Super PACs

Super PACs are a new kind of political action committee created in July 2010 following the outcome of a federal court case known as SpeechNow.org v. Federal Election Commission.

Technically known as independent expenditure-only committees, Super PACs may raise unlimited sums of money from corporations, unions, associations and individuals, then spend unlimited sums to overtly advocate for or against political candidates. Super PACs must, however, report their donors to the Federal Election Commission on a monthly or quarterly basis -- the Super PAC's choice -- as a traditional PAC would. Unlike traditional PACs, Super PACs are prohibited from donating money directly to political candidates.
As of January 23, 2012, 290 groups organized as Super PACs have reported total receipts of $32,008,813 and total expenditures of $34,298,068 in the 2012 cycle. See more on Outside Spending.

Select a cycle:

Group	Supports/Opposes	Independent Expenditures	Viewpoint	Total Raised
Restore Our Future	supports Romney	$11,403,057	Conservative	$12,231,700
Winning Our Future	supports Gingrich	$4,804,413	Conservative	$0
Make Us Great AgainSuper PACs	supports Perry	$3,959,824	Conservative	$0
Endorse Liberty	supports Paul	$3,136,523	Conservative	$0
Our Destiny PAC	supports Huntsman	$2,453,204	Conservative	$0
Red, White and Blue	supports Santorum	$1,884,555	Conservative	$0
House Majority PAC		$1,403,505	Liberal	$2,110,000
American Crossroads		$1,064,223	Conservative	$6,679,887
Club for Growth Action		$574,102	Conservative	$1,344,592
9-9-9 FUND	supports Cain	$468,445	Conservative	$0
Citizens for a Working America PAC	supports Romney	$455,000	Conservative	$858
Majority PAC		$450,559	Liberal	$1,082,407
Priorities USA Action	supports Obama	$321,229	Liberal	$3,161,535
Santa Rita Super PAC	supports Paul	$317,542	Conservative	$0
Freedomworks for America		$301,672	Conservative	$0
Women Vote!		$288,500	Liberal	$262,888
Strong America Now	supports Gingrich	$230,011	Conservative	$0
Leaders for Families	supports Santorum	$218,411	Conservative	$0
Rethink PAC	opposes Brown	$156,000	Liberal	$0
Communications Workers of America		$107,000	Liberal	$295,000
Cooperative of American Physicians		$102,184		$1,300,149
Americans for a Better Tomorrow,Tomorrow	supports Cain	$90,100	Conservative	$0
Revolution PAC	supports Paul	$40,406	Conservative	$0
Conservative Action Fund		$25,287	Conservative	$86,481
Lantern Project		$20,435	Liberal	$25,310
DGA Action		$8,082	Liberal	$0
Turn Right USA		$5,792	Conservative	$420
United Mine Workers of America Power PAC		$4,782	Liberal	$0
Raising Red		$2,125	Conservative	$200,000
Matthew 25 Network		$1,100	Liberal	$0
Citizens Alliance for Better Candidates		$0		$0
United States Transportation Technology		$0		$0
1911 United	supports Obama	$0	Liberal	$0
2010 Leadership Council		$0	Liberal	$0
50 State Strategy		$0	Liberal	$1,510
A Promise to Our Children		$0	Conservative	$0
A SuperPAC for Hire		$0	Unknown	$0
ABO 2012 Super PAC		$0	Unknown	$0
Accountability 2010		$0	Liberal	$598
Action 4 Liberty		$0	Conservative	$0
AFL-CIO Workers' Voices PAC		$0	Liberal	$2
Alaskans Standing Together		$0	Conservative	$8,337
Alliance to Protect Taxpayers		$0	Liberal	$0
America for the People		$0	Unknown	$0
America Get Up		$0	Conservative	$31,720
America Votes Action Fund		$0	Liberal	$73,061
America's Families First Action Fund		$0	Liberal	$160,373
America's Next Generation		$0	Unknown	$0
America's President Committee		$0	Conservative	$124,343
America's Super Alliance PAC		$0	Unknown	$0
American Bridge 21st Century		$0	Liberal	$1,562,774
American Citizens of Modest Means		$0		$0
American Conservative Union		$0	Conservative	$0
American Crosswinds		$0	Unknown	$0
American Dental Assn		$0		$15
American Freedom and Growth		$0		$0
American Latino Alliance		$0	Unknown	$0
American Legacy Alliance		$0	Conservative	$885
American LP		$0	Liberal	$0
American Pheonix Super PAC		$0		$0
Chase Bank Customers Super PAC		$0	Conservative	$0
American Sunrise		$0	Liberal	$0
Americans for a Better Tomorrow Today		$0	Liberal	$0
Americans for New Leadership		$0	Conservative	$12,153
Americans for Rick Perry	supports Perry	$0	Conservative	$193,000
Arizonans Working Together		$0	Conservative	$0
Article II Super PAC		$0	Conservative	$0
Better Tomorrow		$0	Unknown	$0
Blue America PAC		$0	Liberal	$0
Brady Bunch PAC		$0		$0
Bucket Tea Party		$0	Liberal	$0
Building a Better Bluegrass		$0	Unknown	$0
Cain Connections PAC	supports Cain	$0	Conservative	$0
California Association of Physician Grou		$0		$30,950
California for Integrity in Government		$0	Unknown	$0
Campaign for American Values		$0	Conservative	$0
Campaign for Primary Accountability		$0	Conservative	$0
CARMEN'S List		$0	Liberal	$2,959
Carpenter's Dist. Council/KC & Vicinity		$0	Liberal	$0
CAs for Fiscally Conservative Leadership		$0	Conservative	$0
CatholicVote.org Candidate Fund		$0	Conservative	$0
