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Information about 527 Group

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Lobbying in the United States
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A 527 group is a type of American tax-exempt organization named after a section of the United States tax code, . A 527 group is created primarily to influence the nomination, election, appointment or defeat of candidates for public office. Although candidate committees and political action committees are also created under Section 527, the term is generally used to refer to political organizations that are not regulated by the Federal Election Commission or by a state elections commission, and are not subject to the same contribution limits as PACs.

Current legislation

Congress is currently considering new limits on 527s (comment on bill, analysis of bill.)

Because 527 organizations do not make expenditures to directly advocate the election or defeat of any candidate for federal elective office they avoid regulation by the Federal Election Commission. The line between issue advocacy and candidate advocacy is the source of heated debate and litigation.

Many 527s are run by special interest groups and used to raise unlimited amounts of money to spend on issue advocacy and voter mobilization.

Examples of 527s include Americans for Dr. Rice, Americans for Honesty on Issues, Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, Texans for Truth, The Media Fund, America Coming Together, the Moveon.org Voter Fund, the Progress for America Voter Fund, United American Technologies and the November Fund.

During April of 2004, the Federal Election Commission (FEC) held hearings to determine whether or not 527s should be regulated under campaign finance rules. The Commission ultimately decided that the law did not cover these independent 527 organizations unless they directly advocated the election or defeat of a candidate.

2004 election controversy

Under federal election law, coordination between an election campaign and a 527 group is not allowed. The heavy spending of key 527 groups to attack presidential candidates brought complaints to the Federal Elections Commission of illegal coordination between the groups and rival political campaigns. These formal complaints included: Several people who are involved with both organizations have removed themselves to avoid the appearance of conflict. Attorney Benjamin Ginsberg pointed out that it was not uncommon or illegal for lawyers to represent campaigns or political parties while also representing 527 groups. For example, Washington attorney Joe Sandler simultaneously represents the Democratic National Committee and a 527 group airing anti-Bush ads, the MoveOn.org Voter Fund.

In 2006 and 2007 the FEC fined a number of organizations, including MoveOn and Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, for violations arising from the 2004 campaign. The FEC's rationale was that these groups had specifically advocated the election or defeat of candidates, thus making them subject to federal regulation and its limits on contributions to the organizations.

Top Twenty 527 groups, 2004 election cycle

Some of these listings identify a parent organization that has created a 527 group but that also engages in many nonpolitical activities. Democratic/liberal leaning groups are highlighted in blue, Republican/conservative leaning groups are highlighted in pink.

Rank Name 2004 Fundraising 2004 Expenditures
1America Coming Together$78,652,163$76,270,931
2Joint Victory Campaign 2004*$71,809,666$72,347,983
3Media Fund$59,394,183$54,429,053
4Progress For America$44,929,174$35,437,204
5Service Employees International Union$42,609,668$43,979,395
6American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees$24,998,802$25,465,222
7Swift Boat Veterans for Truth$16,818,390$22,424,420
8Club for Growth$13,383,974$16,575,435
9MoveOn.org$12,517,365$21,205,288
10New Democratic Network$12,221,608$12,194,451
11Citizens for a Strong Senate$12,848,730$10,143,121
12Sierra Club$8,727,127$6,147,176
13EMILY's List$7,684,046$7,938,328
14Voices for Working Families$7,466,056$6,809,102
15College Republican National Committee$6,372,843$8,207,393
16AFL-CIO$6,322,226$6,380,028
17League of Conservation Voters$6,049,500$4,947,072
18Club for Growth$4,115,037$3,927,530
19Democratic Victory$3,824,969$2,603,654
20Laborer's Union$3,294,410$3,274,785
As of January 11, 2005. Source: [1]
*Joint Victory Campaign 2004 is a joint fund-raising committee run by America Coming Together and the Media Fund. Money raised by JVC is divided between these two beneficiaries. Combining receipts for these three groups would result in double-counting.

