You Too Can Have Fun With Campaign Finance Reports

Per Nevada's stupid campaign finance reporting laws, campaign finance reports are not due from the candidates today, Tuesday, Oct. 28.

Yes, that's a good week and a half into early voting.

When the time comes, however, you can add some real fun to that event.  Go over to the wretched, awful, stinking, putrid, embarrassing Clark County report site, try to navigate your way through the mind-bogglingly poorly designed button and drop-down menus until you find your candidate of choice, download (by clicking on) the report you want.

Then, ruin your eyesight by trying to read the sometimes hand-written chicken scratches.

If you can, fire up a spreadsheet and keep track of the money from casinos, the silver state garbage kings, hospitals, doctors, and health insurance companies (those last three particularly love Joe Heck), and mining companies. If you really want a challenge, try running down developers and their lawyers, but for them, and some of the casino guys, you'll need the Secretary of State Business entity search tool to track down the real owner.

And if you want to, you can email me what you find and I'll post it. I'll be poking around some myself, of course. I can't wait to see how much the Republican Jewish Coalition gave Bob Beers since Sheldon Adelson has pretty much reached his limits giving through his normal channels, like the Sands. Assuming the stock crash didn't wipe out his campaign "mad money" fund, he'll probably be funneling money through the coalition and through his astroturf organization Freedom's Watch.

Oh, and there's fun to be had with Democrats, too. Like seeing how much Tom Collins got from Sheldon this time around, or how much the casino bosses are stoking up there favs. And who can wait to see how much Democratic state senators are plowing into the coffers of Alison Copening and Shirley Breeden?