This was probably inevitable: the minute that Dodd-Frank cracked down on the fees charged by credit cards aimed at students, some other bright financial innovation would crop up. This time, a debit card aimed at students. Which carries lots of fees. Ylan Mui reports that a company called Higher One has started signing up colleges around the country, taking on the burden of providing cash to students. In return, it gets lots of fees:
Students say several of the fees associated with Higher One’s card are particularly irksome, including the $19 inactivity fee, a 50-cent charge for using a PIN to make a purchase rather than a signature, and a $2.50 fee for using other banks’ ATMs…
Higher One said that only 1 percent of customers have been charged an inactivity fee and that more than half are charged the 50-cent fee only once. All fees are listed on Higher One’s Web site, along with tips on avoiding them.
“We have a big effort with educating students on how to use the account,” Smith said. “We’re very passionate about financial literacy.”
If the fees are listed on Higher One’s website, they’re not exactly prominent. I did find this page, eventually, via this blog entry, but it just says that “when you swipe & sign, you won’t be charged the PIN-based transaction fee”. I haven’t been able to find a page showing a 50-cent transaction fee anywhere*, although I did manage to find this page, showing a $25 fee for domestic wire transfers and a $50 fee for international wire transfers. “Higher One offers less costly alternatives for transferring funds”, it says, without giving any indication what they might be; I suspect that what they’re talking about is transfers to or from people who have already registered somehow with Higher One.
It should go without saying that any firm which is “very passionate about financial literacy” would encourage, rather than penalize, simple, cheap and safe PIN-debit transactions. It would not give students a debit card and then tell them that if they want to avoid fees they should select the “credit” option rather than the “debit” option when they come to pay.
And I can’t think of any good reason to charge a $19 inactivity fee to people who haven’t used their cards in 9 months.
The fact is that students are often very naive when it comes to money, and it’s easy to gouge them once or twice before they learn that banks are not necessarily on their side. If you can get your card accepted by a majority of freshmen every year, and then come up with all manner of weird fees to hit them with, that’s a great way of making money out of ignorance.
Meanwhile, all students should have a bank account: giving them a debit card instead only serves to maximize the number of unbanked students. So while I’m sure cards like this are attractive to colleges, it would be great if either the colleges or else the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau started being a lot more critical of them. Prepaid cards only ever make sense if the alternative is being completely unbanked; that should not ever be the case for students.
*At Southern Oregon University, Higher One agreed to waive the 50-cent PIN-debit charge, but only if there was a simultaneous “swipe-and-sign” campaign. If the campaign is unsuccessful and students do the sensible thing by using PIN debit, then the university can be charged $2 per student for “PIN fee elimination”.
Update: Higher One’s Donald Smith responds:
Higher One was founded 10 years ago by three college students (undergraduates at the time) who were looking for streamlining the way financial aid refunds were distributed to students. Today we work with more than 675 campuses across the country, have a 97% client retention rating, and an A+ rating with the BBB.
The OneAccount is Higher One’s optional, no minimum balance, no monthly fee, FDIC-Insured checking account created by students for students. We do not offer a stored value card. We are very open with our fee schedule. We post it on every program website for all to access, explain each fee, discuss how to avoid each fee, and provide students with a web page that tells them how to use the account for free (which you’ve already found). Because of this, we believe that our customers pay less than half the amount in fees that the average bank checking account customer pays per year.
Two of the fees you referenced in your blog are the PIN fee and the Abandoned Account Fee. The PIN fee is easily avoided by choosing a signature based transaction at the checkout. The majority of students uses it in this manner and is in turn protected by MasterCard’s Zero Liability Policy against fraudulent charges (a safer way of purchasing than a PIN based transaction). We do not have an inactivity fee on our fee schedule – we don’t penalize students who do not use their accounts. We do have an Abandoned Account Fee of up to $19, for those who have abandoned their accounts, but this has been charged to less than 1% of all OneAccount holders in our company’s history because of our proactive outreach plan.
Higher One offers no instruments of credit. As a matter of fact, we’re generally in favor of initiatives restricting students’ access to credit cards and promoting financial literacy. This is why we offer a full range of financial literacy resources along with the services we provide.
I particularly dislike the implication, here, that PIN-based transactions are unsafe. They’re not; they’re just less lucrative, in terms of interchange fees, than signature-based transactions.
DeMint has not been shy about his vision.