CAUSE PAC		$0	Liberal	$0
Christians United		$0	Unknown	$0
Christine PAC		$0	Conservative	$119,914
Civitas		$0	Unknown	$0
Citizens Fireup Super PAC		$0	Unknown	$0
Citizens for Economic & Natl Security		$0	Conservative	$0
Citizens for Prosperity and Good Governm		$0	Unknown	$0
Citizens for Strength & Security		$0	Liberal	$3,000
Citizens Protest Non Profit		$0	Liberal	$7,087
Citizens United		$0	Conservative	$3,775
Club for Growth Advocacy		$0	Conservative	$0
Cmte for a New Start in the Right Direct		$0	Unknown	$0
Coalition for American Values		$0	Conservative	$0
Coalition to Protect American Values		$0	Conservative	$0
Committee to Elect an Effective Valley C	supports Berman	$0	Liberal	$0
Concerned Taxpayers of America		$0	Conservative	$0
Congressional Leadership Fund		$0	Conservative	$0
Conservative National Committee		$0	Conservative	$100
Conservatives for Truth		$0	Conservative	$127
CREDO Super PAC		$0	Liberal	$0
Downtown for Democracy		$0	Liberal	$0
Draft Christie For President		$0	Conservative	$5,680
Economic Innovation Action Fund		$0	Liberal	$0
Economic Strategy Group		$0		$0
Efficient America		$0	Liberal	$0
Emergency Committee for Israel		$0	Conservative	$6,153
Ending Spending Fund		$0	Conservative	$0
Environment Colorado Action Cmte		$0	Liberal	$2,500
Faith Family Freedom Fund		$0	Conservative	$209,296
Bank of America Customers Super PAC		$0	Conservative	$0
Feel the Heat PAC		$0	Unknown	$0
FFP PAC		$0	Unknown	$0
Florida Freedom and Growth		$0	Conservative	$0
Florida Is Not for Sale		$0	Liberal	$0
Frack Action USA		$0		$36,375
Freedom and Liberty PAC	supports Johnson	$0	Conservative	$0
Freedom Born		$0	Unknown	$0
Freedom Frontier Action Fund		$0	Conservative	$0
Freedom Path Action Network		$0	Conservative	$100
Freedom Plains Action Network		$0	Conservative	$0
Freedom Trail Action Network		$0	Conservative	$0
Friends for a Democratic White House		$0	Liberal	$0
Friends for Democracy in Libya		$0		$0
Fund for Freedom		$0	Unknown	$0
Global Diaspora PAC		$0	Unknown	$0
Government Integrity Fund		$0	Unknown	$0
Grow PAC		$0	Conservative	$9,950
Heartland Revolution Citizens Fund		$0	Liberal	$63,680
Hispanic Vote		$0	Liberal	$0
United States Billionaires Super PAC		$0	Conservative	$0
Human Rights Campaign Equality Votes		$0	Liberal	$0
Independent Source		$0	Liberal	$0
Indiana Values Super PAC		$0	Unknown	$0
indyamericans.com	opposes Perry	$0	Liberal	$0
JAN PAC		$0		$0
Jobs for Florida	supports Perry	$0	Conservative	$0
Jobs For Iowa		$0	Conservative	$136,000
Jobs for South Carolina	supports Perry	$0	Conservative	$0
Keep Conservatives United	supports Bachmann	$0	Conservative	$0
LA Forward		$0		$0
Social Security Administration Employees		$0	Conservative	$0
League of Conservation Voters		$0	Liberal	$1,238
Legislating Effective American Democracy		$0		$0
Let Freedom Ring America PAC		$0	Conservative	$11,000
Liberty Action PAC		$0	Unknown	$0
Lincoln Club of Orange County IE Cmte		$0	Conservative	$0
Louisiana Truth PAC		$0	Liberal	$15,250
Majority Action		$0	Liberal	$32
Men Against Prostitution and Trafficking		$0		$0
My America		$0		$26,210
National Assn of Realtors		$0		$303
National Republican Women's Cmte		$0	Conservative	$0
National Right to Life Victory Fund		$0	Conservative	$0
Natl Nurses United 4 Patient Protection		$0	Liberal	$0
NEA Advocacy Fund		$0	Liberal	$20,849
New Hope PAC		$0		$0
New House Independent Expenditure Cmte		$0	Unknown	$0
New Independent Party		$0	Unknown	$0
New Power PAC		$0	Liberal	$210
New Prosperity Foundation		$0	Conservative	$0
No 2 Sides PAC		$0	Unknown	$0
No Mercy PAC		$0	Conservative	$0
Occupy Politics		$0	Liberal	$0
Ohio State Tea Party		$0	Conservative	$0
Our Future Ohio PAC		$0	Liberal	$5,075
Our Voice		$0	Conservative	$12,940
Parents for a Brighter Future		$0		$0
Partnership for America's Future		$0	Conservative	$0
Patriot Majority PAC		$0	Liberal	$10,335
Patriot Super PAC	supports Obama	$0	Conservative	$0
Patriots for a Better Tomorrow		$0	Unknown	$0
Patriots Fund		$0	Conservative	$10,500
Peach Tea PAC		$0	Unknown	$551
People's Majority		$0	Conservative	$0
Planned Parenthood Votes		$0	Liberal	$1,071
Playoff PAC		$0		$7,950
Progressive Kick		$0	Liberal	$100,041
ProgressOhio		$0	Liberal	$0
Protect Alaska's Future		$0	Unknown	$0
Protecting America's Retirees		$0	Liberal	$6,153
Protecting Choice in California 2010		$0	Liberal	$2,348
Protecting Our Vote		$0	Liberal	$0
PURO PAC		$0	Unknown	$0
Real Leader PAC		$0	Unknown	$0
Rebuilding America		$0		$0
Remove Weiner Support Ulrich		$0	Conservative	$0
Renew Delaware	opposes Carper	$0	Conservative	$0
Republican Governors Assn Ohio		$0	Conservative	$3,096
Republican Presidenital Elections Victor		$0	Conservative	$0
Republican Super PAC		$0	Conservative	$1,500
Republican Truth Squad	supports Romney	$0	Conservative	$0
Restart Congress		$0	Unknown	$0
Restore America's Voice PAC		$0	Conservative	$0
Restore Our America		$0	Conservative	$13,355
