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OKLAHOMA SENATOR LANDS PLANE ON CLOSED, WORKER-OCCUPIED RUNWAY: The Smoking Gun‘s report Wednesday that Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) nearly slammed the plane he was piloting into runway workers at a Texas airport might also make matters awkward for him on the campaign trail.

Inhofe has been a major beneficiary of financial support from air transport associations and companies, the Center for Responsive Politics‘ research indicates.

The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, American Airlines and UPS are Inhofe’s third, fourth and fifth largest donors throughout his entire career. In total, each organization gave Inhofe about $50,000.

Inhofe’s status as the top lifetime recipient of contributions from the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association also carries over to his political action committee. The organization gave an additional $35,000 to Inhofe’s leadership PAC during his career.

According to Federal Aviation Administration investigation documents obtained by The Smoking Gun, Inhofe piloted his plane onto a closed runway being used by construction workers, despite observing that the lane was marked off with an “X.”

As the report describes, Inhofe’s plane initially landed onto the closed runway and “sky hopped” over multiple airport employees and vehicles before coming to a stop.

When asked by the FAA about any cockpit distractions, Inhofe said that he was also showing a passenger “how the technology of the cockpit instruction worked during a practice [instrument landing system] approach.” Inhofe eventually completed several reeducation and training courses in order to avoid legal charges.



WALL STREET TO CAPITOL HILL — STOP PLAYING WITH DEBT CEILING: Lawmakers may have averted concerns over a shutdown last week, but with questions over raising the government’s debt ceiling looming, Wall Street is sending a clear message to Congress: don’t mess it up.

Politico reports that House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) met with Wall Street executives to find out how much leeway lawmakers might have on debating a debt limit increase before negative economic side effects could occur.

If the debt limit — a figure which caps how much money can be borrowed — is hit or runs into implementation delays, the U.S. risks defaulting on its financial obligations. In a letter to Congress, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner warned that a default could “cause a financial crisis potentially more severe than [the current economic downturn].”

However — as Slate’s Dave Weigel points out — multiple Republican lawmakers have pushed for further spending cuts before they’ll agree to increase the debt limit.

In the past, the financial sector has frequently reached out to lawmakers through multiple avenues.

During the 2010 election cycle, the securities and investment industry was the fourth largest industrial contributor to federal candidates, giving more than $32.7 million. The commercial banking industry clocked in as at the 17th biggest spender, with contributions of more than $12.1 million during the same period.

DEMOCRATS FOLLOW REPUBLICANS IN 2012 OUTSIDE SPENDING PLANS: Thanks to new campaign finance rules, conservative-leaning outside groups invested tens of millions of dollars into the last election cycle and helped rack up numerous electoral wins.

Democrats may not have liked how this money was raised in 2010, but when it comes to 2012, they’re planning on doing much of the same.

The Washington Post reports that Democratic officials are establishing their own network of election-year outside groups dedicated to supporting the re-election bids of President Barack Obama and other Democratic candidates.

By taking advantage of the same policies used by conservative outside organizations during the 2010 election cycle, Democratic-leaning groups hope to spend more than $200 million in advance of 2012.

The U.S. Supreme Court’s rulings in last year’s Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission and other cases lowered restrictions on how outside groups can raise and spend money in elections. Conservative-leaning organizations such as American Crossroads and sister nonprofit operation Crossroads GPS were major beneficiaries of these new rules.

Both groups ranked among the top spenders during the 2010 election cycle and invested more than $37.5 million combined on independent expenditures — ads or communications that directly advocate for or against a specific candidate.

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Senior Researcher Doug Weber contributed to this report.



For permission to reprint for commercial uses, such as textbooks, contact the Center: Feel free to distribute or cite this material, but please credit the Center for Responsive Politics.For permission to reprint for commercial uses, such as textbooks, contact the Center: [email protected]

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