Last week, he single-handedly threatened to stop all legislative activity
in the Senate as it worked to pass a flurry of legislation before
recessing ahead of the election. He has also criticized Democrats and
Republicans alike, chastising GOP leadership on occasion and bucking
them regularly to support more conservative, Tea Party-favored
candidates in Republican primaries. During the summer of 2009, DeMint
also famously said
that if Republicans could stop President Barack Obama from implementing
his proposal health insurance reform overhauls, it would be his
�Waterloo.�
For years, a few, select special interest groups on
the right and left have specialized in the conduit approach to political
fund-raising, including the conservative Club for Growth and the liberal groups ActBlue, MoveOn.org and EMILY�s List. Politicians using their leadership PACs for such activity are comparatively novel.
Individual donors must still abide by campaign contribution limits even
if they send money through conduit organizations, giving no more than
$2,400 per election to candidates.
But political committees aren�t as restricted in the amount of cash they may transfer from one individual.
For
example, DeMint�s leadership PAC directly donated the legal maximum of
$10,000 to Rubio�s Senate campaign in Florida -- money raised from
donors to his PAC who can give no more than $5,000 per year. But the
committee has also been able to bundle more than $240,600 to Rubio�s
campaign from a bevy of individual donors. And by acting as a conduit
organization, it can demonstrate additional clout.
So far this
election cycle, ActBlue has bundled more than $31.4 million. MoveOn.org
has bundled more than $9.2 million. EMILY�s List has bundled about $3.9
million, and the Club for Growth has bundled about $3.3 million.
In terms of all other groups reporting this activity, Hoyer�s
leadership PAC ranks next at $1.3 million, followed by DeMint�s $1.04
million. The only other federal lawmaker who so far this cycle has
reported at least six-figures worth of conduit contributions is Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.), with $168,800, coming via his Mountaineer PAC.
These bundles from Rockefeller�s PAC benefited just two lawmakers, West Virginia Democratic Reps. Nick Rahall, who is in a competitive re-election bid this year, and Alan Mollohan, who lost in a Democratic primary in May.
�Sen.
Rockefeller has supported Congressmen Mollohan and Rahall for years,
and he wanted to help them raise money,� Jamie Smith, Rockefeller�s
communication director told OpenSecrets Blog. �Mountaineer PAC
collected money at an event and forwarded it to the respective
campaigns. The contributions were reported according to FEC regulations
as conduit contributions.�
Hoyer�s conduit giving has been more
prolific. He�s reported bundling conduit contributions for more than 100
candidates this cycle. His top beneficiaries include the following
Democrats:
- Rep. Frank Kratovil (D-Md.): $56,500 and counting
- Rep. Scott Murphy (D-N.Y.): $36,750 and counting
- Rep. Debbie Halvorson (D-Ill.): $29,500 and counting
- Rep. Suzanne Kosmas (D-Fla.): $27,500 and counting
- Rep. Walt Minnick (D-Idaho): $26,100 and counting
part of his job as majority leader, Mr. Hoyer raises and contributes
money to Democratic candidates,� Katie Grant, a spokesperson for Hoyer,
told OpenSecrets Blog in a statement. Grant declined to elaborate further about his direct contributions or bundling of conduit contributions.
Hoyer has also reported transferring conduit contributions to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.
He�s also reported donating $1.08 million from his leadership PAC and
campaign committee to other Democrats -- ranking him the No. 3 lawmaker
in such direct contributions, according to an analysis by the Center for
Responsive Politics.
Other House leaders have also utilized this
more traditional approach in providing financial assistance to fellow
party faithful. But unlike bundling unlimited amounts of conduit
contributions, these direct contributions to campaigns cannot exceed
$5,000 per election.
House Minority Whip Eric Cantor
(R-Va.) ranks No. 1 with more than $1.2 million in contributions to
fellow Republicans from his leadership PAC and campaign committee
combined since January 2009. House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C.) ranks No. 2, with more than $1.1 million in such contributions.
Beyond Hoyer, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi
(D-Calif.) ranks No. 4, with $898,000 in contributions so far this
election cycle to fellow Democrats. And House Minority Leader John Boehner
(R-Ohio), who is poised to become speaker should Republicans wrest
control of the House from Democrats, ranks No. 5, with $862,000 in
contributions.
"The speaker works very hard to make sure that
members have the resources they need to get their message out to
voters," Jennifer Crider, a spokeswoman for Pelosi, told OpenSecrets Blog.
"The hope is that members have what they need to fight back against
shady outside groups who are coming in and misleading voters in their
districts."
"Rep. Clyburn believes it's important to elect
candidates who share his vision for the country and the need to keep
moving our country forward. An important part of that effort is raising
money for candidates, so they can run effective campaigns," Adam Hodge, a
spokesman for Clyburn, told OpenSecrets Blog. "Rep. Clyburn hopes that his efforts will help the Democrats maintain our majority this fall."
Spokespeople for Cantor and Boehner did not respond to multiple messages seeking comment for this story.