Restore Trust PAC		$0	Unknown	$0
Ron Paul Volunteers	supports Paul	$0	Conservative	$0
Saving Florida's Future		$0	Liberal	$5,661
Sierra Club Independent Action		$0	Liberal	$0
Small Business Political Alliance		$0	Conservative	$0
Solutions 2012	supports Gingrich	$0	Conservative	$0
Speak Out For America		$0	Conservative	$19,171
SpeechNow.org		$0	Conservative	$6,342
Spirit of America Solutions		$0	Conservative	$0
Stop Public Unions Now		$0	Conservative	$10,773
Strong Utah	supports Hatch	$0	Conservative	$0
Super PAC for America		$0	Conservative	$100
TEA PAC		$0	Conservative	$0
Tea Party Fund		$0	Conservative	$0
Texans for America's Future	opposes Perry	$0	Conservative	$0
Texas Aggies for Perry 2012	supports Perry	$0	Conservative	$0
Texas Tea Party Patriots PAC		$0	Conservative	$56,596
The American Worker		$0	Liberal	$37,263
The Internet		$0	Unknown	$0
Triple Crown Project		$0		$0
Trust In Small Business		$0	Conservative	$5,173
United Food & Commercial Workers Advcy		$0	Liberal	$0
Yale University Grads Super PAC		$0	Conservative	$0
Hillary Clinton For A Better America Sup		$0	Conservative	$0
Bill Clinton for a Better America Super		$0	Conservative	$0
Alaska Natives Tribe Super PAC		$0	Conservative	$0
Bloomingdale's Depart Store Customers Su		$0	Conservative	$0
MLB Sports Players Super PAC		$0	Conservative	$0
Regions Bank Customers Super PAC		$0	Conservative	$0
USAID Employees Super PAC		$0	Conservative	$0
Harvard University Graduates Super PAC		$0	Conservative	$0
State Farm Insurance Customers Super PAC		$0	Conservative	$0
United States Dept of Commerce Employees		$0	Conservative	$0
United Nations Diplomats Super PAC		$0	Conservative	$0
Sears Department Store Customers Super P		$0	Conservative	$0
Dick Cheney for a Better America Super P		$0	Conservative	$0
American Indians Tribe Super PAC		$0	Conservative	$0
Republican 2012 Presidential Candidates		$0	Conservative	$0
United States Dept of Defense Employees		$0	Conservative	$0
General Motors Customers Super PAC		$0	Conservative	$0
AIG Insurance Customers Super PAC		$0	Conservative	$0
United States Treasury Employees Super P		$0	Conservative	$0
Amtrust Bank Customers Super PAC		$0	Conservative	$0
United States Dept of Justice Super PAC		$0	Conservative	$0
United States Dept of Energy Employees S		$0	Conservative	$0
Allstate Insurance Customers Super PAC		$0	Conservative	$0
United States HUD Employees Super PAC		$0	Conservative	$0
Wells Fargo Bank Customers Super PAC		$0	Conservative	$0
Marriott Hotel Customers Super PAC		$0	Conservative	$0
American Airlines Customers Super PAC		$0	Conservative	$0
Fidelity Investments Customers Super PAC		$0	Conservative	$0
Costco Store Customers Super PAC		$0	Conservative	$0
George W Bush For A Better America Super		$0	Conservative	$0
United States Dept Of Health Employees S		$0	Conservative	$0
Native Americans Tribe Super PAC		$0	Conservative	$0
Wal-Mart Stores Customers Super PAC		$0	Conservative	$0
Macy's Department Store Customers Super		$0	Conservative	$0
Citibank Customers Super PAC		$0	Conservative	$0
United States Dept of State Employees Su		$0	Conservative	$0
United States DOT Employees Super PAC		$0	Conservative	$0
Federal Reserve Bank Employees Super PAC		$0	Conservative	$0
JC Penny Department Store Customers Supe		$0	Conservative	$0
IRS Employees Super PAC		$0	Conservative	$0
Democratic Presidential Elections Victor		$0	Conservative	$0
USCIS Employees Super PAC		$0	Conservative	$0
United States Dept Of Labor Employees Su		$0	Conservative	$0
United States Dept of Interior Employees		$0	Conservative	$0
Goldman Sachs Group Customers Super PAC		$0	Conservative	$0
NBA Sport Players Super PAC		$0	Conservative	$0
Westgate Resorts Customers Super PAC		$0	Conservative	$0
NFL Sport Players Super PAC		$0	Conservative	$0
American Red Cross Employees Super PAC		$0	Conservative	$0
USDA Employees Super PAC		$0	Conservative	$0
United States Dept Of Ed Employees Super		$0	Conservative	$0
Suntrust Bank Customers Super PAC		$0	Conservative	$0
United States DHS Employees Super PAC		$0	Conservative	$0
Hilton Hotel Customers Super PAC		$0	Conservative	$0
US Israel Friendship PAC		$0	Liberal	$0
Valley-Israel Allience	supports Berman	$0	Liberal	$0
Veterans for Rick Perry	supports Perry	$0	Conservative	$16,625
Vietnamese American PAC		$0		$0
Virginia Tea Party Alliance		$0	Conservative	$0
Vote Out Incumbents for Democracy		$0	Conservative	$47
Voters for Common Sense		$0		$0
Voters for Justice		$0	Liberal	$10,500
We Love USA PAC		$0	Conservative	$0
We're Not Going Back		$0	Liberal	$0
West Hollywood/Bev Hills Stonewall Dems		$0	Liberal	$0
WOLF PAC		$0	Liberal	$0
Working for Us PAC		$0	Liberal	$2,911
Working for Working Americans		$0	Liberal	$0
YG Action Fund	supports Cantor	$0	Conservative	$0
Young Republicans for a Better Florida		$0	Conservative	$0
Young Voters		$0	Conservative	$0
Your America		$0	Unknown	$0

