Congressional Campaigns Near &#36;500M Cost
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House and Senate candidates have spent at least &#36;487 million this election cycle, &#36;130 million more than congressional candidates had poured in by this point in the 2002 races.
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Lobbyists spent more than &#36;1 billion in the first half of 2004 promoting their positions in front of the president and Congress, putting the nation on track for its first &#36;2 billion lobbying year.
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President Bush's weekend campaign promise that he will push legislation allowing for no money down on some federally insured mortgages could cost taxpayers as much as $500 million over four years because of a higher rate of defaults, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
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A former Minnesota congressman is being questioned for accepting &#36;12,500 in donations and spending more than &#36;60,000 on campaign expenses in the two years after he was ousted from office.
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President Bush is expected to ask Congress next month for roughly &#36;1 billion for continued U.S. aid for victims of the calamitous Indian Ocean tsunami, lawmakers said Wednesday.
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The AARP is launching a $500,000 ad campaign Sunday in 14 states pushing for Senate action on legislation that would let consumers buy U.S.-made prescription drugs from Canada and other countries.
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CHICAGO, Feb. 15  /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- In the last two years, more than $29 million has flowed into campaign funds controlled by Chicago city officials and their challengers, and now it's easy for voters to identify the big contributors and see where the money is going.
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House Republicans have reserved more than $40 million worth of television advertising time for the fall, most of it aimed at holding seats they control, particularly in the Midwest and Northeast.
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Spending by contestants and supporters in the U.S. elections this year will be nearly &#36;4 billion, the highest ever, a study released on Thursday said.
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The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) reported spending $7.8 million on Friday alone for an ongoing Ã¢ÂÂindependent expenditureÃ¢ÂÂ campaign that aims to boost the many vulnerable House Republican incumbents Ã¢ÂÂ mainly by attacking their Democratic challengers.
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Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton has more than &#36;22 million for her re-election run against two little-known New York Republicans, raising the possibility of plenty of leftover cash for a potential White House bid.
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President Bush, Sen. John Kerry and their political parties are spending nearly &#36;40 million on TV ads in the final week of the presidential campaign as they adjust their strategies in a shrinking battleground.
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Viewers who felt like someone was telling them to vote for or against George W. Bush or John Kerry every time they turned on the TV last year weren't far off: Political parties and others spent nearly &#36;178 million more on such ads in 2004 than they did in the 2000 election.
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There are more people giving &#36;1 million or more to partisan political groups now than before Congress passed a law aimed at taking seven-figure contributions out of elections, new figures show.
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As the race for control of Congress turns toward its final sprint to Election Day, independent organizations with ideological or commercial stakes in the outcome are pouring record amounts of money into the closest contests -- in some cases eclipsing the spending of the candidates themselves.
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A fresh wave of ads pushed President Bush's spending to nearly &#36;46 million for July, the Republican's highest level since he launched the first ad blitz of his re-election campaign in March, a campaign finance report filed Friday shows.
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The campaign of Democrat John F. Kerry has earmarked $6 million for Democratic committees that support congressional candidates from the sizable surplus left over from the privately funded phase of his presidential campaign.