Top 20 527 groups, 2006 election cycle

Rank
F / E		 Name Current Fundraising Current Expenditures
1 / 1Service Employees International Union$20,476,280$23,209,043
2 / 2American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees$17,923,404$16,288,863
3 / 4America Votes$10,410,333$9,074,357
4 / 6EMILY's List$10,109,275$8,088,793
5 / 8Club for Growth$6,963,089$6,873,134
6 / 3Progress For America$6,175,025$12,191,560
7 / 11Economic Freedom Fund$6,175,025$3,998,189
8 / 12International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers$4,687,033$3,888,692
9 / 7America Coming Together$4,494,107$6,994,119
10 / 24International Union of Operating Engineers$3,596,780$1,356,965
11 / 14Laborers' International Union of North America$3,110,960$3,075,210
12 / 5College Republican National Committee$3,037,581$8,592,957
13 / 9GOPAC$2,306,726$6,466,886
14 / 19United Food and Commercial Workers$2,085,000$1,579,624
15 / 18Sheet Metal Workers International Association$1,952,623$1,824,083
16 / 16Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund$1,937,310$2,227,694
17 / 17Grassroots Democrats$1,863,083$2,178,816
18 / 38League of Conservation Voters$1,845,000$750,625
19 / 27New Democrat Network$1,719,204$1,193,905
20 / 23Lantern Project$1,665,050$1,384,310
22 / 15National Federation of Republican Women$1,482,408$2,667,155
47 / 10Citizens United$498,582$4,927,484
- / 20Media Fund$425,000$1,550,469
- / 13National Education Association$36,841$3,589,432
As of October 23, 2006. Source: [2]

See also

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Lobbying in the United States targets the United States Senate, the United States House of Representatives, and state legislatures. Lobbyists may also represent their clients' or organizations' interests in dealings with federal, state, or local executive branch agencies or the
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In the US, a political action committee, or PAC, is the name commonly given to a private group, regardless of size, organized to elect or defeat government officials or to promote legislation.
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Campaign finance in the United States is the financing of electoral campaigns at the federal, state, and local levels. At the federal level, the primary source of campaign funds is individuals; political action committees are a distant second. Contributions from both are limited.
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Campaign finance reform is the common term for the political effort in the United States to change the involvement of money in politics, primarily in political campaigns.
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Agriculture is a major industry in the United States and the country is a net exporter of food.

History of agriculture in the USA

Corn, turkeys, tomatoes, potatoes, peanuts, and sunflower seeds constitute some of the major holdovers from the agricultural endowment of the Americas.
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Health care in the United States is provided by many separate legal entities. The U.S. spends more on health care, both as a proportion of gross domestic product (GDP) and on a per-capita basis, than any other nation in the world. Current estimates put U.S.
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In the United States today, the organized environmental movement is represented by a wide range of organizations sometimes called non-governmental organizations or NGOs. These organizations exist on local national and international scales.
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A leadership PAC in U.S. politics is a political action committee that can be established by a member of Congress to support other candidates. The funds cannot be spent to directly support the owner of the PAC's own campaign (such as mail or ads), but may fund travel and make
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Gun Politics, the political aspects of gun control and firearms rights, has long been among the most controversial and intractable issues in American politics. At the heart of this debate is the relationship between the rights of the citizen and the government's duty to provide for
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For other uses of the term "Israel lobby", see .
The Israel lobby in the United States is defined as a "loose coalition of individuals and organizations who" attempt to influence American foreign policy in support of Israel.
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In the US, a political action committee, or PAC, is the name commonly given to a private group, regardless of size, organized to elect or defeat government officials or to promote legislation.
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The Federal Election Commission (or FEC) is an independent regulatory agency created in 1975 by the United States Congress to administer and enforce campaign finance legislation in the United States.
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In the US, a political action committee, or PAC, is the name commonly given to a private group, regardless of size, organized to elect or defeat government officials or to promote legislation.
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The Federal Election Commission (or FEC) is an independent regulatory agency created in 1975 by the United States Congress to administer and enforce campaign finance legislation in the United States.
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"Draft Condi" (or "Draft Rice") movement is a grassroots effort to convince U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to run for president in the 2008 U.S. election.

Rice has risen to become one of the most powerful female and African American political figures in U.S.
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Americans for Honesty on Issues is a Houston, Texas based 527 group that, as of mid-October 2006, has spent over one million dollars on television advertisements, critical of Democratic Party candidates, in advance of the 2006 United States general election.
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Swift Vets and POWs for Truth, formerly known as the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth
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Texans for Truth (TfT) is a now inactive political advocacy organization, registered under Section 527 of the United States tax code, formed to oppose George W. Bush's re-election efforts in the 2004 presidential election.
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The Media Fund is a 527 group, active in U.S. politics, which supported Democrat John Kerry's campaign for President. It was formed in 2002, and is led by Harold M. Ickes, a former aide to President Bill Clinton.
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