Based on data released by the FEC on Monday, January 23, 2012.

Outside Spending groups

Campaign contributions and lobbying expenditures are not the only ways that money is used influence public policy decisions. Outside groups spent $44,576,066 during the 2010 election cycle to run ads, make phone calls, distribute literature and engage in other activities to sway the electorate about candidates and issues. Organizations not directly affiliated with political parties accounted for $41,031,278 of that amount. A January 2010 Supreme Court decision (Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission) now permits corporations and unions to make such expenditures from their treasuries directly and through other organizations. The decision allows such activity to take place without complete or immediate disclosure of who funds such communications, preventing voters from understanding who is truly behind many political messages.

Read more...

• Summary by Viewpoint
• Summary by Type
• Summary by Disclosure
• Top 2012 Groups
• Top 2012 Races
• Top 2012 Candidates

 There were some charts I could not include, the links above will take you to them....

GROUP FILTER: Excluding Party Committees | All Groups

Download:

Cycle	Total	Independent Expenditures	Electioneering Communications	Communication Costs
2012	$41,031,278	$38,949,680	$2,010,662	$70,936
2010	$304,679,091	$210,912,167	$79,958,557	$13,808,367
2008	$301,679,929	$156,841,894	$119,256,138	$25,581,897
2006	$68,852,502	$37,394,589	$15,152,326	$16,305,587
Show/hide 1990-2004 cycles

Outside Spending by Disclosure, Excluding Party Committees

Top Groups Making Outside Expenditures in 2012 Elections, Excluding Party Committees

Organization	Total	View*	Independent Expenditures	Elec Comm	Comm Costs	Super PAC	527s†	501c
Restore Our Future	$11,428,914	C	$11,428,914	$0	$0	x
Winning Our Future	$4,804,413	C	$4,804,413	$0	$0	x
Make Us Great Again	$3,959,824	C	$3,959,824	$0	$0	x
Endorse Liberty	$3,148,358	C	$3,148,358	$0	$0	x
Our Destiny PAC	$2,453,204	C	$2,453,204	$0	$0	x
Red, White and Blue	$1,884,555	C	$1,884,555	$0	$0	x
Ending Spending	$1,742,479	C	$0	$1,742,479	$0	x		x
House Majority PAC	$1,403,505	L	$1,403,505	$0	$0	x
Senate Conservatives Fund	$1,064,555	C	$1,064,555	$0	$0
American Crossroads	$1,064,223	C	$1,064,223	$0	$0	x
VIEW ALL GROUPS

* C = Conservative, L = Liberal
^† Indicates that this organization has a 527 committee registered with the IRS. The committee's 527 spending outside of electioneering communications is NOT included in these totals. Read more about 527s.