Here
is a table showing the top 20 lawmakers making the most contributions
to their political brethren from their leadership PACs and campaign
committees this election cycle:
eric seiger dermatologist
<b>News</b> Corp. Shareholder Objects to G.O.P. Donations - NYTimes.com
A private foundation owning stock in the News Corporation sent a letter objecting to company's contributions to Republican causes.
T-Mobile Reducing Data Cap, Will Throttle Speeds After 5GB Of <b>...</b>
Bad news for those of you that use more than 5GB of data each month. Starting October 16th, T-Mobile will enforce a new policy that will reduce data speeds.
Great <b>news</b>: Obama says he's learned that “there's no such thing as <b>...</b>
Great news: Obama says he's learned that “there's no such thing as shovel-ready projects” for public works.
eric seiger do
This was probably inevitable: the minute that Dodd-Frank cracked down on the fees charged by credit cards aimed at students, some other bright financial innovation would crop up. This time, a debit card aimed at students. Which carries lots of fees. Ylan Mui reports that a company called Higher One has started signing up colleges around the country, taking on the burden of providing cash to students. In return, it gets lots of fees:
Students say several of the fees associated with Higher One’s card are particularly irksome, including the $19 inactivity fee, a 50-cent charge for using a PIN to make a purchase rather than a signature, and a $2.50 fee for using other banks’ ATMs…
Higher One said that only 1 percent of customers have been charged an inactivity fee and that more than half are charged the 50-cent fee only once. All fees are listed on Higher One’s Web site, along with tips on avoiding them.
“We have a big effort with educating students on how to use the account,” Smith said. “We’re very passionate about financial literacy.”
If the fees are listed on Higher One’s website, they’re not exactly prominent. I did find this page, eventually, via this blog entry, but it just says that “when you swipe & sign, you won’t be charged the PIN-based transaction fee”. I haven’t been able to find a page showing a 50-cent transaction fee anywhere*, although I did manage to find this page, showing a $25 fee for domestic wire transfers and a $50 fee for international wire transfers. “Higher One offers less costly alternatives for transferring funds”, it says, without giving any indication what they might be; I suspect that what they’re talking about is transfers to or from people who have already registered somehow with Higher One.
It should go without saying that any firm which is “very passionate about financial literacy” would encourage, rather than penalize, simple, cheap and safe PIN-debit transactions. It would not give students a debit card and then tell them that if they want to avoid fees they should select the “credit” option rather than the “debit” option when they come to pay.
And I can’t think of any good reason to charge a $19 inactivity fee to people who haven’t used their cards in 9 months.
The fact is that students are often very naive when it comes to money, and it’s easy to gouge them once or twice before they learn that banks are not necessarily on their side. If you can get your card accepted by a majority of freshmen every year, and then come up with all manner of weird fees to hit them with, that’s a great way of making money out of ignorance.
Meanwhile, all students should have a bank account: giving them a debit card instead only serves to maximize the number of unbanked students. So while I’m sure cards like this are attractive to colleges, it would be great if either the colleges or else the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau started being a lot more critical of them. Prepaid cards only ever make sense if the alternative is being completely unbanked; that should not ever be the case for students.
*At Southern Oregon University, Higher One agreed to waive the 50-cent PIN-debit charge, but only if there was a simultaneous “swipe-and-sign” campaign. If the campaign is unsuccessful and students do the sensible thing by using PIN debit, then the university can be charged $2 per student for “PIN fee elimination”.
Update: Higher One’s Donald Smith responds:
Higher One was founded 10 years ago by three college students (undergraduates at the time) who were looking for streamlining the way financial aid refunds were distributed to students. Today we work with more than 675 campuses across the country, have a 97% client retention rating, and an A+ rating with the BBB.
The OneAccount is Higher One’s optional, no minimum balance, no monthly fee, FDIC-Insured checking account created by students for students. We do not offer a stored value card. We are very open with our fee schedule. We post it on every program website for all to access, explain each fee, discuss how to avoid each fee, and provide students with a web page that tells them how to use the account for free (which you’ve already found). Because of this, we believe that our customers pay less than half the amount in fees that the average bank checking account customer pays per year.
Two of the fees you referenced in your blog are the PIN fee and the Abandoned Account Fee. The PIN fee is easily avoided by choosing a signature based transaction at the checkout. The majority of students uses it in this manner and is in turn protected by MasterCard’s Zero Liability Policy against fraudulent charges (a safer way of purchasing than a PIN based transaction). We do not have an inactivity fee on our fee schedule – we don’t penalize students who do not use their accounts. We do have an Abandoned Account Fee of up to $19, for those who have abandoned their accounts, but this has been charged to less than 1% of all OneAccount holders in our company’s history because of our proactive outreach plan.
