Thursday, March 22, 2012 1:20:44 AM
Federal contractors donate to 'super PAC' backing Romney
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney campaigns in Moline, Ill. Several federal contractors have donated to a "super PAC" that supports him. It's unclear whether a 36-year-old law barring such contributions is still valid.
(Stacey Wescott, Chicago Tribune / March 18, 2012)
It's unclear whether a ban on such giving is still valid after the Supreme Court ruling that freed up independent political spending.
By Ian Duncan and Matea Gold, Washington Bureau
March 18, 2012, 7:17 p.m.
Reporting from Washington— A "super PAC" that has spent more than $35 million on behalf of Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney has accepted donations from federal contractors despite a 36-year-old ban against such companies making federal political expenditures.
At least five companies with government contracts gave a combined $890,000 to Restore Our Future, the pro-Romney super PAC, a review of federal contracting records and campaign finance data shows.
Other super PACs, including Republican-allied American Crossroads, and Priorities USA Action, which backs President Obama, have language on their websites warning that federal contractors are not allowed to make donations.
Restore Our Future does not list the prohibition on its website.
Several contributors — including a Florida aerospace company that has contracts with the Defense Department, and a Boston-based construction company that is helping build a Navy base — are taking advantage of a legal gray area created by the Supreme Court's 2010 ruling in the Citizens United case, which said that independent political expenditures could not be regulated based on who was making them.
Federal courts and the Federal Election Commission, which is responsible for enforcing the federal contractor ban, have yet to decide whether it is still valid. That leaves the legality of such contributions in question, though several election law experts believe the ban will be found unconstitutional.
"It's a risk judgment that clients need to make," said Robert Kelner, a Washington lawyer who advises corporations on political law compliance.
A veteran election law attorney, Jan Baran, said he advised companies with federal contracts not to give to super PACs until the FEC or the courts formally ruled on whether the ban was still valid.
"We just think it ought to be cleared up," he said.
Restore Our Future referred all queries to its treasurer, Charlie Spies, an election law attorney who served as Romney's campaign counsel in his failed 2008 presidential bid. Spies, based in Washington, declined comment.
One company that was apparently unaware of the potential risk says it will ask for its donation back.
M.C. Dean, a Virginia-based electrical engineering company that has a $43-million contract with the Department of Homeland Security to help construct office buildings, gave Restore Our Future $5,000 in October.
The company relied on a letter from Spies, who wrote that the super PAC could accept unlimited corporate contributions, according to an M.C. Dean official who requested anonymity to discuss the decision. The letter did not mention the federal contractor ban, but it assured potential donors that their contributions would not interfere with their ability to obtain state or local contracts.
After an inquiry by the Los Angeles Times/Tribune Washington Bureau, M.C. Dean consulted its lawyers "and out of an abundance of caution and to stay compliant, on Monday we will be requesting the contribution back and will be changing our corporate policy to make sure it doesn't happen again," the company official said.
One federal contractor who gave to the super PAC says it is confident the contribution is legal.
Oxbow Carbon, a major coal and petroleum company, gave $750,000 to Restore Our Future last year. The private company has sold more than $10 million worth of coal over the last 13 years to the Tennessee Valley Authority, a federally owned corporation created by Congress.
Oxbow's founder, Palm Beach, Fla., billionaire William Koch, gave the super PAC another $250,000 personally, a donation that is not prohibited by the ban. His twin brother, David, and older brother, Charles, are famous for their lavish support for conservative causes.
"Oxbow believes it has a 1st Amendment right under the U.S. Constitution to make political contributions to independently support candidates who will best address the deep economic issues facing this country," spokesman Brad Goldstein said.
The current confusion shows how a deadlocked FEC has been unable to keep up with tens of millions of dollars of outside money that has flooded the system since the Citizens United ruling legalized political spending by corporations and unions.
Two years after the ruling, the six commissioners are split along party lines, and they cannot agree on how to bring campaign finance regulations in line with the decision.
That includes the federal contractor ban, which was originally passed by Congress in 1940 and made it illegal for individuals and companies with government contracts to make federal contributions. It also barred solicitation of such contributions. An FEC regulation passed in 1976 expanded the law to ban federal contractors from making expenditures in support of candidates for federal office.
