more for less
| By Maggie Fox, NBC News Health insurance premiums have shot up more than 60 percent in the last eight years, and if they keep up at this pace the average family of four will be paying $25,000 a year just for health insurance, according to a report released Wednesday. At the same time, deductibles are also going up for employer-sponsored plans, so workers are paying more and more for less and less, the non-profit Commonwealth Fund said. "Workers are paying more for less financial protection when they get sick," said Commonwealth Fund senior vice president Cathy Schoen, who led the team writing the report. Currently, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, an average worker with employer-sponsored health insurance pays between about $15,000 to $16,000 a year for that coverage. Workers at bigger firms pay more. Coverage is about $5,600 a year for a single person. The Commonwealth Fund, a private foundation that conducts health policy reform research, did a state-by state look at health insurance premiums and deductibles and used Census Bureau data on earnings for the report, which covers 2003 to 2011. "Premiums for family coverage increased 62 percent across states -- rising far faster than income for middle- and low-income families," the report says. "At the same time, deductibles more than doubled in large and small firms. Workers are thus paying more but getting less-protective benefits. If trends continue at their historical rate, the average premium for family coverage will reach nearly $25,000 by 2020." One big reason for the rising premiums? Rising expenses. "Broad evidence of poorly coordinated care, duplicative services, and administrative waste, as well as rising prices charged to those privately insured, signal that greater efforts are needed to slow cost growth in both private and public insurance markets," the report finds. This isn't controversial. Earlier this year the independent Institute of Medicine made a formal pronouncement on what think-tanks and academic institutions had been saying for years. It said the U.S. health care system wasted $750 billion in 2009, about 30 percent of all health spending, on unnecessary services, excessive administrative costs, fraud, and other problems. "The U.S. health insurance system remains highly fragmented, marked by elevated spending on administration and an inability or unwillingness to combat high health care costs in private insurance markets. Our system includes Medicare coverage for those 65 and older and some disabled individuals, state-operated Medicaid programs, and an array of competing private insurance plans," the report adds. The Commonwealth Fund has been a big fan of the Affordiable Care Act, the 2010 health reform law known widely by supporters and opponents alike as Obamacare. And the report says the legislation will do a lot to lower costs, but not enough. "Health insurance is expensive and has become less affordable, no matter where one lives. Insurance premiums rose sharply in all states during these eight years and, because wages failed to keep pace, increased as a share of median household income," the report says. "The net result is that it is more difficult for many insured workers and their families to save for education or retirement -- or simply to meet day-to-day living expenses." And, the group says, the economy has made things worse. "With the recent recession, millions of workers lost their jobs or were otherwise unable to afford coverage and, as a result, joined the ranks of the uninsured. From 2008 to 2010, the percentage of people with employment-based insurance fell from 58.9 percent to 55.3 percent," the report says. "An estimated 9 million adults ages 19 to 64 lost a job with health benefits and became uninsured during this period." Michael Ramlet, a health economist at the right-leaning American Action Forum, says one reason health insurance costs actually slowed during the recession is that people stopped getting anything but the most essential health services. "That is starting to change as you have this slow recovery," Ramlet said in a telephone interview. He thinks expenses will go up even more as the Affordable Care Act's requirements kick in. These include the so-called essential health benefits -- the minimum requirements for the health insurance plans that people will buy on the open market starting in 2014. These aren't the same plans as those offered by employers, but Ramlet thinks the federal requirements will make these new retail plans pricey. "They are very rich," he said. "Economists would warn you there there is no free lunch and more things cost more money." Ramlet believes this could affect employer-sponsored insurance. Already some federal requirements such as provision of free health screenings are making employers think twice about offering insurance, he said. "Honestly I don't think employers are going to stay in the insurance game for very long," Ramlet said. Just this week, the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans said more than 85 percent of employers surveyed say they plan to keep offering health insurance to workers. But Ramlet believes those numbers will fall as health insurance becomes more and more expensive. He also predicts more people will gamble and not buy health insurance at all -- although the health reform law is designed to encourage people to buy it. That could be a risky option when an unanticipated medical emergency can quickly rack up hundreds or even of thousands of dollars in bills. Related links: |
Florida executes former policeman
(CNN) -- A former police officer convicted of multiple murders in the 1980s was executed Tuesday night in Florida. Manuel Pardo, 56, was pronounced dead at 7:47 p.m. EST at the Florida State Prison in Starke, according to Ann Howard, spokeswoman with the Florida Department of Corrections. His last meal consisted of red beans and rice, roasted pork chops, plantains, avocado and tomato slices with olive oil, eggnog and pumpkin pie, she said. Pardo was sentenced to death after being convicted in 1988 of nine counts of first-degree murder. His attorneys had argued that Florida's recent change in the drug combination it uses for lethal injections would violate their client's civil rights. A judge denied the complaint. In another legal filing, the Supreme Court of Florida denied Pardo's argument that he should have never been tried because he was incompetent to stand trial. David Waksman, who prosecuted the case, dismissed the claim, saying, "He was just a cold-blooded killer who used to be a cop." Pardo's life started on the other side of the law, according to court documents filed by his attorneys. At age 17, he enlisted in the Navy and served honorably from 1974 to 1978. In 1981, Pardo re-enlisted in the Marines and remained a reservist while he worked for the Florida Highway Patrol and the Sweetwater Police Department. In 1985, Pardo was fired from the police department and left the reserves when, according to court documents, "he falsely testified in court about police corruption in the Bahamas." His attorney said the stress of losing his job, compounded with a serious undiagnosed disease, turned him into "someone he was not," a killer. During his trial, Pardo took the stand and admitted to the murders. "He came up with this vigilante story," recalls Waksman. "He said, 'I'm ridding the community of this vermin and technically it is not murder because they're not human beings.'"  |