Higher One offers no instruments of credit. As a matter of fact, we’re generally in favor of initiatives restricting students’ access to credit cards and promoting financial literacy. This is why we offer a full range of financial literacy resources along with the services we provide.
I particularly dislike the implication, here, that PIN-based transactions are unsafe. They’re not; they’re just less lucrative, in terms of interchange fees, than signature-based transactions.
DeMint has not been shy about his vision.
Last week, he single-handedly threatened to stop all legislative activity
in the Senate as it worked to pass a flurry of legislation before
recessing ahead of the election. He has also criticized Democrats and
Republicans alike, chastising GOP leadership on occasion and bucking
them regularly to support more conservative, Tea Party-favored
candidates in Republican primaries. During the summer of 2009, DeMint
also famously said
that if Republicans could stop President Barack Obama from implementing
his proposal health insurance reform overhauls, it would be his
�Waterloo.�
For years, a few, select special interest groups on
the right and left have specialized in the conduit approach to political
fund-raising, including the conservative Club for Growth and the liberal groups ActBlue, MoveOn.org and EMILY�s List. Politicians using their leadership PACs for such activity are comparatively novel.
Individual donors must still abide by campaign contribution limits even
if they send money through conduit organizations, giving no more than
$2,400 per election to candidates.
But political committees aren�t as restricted in the amount of cash they may transfer from one individual.
For
example, DeMint�s leadership PAC directly donated the legal maximum of
$10,000 to Rubio�s Senate campaign in Florida -- money raised from
donors to his PAC who can give no more than $5,000 per year. But the
committee has also been able to bundle more than $240,600 to Rubio�s
campaign from a bevy of individual donors. And by acting as a conduit
organization, it can demonstrate additional clout.
So far this
election cycle, ActBlue has bundled more than $31.4 million. MoveOn.org
has bundled more than $9.2 million. EMILY�s List has bundled about $3.9
million, and the Club for Growth has bundled about $3.3 million.
In terms of all other groups reporting this activity, Hoyer�s
leadership PAC ranks next at $1.3 million, followed by DeMint�s $1.04
million. The only other federal lawmaker who so far this cycle has
reported at least six-figures worth of conduit contributions is Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.), with $168,800, coming via his Mountaineer PAC.
These bundles from Rockefeller�s PAC benefited just two lawmakers, West Virginia Democratic Reps. Nick Rahall, who is in a competitive re-election bid this year, and Alan Mollohan, who lost in a Democratic primary in May.
�Sen.
Rockefeller has supported Congressmen Mollohan and Rahall for years,
and he wanted to help them raise money,� Jamie Smith, Rockefeller�s
communication director told OpenSecrets Blog. �Mountaineer PAC
collected money at an event and forwarded it to the respective
campaigns. The contributions were reported according to FEC regulations
as conduit contributions.�
Hoyer�s conduit giving has been more
prolific. He�s reported bundling conduit contributions for more than 100
candidates this cycle. His top beneficiaries include the following
Democrats:
- Rep. Frank Kratovil (D-Md.): $56,500 and counting
- Rep. Scott Murphy (D-N.Y.): $36,750 and counting
- Rep. Debbie Halvorson (D-Ill.): $29,500 and counting
- Rep. Suzanne Kosmas (D-Fla.): $27,500 and counting
- Rep. Walt Minnick (D-Idaho): $26,100 and counting
part of his job as majority leader, Mr. Hoyer raises and contributes
money to Democratic candidates,� Katie Grant, a spokesperson for Hoyer,
told OpenSecrets Blog in a statement. Grant declined to elaborate further about his direct contributions or bundling of conduit contributions.
Hoyer has also reported transferring conduit contributions to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.
He�s also reported donating $1.08 million from his leadership PAC and
campaign committee to other Democrats -- ranking him the No. 3 lawmaker
in such direct contributions, according to an analysis by the Center for
Responsive Politics.
Other House leaders have also utilized this
more traditional approach in providing financial assistance to fellow
party faithful. But unlike bundling unlimited amounts of conduit
contributions, these direct contributions to campaigns cannot exceed
$5,000 per election.
House Minority Whip Eric Cantor
(R-Va.) ranks No. 1 with more than $1.2 million in contributions to
fellow Republicans from his leadership PAC and campaign committee
combined since January 2009. House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C.) ranks No. 2, with more than $1.1 million in such contributions.
Beyond Hoyer, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi
(D-Calif.) ranks No. 4, with $898,000 in contributions so far this
election cycle to fellow Democrats. And House Minority Leader John Boehner
(R-Ohio), who is poised to become speaker should Republicans wrest
control of the House from Democrats, ranks No. 5, with $862,000 in
contributions.