"What we have is many FEC regulations that are on the books today but are clearly unconstitutional," Kelner said. "So in that environment, it is not surprising to me that some companies will decide to forge ahead.... What's the enforcement risk?"
An FEC spokeswoman declined to comment. But the commission is defending the ban in a case filed in federal court in Washington in October by several contractors, indicating that the agency still views the law as constitutional. And at a House oversight hearing last year, a Democratic member of the commission, Cynthia L. Bauerly, testified that the prohibition still holds.
Federal contracting records and campaign finance data provided by the Sunlight Foundation, a nonpartisan group that promotes transparency in government, show that three other companies with federal contracts made contributions to Restore Our Future:
• B/E Aerospace, a publicly traded corporation in Florida that gave the super PAC $50,000 in June 2011, provides rivets and other components to the Department of Defense and other parts of the government. It has won more than $8.2 million in federal contracts since January 2011. Its chief executive and chief financial officer each gave Romney's campaign $2,500, the maximum allowed in the primary.
• Florida- and Puerto Rico-based Clinical Medical Services, which provides medical supplies to the Department of Veterans Affairs, donated $25,000 on Jan. 4. It has won government contracts worth almost $4.3 million since the start of last year.
• Boston-based Suffolk Construction Co., which holds a $20-million building contract for a Rhode Island naval base, made three donations to the super PAC totaling $60,000. The firm is headed by Obama bundler John Fish, who has given to Democrats and Republicans.
The three companies did not respond to requests for comment.
ian.duncan@latimes.com
matea.gold@latimes.com
Times staff writer Maloy Moore in Los Angeles contributed to this report.
*
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Bounty offered to expose corporate PAC donors
http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-pn-group-offers-25000-reward-for-exposing-secret-corporate-giving-20120312,0,1110420.story
Pro-Romney 'super PAC' denies new ad shows illegal coordination
http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-pn-romney-super-pac-footage-20120224,0,2611201.story
Fundraising for pro-Romney 'super PAC' picked up in January
http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-pn-restore-our-future-romney-super-pac-20120220,0,3703321.story
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Copyright © 2012, Los Angeles Times
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-contractor-politics-20120318,0,7570089,full.story [no comments yet]
===
Federal contractors' parent companies donate to 'super PACs'
Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), left, accompanied by Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.), speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, to discuss the disclosure of "super PAC" donors to the Republican presidential candidates.
(AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
By Ian Duncan and Matea Gold
March 19, 2012, 1:22 p.m.
Reporting from Washington— A longstanding ban on political spending by federalcontractors has not stopped some from giving money to a “super PAC” backing Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, as The Times reported Monday [ http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-contractor-politics-20120318,0,5184326.story (above)], despite questions about the legality of such donations. Other federal contractors have found an easy way around the ban to support their favorite candidates.
Election law attorneys said that the Federal Election Commission has historically viewed companies and their subsidiaries as separate corporations, allowing the parent company of a federal contractor to donate to a super PAC.
“The FEC differentiates subsidiaries from parent corporations, so even if the FEC were to confirm that the government contract ban on expenditures applies to independent expenditures and to super PACs, there are other ways to get around such a ban,” said attorney Jan Baran, who heads the election law group at the firm Wiley Rein.
Two of the largest corporate donors to super PACs are connected to companies with federal contracts, a review of campaign finance data and federal contracting records shows.
Rooney Holdings, a privately held construction company in Oklahoma, made two donations totaling $1 million last year to Restore Our Future, the pro-Romney super PAC, while one of its subsidiaries was engaged in a $53 million project for the Department of Veteran Affairs.
Contran Corp., a holding company owned by Texas billionaire Harold Simmons, gave $1 million to Make Us Great Again, a super PAC backing Rick Perry, and $2 million to American Crossroads, a group that supports conservative Republican candidates. A company indirectly owned by Contran through Valhi Holdings, another holding company, was doing waste cleanup for the Environmental Protection Agency.
The companies did not respond to requests for comment.