Top 2012 Races Attracting Outside Spending, Excluding Party Committees

Race	Total	For Dems	Against Dems	For Repubs	Against Repubs
President	$32,513,484	$22,167	$1,391,735	$15,404,067	$15,675,269
New York District 26	$1,519,007	$173,341	$313,449	$68,917	$863,300
Texas Senate	$1,103,173	$0	$0	$634,413	$468,760
Nebraska Senate	$717,409	$406,345	$742	$310,322	$0
Oregon District 1	$619,986	$53,286	$0	$10,301	$556,399
Nevada District 2	$294,889	$0	$187,702	$104,937	$2,250
New York District 9	$269,192	$0	$67,305	$39,231	$162,656
Utah Senate	$167,567	$0	$0	$51,351	$116,216
Massachusetts Senate	$166,017	$10,017	$0	$0	$156,000
California District 44	$112,667	$104,197	$8,470	$0	$0
VIEW ALL RACES

Why don't the numbers add up?

Top 2012 Candidates Attracting Outside Expenditures, Excluding Party Committees

Candidate	Race	Total	For Dems	Against Dems	For Repubs	Against Repubs	Results
Gingrich, Newt (R)	PRES	$12,092,488	$0	$0	$1,505,185	$10,587,303
Romney, Mitt (R)	PRES	$6,046,454	$0	$0	$1,490,479	$4,555,975
Perry, Rick (R)	PRES	$3,964,824	$0	$0	$3,964,824	$0
Paul, Ron (R)	PRES	$3,591,817	$0	$0	$3,458,827	$132,990
Huntsman, Jon (R)	PRES	$2,453,454	$0	$0	$2,453,454	$0
Santorum, Rick (R)	PRES	$2,428,581	$0	$0	$2,029,580	$399,001
Obama, Barack (D)	PRES	$1,434,148	$22,167	$1,391,735	$0	$0
Corwin, Jane (R)	NY26	$649,611	$0	$0	$68,917	$480,694
Cruz, Ted (R)	TXS2	$634,413	$0	$0	$634,413	$0
Cornilles, Robert (R)	OR01	$566,700	$0	$0	$10,301	$556,399
VIEW ALL CANDIDATES

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Romney to release tax returns on Tuesday

 01/22/2012 10:26 AM

By Michael Levenson, Globe Staff

COLUMBIA, S.C. – Under pressure from rivals and a few allies alike, Mitt Romney said today that he will release his tax returns on Tuesday and not wait until April, as he seeks to bury swirling questions about his finances that have shadowed his campaign for the last week.
Appearing on Fox News a day after his loss to Newt Gingrich in the South Carolina Republican primary, Romney said he would release his 2010 returns and an estimate of his 2011 returns.
“We made a mistake holding off as long as we did,” Romney said. “It was a distraction. We want to get back to the real issues in the campaign.”
Tuesday will be the day after the first Florida debate, so it gives Romney the advantage of saying he will release them, without having to answer questions at the debate about what they contain. Tuesday also is the day of President Obama’s State of the Union address, which will dominate news coverage, at least partially eclipsing fresh disclosures about Romney’s taxes.
Gingrich, who had been calling on Romney to release the returns, applauded his rival’s decision not to wait until April, well after the Republican primary is likely to be settled.
“I think that’s a very good thing he’s doing,” Gingrich said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
“I commend him for it,” Gingrich said, “and I think it’s exactly the right thing to do and as far as I’m concerned that particular issue is now set aside and we can go and talk about other bigger, and more important things.”
Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey, a top Romney supporter, was among those urging the former Massachusetts governor to release the returns sooner rather than later. He said today that Romney has nothing to hide.
“I’m happy he’s doing it,” Christie said on NBC. “What the American people are going to see is someone who’s been extraordinarily successful. I don’t think the American people want a failure as president. I think they want someone who succeeded at whatever they’ve tried.”
Last week, Romney resisted demands that release his tax returns before April, saying he wanted to avoid “drip by drip” criticism from Republican rivals during the primary and from Democrats in the spring, should he win the nomination.
But his refusal to make the records public led Romney’s rivals to ask what he might be hiding and cast an uncomfortable spotlight on the candidate’s vast wealth, investments and tax rate.
Romney, whose fortune is estimated at between $190 million and $250 million, acknowledged last week that he pays an approximately 15 percent tax rate and described as “not very much” the $374,327 he reported earning in speaking fees last year.
As they appeared on the Sunday talk shows, both candidates sought to spin the results.
Gingrich, seeking to ride the momentum from his South Carolina victory as the race turns to Florida, cast himself as an insurgent, outsider candidate taking on the Republican establishment. He said that his South Carolina win showed he had tapped into a deep vein of “anger at the national establishment.”
“One of the things Florida voters get to decide is do you want the establishment’s candidate, Governor Romney, or do you want someone who stands for a conservative, populist approach that would profoundly change Washington, and that’s Newt Gingrich,” Gingrich said.
“I’m happy to be in the tradition of Ronald Reagan as the outsider who scares the Republican establishment and, frankly, after the mess they’ve made of things, maybe they should be shaken up pretty badly,” he said.
Christie said the result in South Carolina was “clearly disappointing” for Romney.
“We had a bad week as a campaign, and a bad result last night,” he said, but Romney is ready to fight on in Florida.
Foreshadowing the tough attacks to come, Christie said Gingrich had “embarrassed the party” when he was fined $300,000 for an ethics violation in 1997 and then forced out as House speaker.
Gingrich lobbed his own attacks. On CNN, he accused Romney and his aides of erasing their hard drives as they left the Massachusetts governor’s office. He also accused Romney’s staff of wiping out evidence of their deliberations as they helped craft Massachusetts’s universal health care law.