"The speaker works very hard to make sure that
members have the resources they need to get their message out to
voters," Jennifer Crider, a spokeswoman for Pelosi, told OpenSecrets Blog.
"The hope is that members have what they need to fight back against
shady outside groups who are coming in and misleading voters in their
districts."
"Rep. Clyburn believes it's important to elect
candidates who share his vision for the country and the need to keep
moving our country forward. An important part of that effort is raising
money for candidates, so they can run effective campaigns," Adam Hodge, a
spokesman for Clyburn, told OpenSecrets Blog. "Rep. Clyburn hopes that his efforts will help the Democrats maintain our majority this fall."
Spokespeople for Cantor and Boehner did not respond to multiple messages seeking comment for this story.
Here
is a table showing the top 20 lawmakers making the most contributions
to their political brethren from their leadership PACs and campaign
committees this election cycle:
Dr. eric seiger
<b>News</b> Corp. Shareholder Objects to G.O.P. Donations - NYTimes.com
A private foundation owning stock in the News Corporation sent a letter objecting to company's contributions to Republican causes.
T-Mobile Reducing Data Cap, Will Throttle Speeds After 5GB Of <b>...</b>
Bad news for those of you that use more than 5GB of data each month. Starting October 16th, T-Mobile will enforce a new policy that will reduce data speeds.
Great <b>news</b>: Obama says he's learned that “there's no such thing as <b>...</b>
Great news: Obama says he's learned that “there's no such thing as shovel-ready projects” for public works.
Dr. eric seiger
eric seiger do
skin
and vein center
<b>News</b> Corp. Shareholder Objects to G.O.P. Donations - NYTimes.com
A private foundation owning stock in the News Corporation sent a letter objecting to company's contributions to Republican causes.
T-Mobile Reducing Data Cap, Will Throttle Speeds After 5GB Of <b>...</b>
Bad news for those of you that use more than 5GB of data each month. Starting October 16th, T-Mobile will enforce a new policy that will reduce data speeds.
Great <b>news</b>: Obama says he's learned that “there's no such thing as <b>...</b>
Great news: Obama says he's learned that “there's no such thing as shovel-ready projects” for public works.
eric seiger dermatologist
This was probably inevitable: the minute that Dodd-Frank cracked down on the fees charged by credit cards aimed at students, some other bright financial innovation would crop up. This time, a debit card aimed at students. Which carries lots of fees. Ylan Mui reports that a company called Higher One has started signing up colleges around the country, taking on the burden of providing cash to students. In return, it gets lots of fees:
Students say several of the fees associated with Higher One’s card are particularly irksome, including the $19 inactivity fee, a 50-cent charge for using a PIN to make a purchase rather than a signature, and a $2.50 fee for using other banks’ ATMs…
Higher One said that only 1 percent of customers have been charged an inactivity fee and that more than half are charged the 50-cent fee only once. All fees are listed on Higher One’s Web site, along with tips on avoiding them.
“We have a big effort with educating students on how to use the account,” Smith said. “We’re very passionate about financial literacy.”
If the fees are listed on Higher One’s website, they’re not exactly prominent. I did find this page, eventually, via this blog entry, but it just says that “when you swipe & sign, you won’t be charged the PIN-based transaction fee”. I haven’t been able to find a page showing a 50-cent transaction fee anywhere*, although I did manage to find this page, showing a $25 fee for domestic wire transfers and a $50 fee for international wire transfers. “Higher One offers less costly alternatives for transferring funds”, it says, without giving any indication what they might be; I suspect that what they’re talking about is transfers to or from people who have already registered somehow with Higher One.
It should go without saying that any firm which is “very passionate about financial literacy” would encourage, rather than penalize, simple, cheap and safe PIN-debit transactions. It would not give students a debit card and then tell them that if they want to avoid fees they should select the “credit” option rather than the “debit” option when they come to pay.
And I can’t think of any good reason to charge a $19 inactivity fee to people who haven’t used their cards in 9 months.
The fact is that students are often very naive when it comes to money, and it’s easy to gouge them once or twice before they learn that banks are not necessarily on their side. If you can get your card accepted by a majority of freshmen every year, and then come up with all manner of weird fees to hit them with, that’s a great way of making money out of ignorance.
Meanwhile, all students should have a bank account: giving them a debit card instead only serves to maximize the number of unbanked students. So while I’m sure cards like this are attractive to colleges, it would be great if either the colleges or else the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau started being a lot more critical of them. Prepaid cards only ever make sense if the alternative is being completely unbanked; that should not ever be the case for students.
*At Southern Oregon University, Higher One agreed to waive the 50-cent PIN-debit charge, but only if there was a simultaneous “swipe-and-sign” campaign. If the campaign is unsuccessful and students do the sensible thing by using PIN debit, then the university can be charged $2 per student for “PIN fee elimination”.