California utility PG&E, which has received at least $255 million from federal agencies for electric and gas service, gave $10,000 in December through its corporate parent to Rebuilding America, a super PAC backing Democratic Rep. Howard Berman (D-Valley Village).
PG&E spokeswoman Lynsey Paulo said the donation was permissible because it came from a different company than the one with federal contracts.
A review of campaign finance records and government contracts found at least five companies with federal contracts giving to Restore Our Future, despite an FEC regulation banning such spending. But the rules regulating election spending have been thrown into disarray in the wake of the Supreme Court’s 2010 decision in the Citizens United case. The FEC, whose commissioners often deadlock along party lines, has been unable to finalize new rules.
Take a look at super PAC spending in the election so far
http://graphics.latimes.com/2012-election-superpac-spending/
Copyright © 2012, Los Angeles Times
http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-pn-federal-contractors-donating-to-super-pacs-with-dubious-legality-20120319,0,3737514.story [with comment]
===
Payday lenders support pro-Romney 'super PAC' Restore Our Future
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney holds a town-hall campaign meeting on the campus of Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois.
(Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images / March 19, 2012)
By Melanie Mason and Matea Gold
March 20, 2012, 1:11 p.m.
Reporting from Washington—
A "super PAC" supporting Mitt Romney has won the backing of another corner of the financial sector: payday lenders.
Seven payday loan companies donated a total of $162,500 to Restore Our Future in February, according to reports filed with the Federal Election Commission on Tuesday. All the donations were recorded in the first week of the month, in increments ranging from $2,500 to $35,000.
Restore Our Future declined to comment on the donations and their timing.
A spokesman for the largest payday lender also declined to comment.
“We don’t discuss any details related to political contributions,” said Jamie Fulmer, vice president for public affairs at Advance America. The company, based in South Carolina, gave $25,000 to the group on Feb. 6.
“We certainly expect any candidate or political action committee to comply with all rules and regulations as it relates to disclosure,” he added.
All but one of the companies made the donations under their own names. But Seattle-based Moneytree gave through a separate entity, Katsam LLC (mispelled as Katsum in the filing). Katsam is registered in Washington state to Dennis and David Bassford, Moneytree’s co-founders. The FEC filing lists an address for Katsam that is the same as that of Moneytree.
Payday lenders have come under scrutiny for offering short-term loans at triple-digit annual interest rates, sometimes at the financial peril of their customers, according to watchdog groups.
In January, Richard Cordray, the new director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, has said that the agency, created by the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial overhaul legislation, would step up its oversight of the industry.
On the campaign trail, Mitt Romney has said that he would repeal Dodd-Frank if elected.
In all, Restore Our Future raised $6.4 million in February from 100 donors, with $3 million coming from just one contributor: Texas home builder and Republican patron Bob Perry.
Perry, who had already donated $3.6 million to GOP super PACs for the 2012 race, is the third biggest donor so far in this election cycle, trailing only Dallas billionaire Harold Simmons and Las Vegas mogul Sheldon Adelson and his family.
Simmons ponied up another $100,000 last month for Restore Our Future, making his total give to the pro-Romney group $200,000 -- modest compared with the $12 million he and his company have given during this cycle to the Republican-allied American Crossroads.
Restore Our Future also got $100,000 in February from Raymond Ruddy, a wealthy Massachusetts conservative who funds anti-abortion and abstinence causes. Former Univision Inc. Chairman A. Jerrold Perenchio gave the super PAC $500,000. Last year, a trust he controls gave $2 million to American Crossroads.
Restore Our Future, which was set up by former aides to the onetime Massachusetts governor, has been the main vehicle for pounding Romney’s rivals for the GOP nomination. The super PAC spent $12.2 million in February -- the vast majority on direct mail pieces, phone banks and ads attacking former Pennsylvania Gov. Rick Santorum.
melanie.mason@latimes.com
matea.gold@latimes.com
*
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*
Copyright © 2012, Los Angeles Times
http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-pn-pro-romney-super-pac-restore-our-future-gets-payday-lender-support-20120320,0,7537336.story [with comments]
===
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Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney campaigns in Moline, Ill. Several federal contractors have donated to a "super PAC" that supports him. It's unclear whether a 36-year-old law barring such contributions is still valid.