Florida will show which GOP candidate has momentum

Video: National political correspondent Dan Balz explores the meaning of "electability" in the Republican nomination race and what that means for the upcoming Florida primary on January 31, adding that the "Republicans are in a campaign that they have not seen before." 

By Dan Balz, Published: January 21

Columbia, S.C. — Just a week ago, what was most striking about the Republican presidential race was the possibility that the party’s least-dominant front-runner in many years — Mitt Romney — could effectively wrap up the GOP nomination faster than anyone in his party ever had. That came crashing down Saturday night.
Newt Gingrich’s stunning victory in South Carolina, which came after he finished fourth in Iowa and fifth in New Hampshire, respectively, rewrites in dramatic fashion the latest story line of the Republican campaign. Now a competition that, for all practical purposes, might have ended here moves on to Florida for another major showdown on Jan. 31. In all probability, the fight will continue well beyond that.
Florida presents a major challenge, given its size and complexity. The stakes there will be sizable. Romney cannot afford another defeat there, given that he has more resources to wage a campaign in a state where campaigning is costly. Gingrich, however, risks losing his momentum if he is not able to capitalize on this success in Florida.
Though Romney is clearly hurt, many Republicans still see him as the favorite to win the nomination. The overriding question is whether Saturday’s loss is merely a small setback of the kind experienced by many past presidential nominees. Or does South Carolina mark the beginning of real erosion in Romney’s standing that could lead to the former House speaker winning the nomination, something unthinkable only a month ago?
That’s what Florida — and then Nevada, Michigan, Arizona and perhaps other states on the calendar — will tell us. But there is no doubt that the defeat here on Saturday represents a setback to Romney, who now has won just one of three opening contests in the GOP race after it looked like he was positioned to start the year 3-0 (though he still has two second-place finishes and thus the best overall record of the field). Strong debate performances by the former House speaker and a week of missteps and stumbles by the former Massachusetts governor brought the race to this moment.
A week ago there were six candidates still standing in the GOP race. Now, though technically there are four — the others being former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum and Rep. Ron Paul (Tex.) — the Republican race is now the two-person contest that many once anticipated. That it is between Romney and Gingrich is the latest evidence of conventional wisdom being thrown into the wastebasket.

In a head-to-head race, Romney enjoys superior resources and a superior campaign operation. His campaign long has prepared for a protracted contest. Gingrich is riding the momentum of someone who twice went through near-death experiences, overcame the odds and emerged ready to fight on.
Romney has the support of elected officials and what passes for a Republican establishment, many of whom see Gingrich as a risky nominee. Gingrich is trying to tap the energy of the conservative grassroots of a party whose base stands to the right of Romney and has never been comfortable with him.
South Carolina underscored what has been known about Romney for a year, which is that he has not won the hearts of Republican voters. His appeal was that many nonetheless saw him as the party’s best hope to defeat President Obama in the general election, and it is still the key to his hopes of winning the nomination.
In South Carolina, however, Gingrich won a slim majority among the 45 percent of the electorate here that cited electability as the most important candidate quality in their vote. No doubt the debates played a critical role in those assessments. If that carries over to other states, the dynamic of the race may have changed fundamentally.
A Gingrich adviser, who spoke only on the condition of not being named in order to assess the state of the campaign, said that if the former House speaker has crossed the threshold of acceptability on the question of electability, he could defeat Romney on issues and ideology.
South Carolina also exposed other problems for Romney, which is that he has not been an effective candidate in the closing days of a race. Though he won New Hampshire handsomely, he had two bad days there just before the primary. Here in South Carolina, there were more unforced errors, particularly the stumbling way he dealt with calls for him to release his tax returns.
He will need a quick pivot to address that weakness. But Romney’s advisers said Saturday that they welcome a two-person race with Gingrich and that the former governor is both ready and eager for the next phase of the contest. They said the contrast between a businessman and former governor versus a two-decade member of Congress who has been a Washington fixture for decades would work to Romney’s benefit.
“Once you’re down to a one-on-one race, then it’s a binary choice and we like that choice,” said Russ Schriefer, a top Romney adviser.
Drawing those contrasts began with Romney’s concession speech on Saturday night. He cast Gingrich, though not directly by name, as a rival who has never run a business or a state and who has attacked free enterprise. He suggested that Gingrich has picked up “the weapons of the left” to try to bring Romney down and said that someone “who demonizes success is not fit to be our nominee.” That will be part of the core message he takes into Florida beginning Sunday.
For Gingrich, the question is whether South Carolina will be remembered as his high water mark. His confidence grew by the day over the last week, beginning with his debate performance Monday and aided by a second strong debate Thursday. By the day before the primary, it was evident that he believed he would win here and was now in a position to challenge Romney seriously for the nomination.
But it has often been the case that Gingrich makes mistakes when he is riding high and that is the danger he faces now. Call it overconfidence, hubris or whatever, Gingrich has been his own worst enemy in the past — and he will come under an even louder barrage from the GOP establishment who see Romney as a more reliable candidate to lead the party in the fall.
Romney has the money and organization that give him a head start in Florida. Nearly 200,000 Floridians have already cast ballots in the primary, and several GOP strategists said it is likely that Romney leads among that group.
But superior campaign money and organization count for less in this campaign than in some past ones. Debates have done much to supplant TV ads and direct mail as the most effective medium for delivering messages and for voters to assess the candidates. In South Carolina, nearly two-thirds said debates were either the most important or one of several important factors in their choice. Among that group, Gingrich won by better than 2-1.
All that makes Florida as unpredictable as everything else in this race has been. After Florida comes Nevada and Michigan — both states that Romney carried in his unsuccessful 2008 bid for the nomination — and Arizona. That gives the Romney camp some hope that they can absorb the lessons of Saturday’s defeat, rebound and eventually prosper.
But thanks to the voters in South Carolina, who delivered another memorable primary campaign, Romney now faces a real test of his capacity to rally his party and fend off a competitor who long ago was written off.