Update: Higher One’s Donald Smith responds:
Higher One was founded 10 years ago by three college students (undergraduates at the time) who were looking for streamlining the way financial aid refunds were distributed to students. Today we work with more than 675 campuses across the country, have a 97% client retention rating, and an A+ rating with the BBB.
The OneAccount is Higher One’s optional, no minimum balance, no monthly fee, FDIC-Insured checking account created by students for students. We do not offer a stored value card. We are very open with our fee schedule. We post it on every program website for all to access, explain each fee, discuss how to avoid each fee, and provide students with a web page that tells them how to use the account for free (which you’ve already found). Because of this, we believe that our customers pay less than half the amount in fees that the average bank checking account customer pays per year.
Two of the fees you referenced in your blog are the PIN fee and the Abandoned Account Fee. The PIN fee is easily avoided by choosing a signature based transaction at the checkout. The majority of students uses it in this manner and is in turn protected by MasterCard’s Zero Liability Policy against fraudulent charges (a safer way of purchasing than a PIN based transaction). We do not have an inactivity fee on our fee schedule – we don’t penalize students who do not use their accounts. We do have an Abandoned Account Fee of up to $19, for those who have abandoned their accounts, but this has been charged to less than 1% of all OneAccount holders in our company’s history because of our proactive outreach plan.
Higher One offers no instruments of credit. As a matter of fact, we’re generally in favor of initiatives restricting students’ access to credit cards and promoting financial literacy. This is why we offer a full range of financial literacy resources along with the services we provide.
I particularly dislike the implication, here, that PIN-based transactions are unsafe. They’re not; they’re just less lucrative, in terms of interchange fees, than signature-based transactions.
DeMint has not been shy about his vision.
Last week, he single-handedly threatened to stop all legislative activity
in the Senate as it worked to pass a flurry of legislation before
recessing ahead of the election. He has also criticized Democrats and
Republicans alike, chastising GOP leadership on occasion and bucking
them regularly to support more conservative, Tea Party-favored
candidates in Republican primaries. During the summer of 2009, DeMint
also famously said
that if Republicans could stop President Barack Obama from implementing
his proposal health insurance reform overhauls, it would be his
�Waterloo.�
For years, a few, select special interest groups on
the right and left have specialized in the conduit approach to political
fund-raising, including the conservative Club for Growth and the liberal groups ActBlue, MoveOn.org and EMILY�s List. Politicians using their leadership PACs for such activity are comparatively novel.
Individual donors must still abide by campaign contribution limits even
if they send money through conduit organizations, giving no more than
$2,400 per election to candidates.
But political committees aren�t as restricted in the amount of cash they may transfer from one individual.
For
example, DeMint�s leadership PAC directly donated the legal maximum of
$10,000 to Rubio�s Senate campaign in Florida -- money raised from
donors to his PAC who can give no more than $5,000 per year. But the
committee has also been able to bundle more than $240,600 to Rubio�s
campaign from a bevy of individual donors. And by acting as a conduit
organization, it can demonstrate additional clout.
So far this
election cycle, ActBlue has bundled more than $31.4 million. MoveOn.org
has bundled more than $9.2 million. EMILY�s List has bundled about $3.9
million, and the Club for Growth has bundled about $3.3 million.
In terms of all other groups reporting this activity, Hoyer�s
leadership PAC ranks next at $1.3 million, followed by DeMint�s $1.04
million. The only other federal lawmaker who so far this cycle has
reported at least six-figures worth of conduit contributions is Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.), with $168,800, coming via his Mountaineer PAC.
These bundles from Rockefeller�s PAC benefited just two lawmakers, West Virginia Democratic Reps. Nick Rahall, who is in a competitive re-election bid this year, and Alan Mollohan, who lost in a Democratic primary in May.
�Sen.
Rockefeller has supported Congressmen Mollohan and Rahall for years,
and he wanted to help them raise money,� Jamie Smith, Rockefeller�s
communication director told OpenSecrets Blog. �Mountaineer PAC
collected money at an event and forwarded it to the respective
campaigns. The contributions were reported according to FEC regulations
as conduit contributions.�
Hoyer�s conduit giving has been more
prolific. He�s reported bundling conduit contributions for more than 100
candidates this cycle. His top beneficiaries include the following
Democrats:
- Rep. Frank Kratovil (D-Md.): $56,500 and counting
- Rep. Scott Murphy (D-N.Y.): $36,750 and counting
- Rep. Debbie Halvorson (D-Ill.): $29,500 and counting
- Rep. Suzanne Kosmas (D-Fla.): $27,500 and counting
- Rep. Walt Minnick (D-Idaho): $26,100 and counting
part of his job as majority leader, Mr. Hoyer raises and contributes
money to Democratic candidates,� Katie Grant, a spokesperson for Hoyer,
told OpenSecrets Blog in a statement. Grant declined to elaborate further about his direct contributions or bundling of conduit contributions.