(Stacey Wescott, Chicago Tribune / March 18, 2012)
It's unclear whether a ban on such giving is still valid after the Supreme Court ruling that freed up independent political spending.
By Ian Duncan and Matea Gold, Washington Bureau
March 18, 2012, 7:17 p.m.
Reporting from Washington— A "super PAC" that has spent more than $35 million on behalf of Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney has accepted donations from federal contractors despite a 36-year-old ban against such companies making federal political expenditures.
At least five companies with government contracts gave a combined $890,000 to Restore Our Future, the pro-Romney super PAC, a review of federal contracting records and campaign finance data shows.
Other super PACs, including Republican-allied American Crossroads, and Priorities USA Action, which backs President Obama, have language on their websites warning that federal contractors are not allowed to make donations.
Restore Our Future does not list the prohibition on its website.
Several contributors — including a Florida aerospace company that has contracts with the Defense Department, and a Boston-based construction company that is helping build a Navy base — are taking advantage of a legal gray area created by the Supreme Court's 2010 ruling in the Citizens United case, which said that independent political expenditures could not be regulated based on who was making them.
Federal courts and the Federal Election Commission, which is responsible for enforcing the federal contractor ban, have yet to decide whether it is still valid. That leaves the legality of such contributions in question, though several election law experts believe the ban will be found unconstitutional.
"It's a risk judgment that clients need to make," said Robert Kelner, a Washington lawyer who advises corporations on political law compliance.
A veteran election law attorney, Jan Baran, said he advised companies with federal contracts not to give to super PACs until the FEC or the courts formally ruled on whether the ban was still valid.
"We just think it ought to be cleared up," he said.
Restore Our Future referred all queries to its treasurer, Charlie Spies, an election law attorney who served as Romney's campaign counsel in his failed 2008 presidential bid. Spies, based in Washington, declined comment.
One company that was apparently unaware of the potential risk says it will ask for its donation back.
M.C. Dean, a Virginia-based electrical engineering company that has a $43-million contract with the Department of Homeland Security to help construct office buildings, gave Restore Our Future $5,000 in October.
The company relied on a letter from Spies, who wrote that the super PAC could accept unlimited corporate contributions, according to an M.C. Dean official who requested anonymity to discuss the decision. The letter did not mention the federal contractor ban, but it assured potential donors that their contributions would not interfere with their ability to obtain state or local contracts.
After an inquiry by the Los Angeles Times/Tribune Washington Bureau, M.C. Dean consulted its lawyers "and out of an abundance of caution and to stay compliant, on Monday we will be requesting the contribution back and will be changing our corporate policy to make sure it doesn't happen again," the company official said.
One federal contractor who gave to the super PAC says it is confident the contribution is legal.
Oxbow Carbon, a major coal and petroleum company, gave $750,000 to Restore Our Future last year. The private company has sold more than $10 million worth of coal over the last 13 years to the Tennessee Valley Authority, a federally owned corporation created by Congress.
Oxbow's founder, Palm Beach, Fla., billionaire William Koch, gave the super PAC another $250,000 personally, a donation that is not prohibited by the ban. His twin brother, David, and older brother, Charles, are famous for their lavish support for conservative causes.
"Oxbow believes it has a 1st Amendment right under the U.S. Constitution to make political contributions to independently support candidates who will best address the deep economic issues facing this country," spokesman Brad Goldstein said.
The current confusion shows how a deadlocked FEC has been unable to keep up with tens of millions of dollars of outside money that has flooded the system since the Citizens United ruling legalized political spending by corporations and unions.
Two years after the ruling, the six commissioners are split along party lines, and they cannot agree on how to bring campaign finance regulations in line with the decision.
That includes the federal contractor ban, which was originally passed by Congress in 1940 and made it illegal for individuals and companies with government contracts to make federal contributions. It also barred solicitation of such contributions. An FEC regulation passed in 1976 expanded the law to ban federal contractors from making expenditures in support of candidates for federal office.
