William March

October 2, 2008 Chief Political Writer William March covered issues concerning political campaigns, corporate records and federal criminal investigations. He explained the difference between soft- and hard money, and how the two come into play when reporting campaigns. March stressed that as a political writer, he covers everything from sewer systems to high finance, “you can’t name a subject that won’t come into play.” He clarified cross referencing and shared valuable websites reporters should use to “follow the money.”

The first website March detailed was CQ Money Line at http://moneyline.cq.com/pml/home.do. CQ Money Line lays out contributions and filings with the Federal Election Commission and IRS that lobbyists are required to release every six months. Candidates are required to file campaign contribution and expenses to the FEC. According to March, “the Federal Election Commission records and assembles filings in an easier to use, searchable form, and regulatory body for the funding of elections.”

With CQ Money Line, March took us through the steps he made in order to build a tax evasion investigation against Mark Jimenez. In 1996 Jimenez was Bill Clinton’s largest soft money donor in FL. March was able to prove that Jimenez illegally donated $500,000 by forcing his Future Tech employees to donate money to the campaign. March used CQ Money Line to search donations from anyone who listed Future Tech as their employers. After finding overwhelming donations March checked to see if any of those employees had ever donated money to a political campaign. He used public records to check their registration status and voting history. He was able to conclude that there was no way people would have donated thousands of dollars to a political campaign if they didn’t even care enough to vote for the party they were donating to. All of the information March used was a part of public records which proves that any reporter who tries hard enough, can uncover momentous and valuable information.

March also gave us the website for the Florida Division of election and OpenSecrets.org. Because Florida allows corporate donations, when most states do not, the Campaign Finance Database allows the population to insure corporations fairly and legally contribute to campaigns. March gave examples of people who created hundreds of corporations in order to illegally contribute.

March's presentation helped train us to become better and more thorough reporters. With the help of these websites, we will be better able to provide a service to the community by reporting on issues that potentially affect the outcome of our local, state, and national governments.