Super Pac Spending to Date

PBS NewsHour

Watch How Big Money Super PACs are Reshaping the GOP Race on PBS. See more from PBS NewsHour.

Major corporate funding for the PBS NewsHour is provided by Chevron, BNSF Railways, Toyota and Pacific Life, with additional funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and Public Television Viewers.

After Union Fallout, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker on the Brink of Recall Election

AIR DATE: Jan. 20, 2012

Watch After Union Fallout, Wis. Gov. Scott Walker on the Brink of Recall Election on PBS. See more from PBS NewsHour.

SUMMARY

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker was one step closer to recall after the state's Democratic Party submitted enough signatures to trigger a special election. Walker made bitter enemies a year ago when he passed a bill removing most collective bargaining rights for public employees. Zac Schultz of Wisconsin Public Television reports.

Park City vantage point puts tragedy of American health care in vivid relief

ANALYSIS:

Sarah Burke competes in the women's halfpipe finals at the freestyle skiing world championships in Park City, Utah. Mark J. Terrill/AP file

Grieving family of fallen Canadian skier Sarah Burke faces massive hospital bill it wouldn't face at home

By Wendell Potter

8 hours, 59 minutes ago Updated: 6 hours, 44 minutes ago

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Wendell Potter

Former CIGNA executive-turned-whistleblower Wendell Potter is writing about the health care industry and the ongoing battle for health reform. His columns are published on iWatch News every Monday and Thursday. 
Potter is the author of Deadly Spin: An Insurance Company Insider Speaks Out on How Corporate PR is Killing Health Care and Deceiving Americans.

Stories in this series

ANALYSIS: Mitt's Romney's dream world

ANALYSIS: President Santorum would be insurers' best buddy

ANALYSIS: When Medicare isn't Medicare

ANALYSIS: Awards for health care reform wimpery and obfuscation

ANALYSIS: A life-changing event

ANALYSIS: Who is essential? Insurers or consumers?

PARK CITY, Utah — The  journey I embarked on when I made the decision to leave a successful career in the health insurance business was a spiritual one. I can trace the decision to a true epiphany, to the very moment I saw hundreds of people standing, soaking wet, in long, slow-moving lines, waiting to get medical care that was being provided in animal stalls at a fairground in Wise County, Virginia.
It hit me immediately that had my circumstances been a little different when I was growing up near there,  I could have been one of those people. It also hit me that the work I was doing as a spokesman for the insurance industry was making it necessary, at least in part, for those people to resort to such humiliation to get basic medical care. One of my responsibilities was to persuade Americans of the lie that most of the uninsured are that way by choice, that they have shirked their responsibility to themselves and their families. Nothing could have been further from the truth. Our so-called health care “system” had simply left them behind.
I cannot tell you why I felt compelled to drive from my parents home in Kingsport, Tennessee to Wise County — a distance of about 50 miles — on that late July day in 2007. What I can tell you is that stretch of U.S. Highway 23 turned out to be my Road to Damascus. For the past few years, I have been dedicated to spreading the truth about how health insurance companies really operate in this country.
Last year my new career attracted the notice of Matthew Heineman, a documentary filmmaker in New York.  He and his team interviewed me for a movie, Escape Fire, that premiered Friday at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival here in Park City.  I have not seen anything that better captures just how dysfunctional our system really is and how urgent it is for us to transform it.
I was invited to the premier and to be part of a town hall-type discussion with others who were interviewed for the film, including famed cardiologist Dr. Dean Ornish and Dr. Don Berwick, who served until recently as head of the U.S. Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
As fate would have it, I am staying in a hotel with a magnificent view of one of Park City’s most famous ski slopes. Had I been here just a few days earlier, I very possibly might have witnessed a tragedy that sent shock waves through the sports world.
While training on that halfpipe slope, Canadian freestyle skier Sarah Burke suffered a torn vertebral artery in her neck that caused bleeding in her brain, an injury that she would die from last Thursday, the day my family and I checked into the hotel. Just 29, Burke was considered a top-flight  “acrobat-on-skis,” and a medal contender at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Russia.
Instead, her family will be laying her to rest in her native Canada — and pleading for money to help cover the estimated $550,000 they owe for the medical care she received at University of Utah Hospital over nine days.
The irony is that had the accident occurred in Canada, her family would not be facing having to come up with more than half a million dollars to pay for her care. Her care would have been covered because, unlike the U.S., Canada has a system of universal coverage.
An estimated 700,000 American families file for bankruptcy every year because of medical debt. No one in Canada finds themselves in that predicament, nor do they face losing their homes as many Americans do when they become critically ill or suffer an injury.
One of the things my colleagues in the insurance industry tried to get Americans to believe was that Canadians flock to the U.S. to get medical care they cannot get in their own country. That is a myth. Yes, some Canadians come to the U.S. for treatment, but not in large numbers. In fact, polls in Canada consistently show high levels of satisfaction among citizens with their country’s single-payer system.
I probably would not have known about a fundraising effort that has been started by Burke’s friends had my wife not come across a tweet about it Friday morning. I haven’t been able to find anything about it so far in any media here in Utah. There was a report about her accident on the morning news, but no mention of the fundraiser.
I did find information about it in the Toronto Star, which quoted family members as saying they were "moved by the sincere and heartfelt sympathy" expressed by supporters worldwide. It is clear the family needs help. Not only are they grieving, they are facing financial ruin, simply because Sarah Burke’s accident was in the United States of America.
I’m certain I would not have known anything about this had I not been interviewed for Escape Fire last year, or invited to come to Park City and stay at a hotel with a window overlooking the last slope Sarah Burke would ever ski. My spiritual journey continues.