"What we have is many FEC regulations that are on the books today but are clearly unconstitutional," Kelner said. "So in that environment, it is not surprising to me that some companies will decide to forge ahead.... What's the enforcement risk?"
An FEC spokeswoman declined to comment. But the commission is defending the ban in a case filed in federal court in Washington in October by several contractors, indicating that the agency still views the law as constitutional. And at a House oversight hearing last year, a Democratic member of the commission, Cynthia L. Bauerly, testified that the prohibition still holds.
Federal contracting records and campaign finance data provided by the Sunlight Foundation, a nonpartisan group that promotes transparency in government, show that three other companies with federal contracts made contributions to Restore Our Future:
• B/E Aerospace, a publicly traded corporation in Florida that gave the super PAC $50,000 in June 2011, provides rivets and other components to the Department of Defense and other parts of the government. It has won more than $8.2 million in federal contracts since January 2011. Its chief executive and chief financial officer each gave Romney's campaign $2,500, the maximum allowed in the primary.
• Florida- and Puerto Rico-based Clinical Medical Services, which provides medical supplies to the Department of Veterans Affairs, donated $25,000 on Jan. 4. It has won government contracts worth almost $4.3 million since the start of last year.
• Boston-based Suffolk Construction Co., which holds a $20-million building contract for a Rhode Island naval base, made three donations to the super PAC totaling $60,000. The firm is headed by Obama bundler John Fish, who has given to Democrats and Republicans.
The three companies did not respond to requests for comment.
ian.duncan@latimes.com
matea.gold@latimes.com
Times staff writer Maloy Moore in Los Angeles contributed to this report.
*
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http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-pn-ala-congressman-survives-primary-despite-super-pac-offensive-20120314,0,145921.story
Bounty offered to expose corporate PAC donors
http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-pn-group-offers-25000-reward-for-exposing-secret-corporate-giving-20120312,0,1110420.story
Pro-Romney 'super PAC' denies new ad shows illegal coordination
http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-pn-romney-super-pac-footage-20120224,0,2611201.story
Fundraising for pro-Romney 'super PAC' picked up in January
http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-pn-restore-our-future-romney-super-pac-20120220,0,3703321.story
*
Copyright © 2012, Los Angeles Times
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-contractor-politics-20120318,0,7570089,full.story [no comments yet]
===
Federal contractors' parent companies donate to 'super PACs'
Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), left, accompanied by Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.), speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, to discuss the disclosure of "super PAC" donors to the Republican presidential candidates.
(AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
By Ian Duncan and Matea Gold
March 19, 2012, 1:22 p.m.
Reporting from Washington— A longstanding ban on political spending by federalcontractors has not stopped some from giving money to a “super PAC” backing Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, as The Times reported Monday [ http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-contractor-politics-20120318,0,5184326.story (above)], despite questions about the legality of such donations. Other federal contractors have found an easy way around the ban to support their favorite candidates.
Election law attorneys said that the Federal Election Commission has historically viewed companies and their subsidiaries as separate corporations, allowing the parent company of a federal contractor to donate to a super PAC.
“The FEC differentiates subsidiaries from parent corporations, so even if the FEC were to confirm that the government contract ban on expenditures applies to independent expenditures and to super PACs, there are other ways to get around such a ban,” said attorney Jan Baran, who heads the election law group at the firm Wiley Rein.
Two of the largest corporate donors to super PACs are connected to companies with federal contracts, a review of campaign finance data and federal contracting records shows.
Rooney Holdings, a privately held construction company in Oklahoma, made two donations totaling $1 million last year to Restore Our Future, the pro-Romney super PAC, while one of its subsidiaries was engaged in a $53 million project for the Department of Veteran Affairs.
Contran Corp., a holding company owned by Texas billionaire Harold Simmons, gave $1 million to Make Us Great Again, a super PAC backing Rick Perry, and $2 million to American Crossroads, a group that supports conservative Republican candidates. A company indirectly owned by Contran through Valhi Holdings, another holding company, was doing waste cleanup for the Environmental Protection Agency.
The companies did not respond to requests for comment.
