Bin Laden's Demise, Romney's FEC Surprise and More in Capital Eye Opener: May 2
Your daily dose of news and tidbits from the world of money in politics:
OBAMA: 'JUSTICE HAS BEEN DONE': Last night and well into this morning, news that U.S. special forces had killed terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden captivated a nation glued to television screens and Twitter feeds. President Barack Obama declared in a speech before midnight that "justice had been done" and the troops involved had carried out their mission with "extraordinary courage and capability."
Some, such as OpenSecrets Blog reporter Zachary Newkirk, took in the scene outside the White House, where hundreds of people gathered, waving American flags and singing songs.
Newkirk reports early this morning: "About a thousand people gathered outside the North Lawn, spilling into Lafayette Square. The crowd's patriotic energy was easily visible from its regular impromptu shouts of 'USA, USA!' to scores of waving flags. Occasionally, sections of the majority-college-student crowd broke into the Star Spangled Banner. The young group took on the air of a victorious sports team, not without attempts to climb on trees and lampposts but not - as far as I could tell - the White House fence."
He continued: "The ad hoc rally was not without politicization. "Bush-Cheney '04" and "Obama-Biden" signs dotted the crowd but were far outnumbered by American flags. Thunderous applause met the appearance of a cardboard cut-out of the President and all in attendance clearly reveled in the good news deep into the night."
Good friend and National Public Radio digital media guru Elise Hu was there, too, where she shot these photos.
OBAMA: 'JUSTICE HAS BEEN DONE': Last night and well into this morning, news that U.S. special forces had killed terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden captivated a nation glued to television screens and Twitter feeds. President Barack Obama declared in a speech before midnight that "justice had been done" and the troops involved had carried out their mission with "extraordinary courage and capability."Some, such as OpenSecrets Blog reporter Zachary Newkirk, took in the scene outside the White House, where hundreds of people gathered, waving American flags and singing songs.
Newkirk reports early this morning: "About a thousand people gathered outside the North Lawn, spilling into Lafayette Square. The crowd's patriotic energy was easily visible from its regular impromptu shouts of 'USA, USA!' to scores of waving flags. Occasionally, sections of the majority-college-student crowd broke into the Star Spangled Banner. The young group took on the air of a victorious sports team, not without attempts to climb on trees and lampposts but not - as far as I could tell - the White House fence."
He continued: "The ad hoc rally was not without politicization. "Bush-Cheney '04" and "Obama-Biden" signs dotted the crowd but were far outnumbered by American flags. Thunderous applause met the appearance of a cardboard cut-out of the President and all in attendance clearly reveled in the good news deep into the night."
Good friend and National Public Radio digital media guru Elise Hu was there, too, where she shot these photos.
Considerable information has yet to be revealed about bin Laden's death and the circumstances surrounding it. And a nation enraptured with the news is also likely to experience a current of nervousness over the notion of retaliatory terrorist attacks and the state of the United States' domestic defenses.
Homeland security remains a focus of hundreds of different corporations, organizations and special interest groups that lobbied the Department of Homeland Security in 2010 -- 723 in all. Many targeted issues surrounding air travel and cargo shipping, although cybersecurity and communications remained popular topics, according to the Center for Responsive Politics' research.
The U.S. Travel Association, Emergent BioSolutions, General Dynamics and Microsoft reported lobbying the Department of Homeland Security more than all other entities during 2010, the Center's research indicates:
Homeland security remains a focus of hundreds of different corporations, organizations and special interest groups that lobbied the Department of Homeland Security in 2010 -- 723 in all. Many targeted issues surrounding air travel and cargo shipping, although cybersecurity and communications remained popular topics, according to the Center for Responsive Politics' research.
The U.S. Travel Association, Emergent BioSolutions, General Dynamics and Microsoft reported lobbying the Department of Homeland Security more than all other entities during 2010, the Center's research indicates:
Same holds true for the Department of Defense, which 1,378 different entities lobbied last year. That's slightly off from an all-time high of just more than 1,500 in 2008:
From a campaign standpoint, Obama proved to be more popular with people associated with the defense sector than any other candidate in 2008, raising more than $1 million from individuals who identifiably work for defense firms.