Hoyer has also reported transferring conduit contributions to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.
He�s also reported donating $1.08 million from his leadership PAC and
campaign committee to other Democrats -- ranking him the No. 3 lawmaker
in such direct contributions, according to an analysis by the Center for
Responsive Politics.
Other House leaders have also utilized this
more traditional approach in providing financial assistance to fellow
party faithful. But unlike bundling unlimited amounts of conduit
contributions, these direct contributions to campaigns cannot exceed
$5,000 per election.
House Minority Whip Eric Cantor
(R-Va.) ranks No. 1 with more than $1.2 million in contributions to
fellow Republicans from his leadership PAC and campaign committee
combined since January 2009. House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C.) ranks No. 2, with more than $1.1 million in such contributions.
Beyond Hoyer, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi
(D-Calif.) ranks No. 4, with $898,000 in contributions so far this
election cycle to fellow Democrats. And House Minority Leader John Boehner
(R-Ohio), who is poised to become speaker should Republicans wrest
control of the House from Democrats, ranks No. 5, with $862,000 in
contributions.
"The speaker works very hard to make sure that
members have the resources they need to get their message out to
voters," Jennifer Crider, a spokeswoman for Pelosi, told OpenSecrets Blog.
"The hope is that members have what they need to fight back against
shady outside groups who are coming in and misleading voters in their
districts."
"Rep. Clyburn believes it's important to elect
candidates who share his vision for the country and the need to keep
moving our country forward. An important part of that effort is raising
money for candidates, so they can run effective campaigns," Adam Hodge, a
spokesman for Clyburn, told OpenSecrets Blog. "Rep. Clyburn hopes that his efforts will help the Democrats maintain our majority this fall."
Spokespeople for Cantor and Boehner did not respond to multiple messages seeking comment for this story.
Here
is a table showing the top 20 lawmakers making the most contributions
to their political brethren from their leadership PACs and campaign
committees this election cycle:
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<b>News</b> Corp. Shareholder Objects to G.O.P. Donations - NYTimes.com
A private foundation owning stock in the News Corporation sent a letter objecting to company's contributions to Republican causes.
T-Mobile Reducing Data Cap, Will Throttle Speeds After 5GB Of <b>...</b>
Bad news for those of you that use more than 5GB of data each month. Starting October 16th, T-Mobile will enforce a new policy that will reduce data speeds.
Great <b>news</b>: Obama says he's learned that “there's no such thing as <b>...</b>
Great news: Obama says he's learned that “there's no such thing as shovel-ready projects” for public works.
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<b>News</b> Corp. Shareholder Objects to G.O.P. Donations - NYTimes.com
A private foundation owning stock in the News Corporation sent a letter objecting to company's contributions to Republican causes.
T-Mobile Reducing Data Cap, Will Throttle Speeds After 5GB Of <b>...</b>
Bad news for those of you that use more than 5GB of data each month. Starting October 16th, T-Mobile will enforce a new policy that will reduce data speeds.
Great <b>news</b>: Obama says he's learned that “there's no such thing as <b>...</b>
Great news: Obama says he's learned that “there's no such thing as shovel-ready projects” for public works.
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<b>News</b> Corp. Shareholder Objects to G.O.P. Donations - NYTimes.com
A private foundation owning stock in the News Corporation sent a letter objecting to company's contributions to Republican causes.
T-Mobile Reducing Data Cap, Will Throttle Speeds After 5GB Of <b>...</b>
Bad news for those of you that use more than 5GB of data each month. Starting October 16th, T-Mobile will enforce a new policy that will reduce data speeds.
Great <b>news</b>: Obama says he's learned that “there's no such thing as <b>...</b>
Great news: Obama says he's learned that “there's no such thing as shovel-ready projects” for public works.
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<b>News</b> Corp. Shareholder Objects to G.O.P. Donations - NYTimes.com
A private foundation owning stock in the News Corporation sent a letter objecting to company's contributions to Republican causes.
T-Mobile Reducing Data Cap, Will Throttle Speeds After 5GB Of <b>...</b>
Bad news for those of you that use more than 5GB of data each month. Starting October 16th, T-Mobile will enforce a new policy that will reduce data speeds.
Great <b>news</b>: Obama says he's learned that “there's no such thing as <b>...</b>
Great news: Obama says he's learned that “there's no such thing as shovel-ready projects” for public works.