California utility PG&E, which has received at least $255 million from federal agencies for electric and gas service, gave $10,000 in December through its corporate parent to Rebuilding America, a super PAC backing Democratic Rep. Howard Berman (D-Valley Village).
PG&E spokeswoman Lynsey Paulo said the donation was permissible because it came from a different company than the one with federal contracts.
A review of campaign finance records and government contracts found at least five companies with federal contracts giving to Restore Our Future, despite an FEC regulation banning such spending. But the rules regulating election spending have been thrown into disarray in the wake of the Supreme Court’s 2010 decision in the Citizens United case. The FEC, whose commissioners often deadlock along party lines, has been unable to finalize new rules.
Take a look at super PAC spending in the election so far
http://graphics.latimes.com/2012-election-superpac-spending/
Copyright © 2012, Los Angeles Times
http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-pn-federal-contractors-donating-to-super-pacs-with-dubious-legality-20120319,0,3737514.story [with comment]
===
Payday lenders support pro-Romney 'super PAC' Restore Our Future
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney holds a town-hall campaign meeting on the campus of Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois.
(Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images / March 19, 2012)
By Melanie Mason and Matea Gold
March 20, 2012, 1:11 p.m.
Reporting from Washington—
A "super PAC" supporting Mitt Romney has won the backing of another corner of the financial sector: payday lenders.
Seven payday loan companies donated a total of $162,500 to Restore Our Future in February, according to reports filed with the Federal Election Commission on Tuesday. All the donations were recorded in the first week of the month, in increments ranging from $2,500 to $35,000.
Restore Our Future declined to comment on the donations and their timing.
A spokesman for the largest payday lender also declined to comment.
“We don’t discuss any details related to political contributions,” said Jamie Fulmer, vice president for public affairs at Advance America. The company, based in South Carolina, gave $25,000 to the group on Feb. 6.
“We certainly expect any candidate or political action committee to comply with all rules and regulations as it relates to disclosure,” he added.
All but one of the companies made the donations under their own names. But Seattle-based Moneytree gave through a separate entity, Katsam LLC (mispelled as Katsum in the filing). Katsam is registered in Washington state to Dennis and David Bassford, Moneytree’s co-founders. The FEC filing lists an address for Katsam that is the same as that of Moneytree.
Payday lenders have come under scrutiny for offering short-term loans at triple-digit annual interest rates, sometimes at the financial peril of their customers, according to watchdog groups.
In January, Richard Cordray, the new director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, has said that the agency, created by the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial overhaul legislation, would step up its oversight of the industry.
On the campaign trail, Mitt Romney has said that he would repeal Dodd-Frank if elected.
In all, Restore Our Future raised $6.4 million in February from 100 donors, with $3 million coming from just one contributor: Texas home builder and Republican patron Bob Perry.
Perry, who had already donated $3.6 million to GOP super PACs for the 2012 race, is the third biggest donor so far in this election cycle, trailing only Dallas billionaire Harold Simmons and Las Vegas mogul Sheldon Adelson and his family.
Simmons ponied up another $100,000 last month for Restore Our Future, making his total give to the pro-Romney group $200,000 -- modest compared with the $12 million he and his company have given during this cycle to the Republican-allied American Crossroads.
Restore Our Future also got $100,000 in February from Raymond Ruddy, a wealthy Massachusetts conservative who funds anti-abortion and abstinence causes. Former Univision Inc. Chairman A. Jerrold Perenchio gave the super PAC $500,000. Last year, a trust he controls gave $2 million to American Crossroads.
Restore Our Future, which was set up by former aides to the onetime Massachusetts governor, has been the main vehicle for pounding Romney’s rivals for the GOP nomination. The super PAC spent $12.2 million in February -- the vast majority on direct mail pieces, phone banks and ads attacking former Pennsylvania Gov. Rick Santorum.
melanie.mason@latimes.com
matea.gold@latimes.com
*
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Little Rock airport renamed in honor of Bill and Hillary Clinton
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*
Copyright © 2012, Los Angeles Times
http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-pn-pro-romney-super-pac-restore-our-future-gets-payday-lender-support-20120320,0,7537336.story [with comments]
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