Gingrich Hopes to Carry Momentum Into Florida

VOTE 2012 | BLOG

Newt Gingrich won't get much time to celebrate his win Saturday in South Carolina, as the four remaining GOP candidates prepare to debate Monday in Florida, the next state to hold its primary.

Why Are Banks Ditching Foreclosed Homes, and What's the Euro Worth?

    AIR DATE: July 5, 2011

Raze the Roof: Cleveland Levels Vacant Homes to Revive Neighborhoods

Watch Raze the Roof: Cleveland Levels Vacant Homes to Revive Neighborhoods on PBS. See more from PBS NewsHour.

SUMMARY

Business correspondent Paul Solman reports from Cleveland on the economically troubled Ohio city's efforts to tear down thousands of empty foreclosed homes in hopes of putting eyesore and dangerous properties back to productive use -- perhaps as community gardens, new businesses or even a vineyard.

Renzo Salazar places a sign in front of a foreclosed home in Miami. Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images.
Paul Solman answers questions from the NewsHour audience on business and economic news here on his Making Sen$e page. Here are Monday's queries:

January 23, 2012 at 11:03 AM EDT 

Two questions today from reader Barb Weismann:
Question One: Recently on the show "60 Minutes," they showed how banks are walking away from foreclosures. They could, instead, be reducing people's principal when their house value goes down. Are the banks instead getting rid of houses so they can write it off as a different kind of loss than reducing principal, or because they need to stimulate the housing market by creating more demand, when the old housing is all bulldozed?
Question Two: If Europe is doing so bad, why does my $100 get me €77? A huge difference?
Paul Solman: First of all, with regard to your first question, Barb, see our NewsHour story on the same story last summer -- Raze the Roof -- situated in the same city "60 Minutes" featured, Cleveland.
As to why banks are letting properties rot rather than reduce the principal, here are three possible reasons:
1) From my own reporting, it seems that about 75 percent of homes with mortgages are held not by banks, but by pools of investors and Fannie/Freddie. The banks generally "service" the loans: collecting the money, etc. But they're not on the hook for any losses. If they reduce the principal, though, the investors can theoretically come after them legally. So it's easier to let the properties rot.
2) Reducing principal sets a "bad precedent." Since banks do hold the other very roughly 25 percent of mortgages (if my estimate is correct), they might be flooded with appeals for mortgage reduction were they to make renegotiation easy.

3) Incompetence.
Answering your second question as to why, if Europe is sinking, the dollar doesn't buy more euro:
Because $100 only got you €68 (68 euro) in May. So you're getting 10 percent more euro for a dollar than you were just seven months ago. That's certainly a difference. Some might even call it "huge."

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW)

Many Americans have given up on our political system, writing off our elected leaders as crooks. At CREW, we believe politicians must be held accountable for their actions. Day in and day out, we work to ensure government officials -regardless of party affiliation- act with honesty and integrity and merit the public trust.
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to promoting ethics and accountability in government and public life by targeting government officials who sacrifice the common good to special interests.
CREW advances its mission using a combination of research, litigation and media outreach. CREW employs the law as a tool to force officials to act ethically and lawfully and to bring unethical conduct to the public’s attention through:
It’s always easier to tear something down than to build it up, and building a better Washington is no different. CREW firmly believes, however, that a small group of committed citizens can change the world; it is the only thing that ever has.

                                                                 
CREW’s seventh report on congressional corruption names 19 members of Congress – 14 members whose actions violated the law or who otherwise engaged in serious misconduct, and five others whose lack of regard for the rules earned them a dishonorable mention. The 2010 midterm elections swept in a large freshman class, but certainly didn’t produce more ethical conduct. A startling 14 of the 19 members on the list are new to it this year, and six of those members are also new to Congress:
CREW Most Corrupt Report 2011