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<b>News</b> Corp. Shareholder Objects to G.O.P. Donations - NYTimes.com
A private foundation owning stock in the News Corporation sent a letter objecting to company's contributions to Republican causes.
T-Mobile Reducing Data Cap, Will Throttle Speeds After 5GB Of <b>...</b>
Bad news for those of you that use more than 5GB of data each month. Starting October 16th, T-Mobile will enforce a new policy that will reduce data speeds.
Great <b>news</b>: Obama says he's learned that “there's no such thing as <b>...</b>
Great news: Obama says he's learned that “there's no such thing as shovel-ready projects” for public works.
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How many of us have done this: Spend hours typing "Make Money Online" into search engines and hope that maybe this time we'll find that one website that can truly help us to do so. I certainly have spent my fair share of time being fooled by different schemes! However there are a few out there that do pay. Although it is hard to find one that doesn't require a large amount of time, or that pays enough to be worth the time it takes to participate.
For example there is Kerclink.com, which is actually quite fun. It's a free small program that you can download and play games and earn points, and those points turn into money! It sounds great and it is definitely fun and addicting. However if you are thinking about making serious cash Kerclink won't be the place for you. I played for several hours one day and earned several thousand points. Then thinking that surely I would be rolling around in cash and tossing it carelessly into the air in no time, to my dismay I saw that I had only earned about three cents! Despite that however, it is fun and eventually you will get a check in the mail, but it is more something to do on the side.
Then we come to Netwinner.com. Now I have to admit that this is one of my favorites. It's very addicting and winning decent prizes is actually attainable. Netwinner is and free online lottery where you earn either points or cash. Although points is usually what one ends up winning, the prizes from the points are still quite nice. You can win the gift certificate of your choice once you have earned a good amount of points. By the way the grand prize is over a million dollars. The only problem with Netwinner.com other than the need for a fast internet connection, is that it is based on luck and can sometimes be very frustrating.
There are lots of different sites online claiming to practically make money for you. All you have to do is sign up! Sadly I am yet to find one that is true. I've also tried just about every survey site that seemed legit to me. Surveyspot.com and several others. I was quite excited because most of them claim that thousands of dollars are at your fingertips. All you have to do is spend fifteen minutes filling out a survey and will finally have tapped into the secret flow of money that will let you quit your job! The problem though is that I signed up for all of them. Because like they say, several small streams of money turns into a lot of it! So my email inbox was swamped with surveys and I chuckled to myself thinking of the millions of poor saps who hadn't discovered this gold mine. Then I hit the wall that we all run into on our search, I almost never qualified to take any of the surveys! Then when I finally did qualify for one, it took me an hour to fill out for three dollars that I never even received. So I gave up on the survey thing and had to abandon an email address.
Then I found Associated Content. For me it is the rose among thorns. There are no scams, they don't flood your inbox with junk, and they are very professional. I am very thankful that finally someone decided to do something legit online where honest people can make some honest money. It is a great place for writers to write what they like to write about and see the fruits of their labor. Not only through getting paid for their articles, but also because they can see how many people have read each article they have written. That can be very encouraging. So I salute you Associated Content! I thank you on behalf of all those who love you!
There are hundreds if not thousands of websites offering to help you make money. The vast majority of them are scams. Beware of anything that claims you can make thousands of dollars a day. However keep some hope, there are a select few out there that really are worth the time. Sites like Associated Content and Netwinner.com are fun and safe and are worth looking into. So happy hunting and may you find the legendary site that can truly make money for you, wherever it may be.
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<b>News</b> Corp. Shareholder Objects to G.O.P. Donations - NYTimes.com
A private foundation owning stock in the News Corporation sent a letter objecting to company's contributions to Republican causes.
T-Mobile Reducing Data Cap, Will Throttle Speeds After 5GB Of <b>...</b>
Bad news for those of you that use more than 5GB of data each month. Starting October 16th, T-Mobile will enforce a new policy that will reduce data speeds.
Great <b>news</b>: Obama says he's learned that “there's no such thing as <b>...</b>
Great news: Obama says he's learned that “there's no such thing as shovel-ready projects” for public works.
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<b>News</b> Corp. Shareholder Objects to G.O.P. Donations - NYTimes.com
A private foundation owning stock in the News Corporation sent a letter objecting to company's contributions to Republican causes.
T-Mobile Reducing Data Cap, Will Throttle Speeds After 5GB Of <b>...</b>
Bad news for those of you that use more than 5GB of data each month. Starting October 16th, T-Mobile will enforce a new policy that will reduce data speeds.
Great <b>news</b>: Obama says he's learned that “there's no such thing as <b>...</b>
Great news: Obama says he's learned that “there's no such thing as shovel-ready projects” for public works.
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