More on recent FEC reports on campaign contributions:

• Pro-Ron Paul PAC misses $$$ deadline, blames credit card company
• After TV cameras leave, Romney Super PAC discloses $18 million
• Casino magnate Adelson's family gave early to Gingrich PAC

By Bill Dedman, msnbc.com, and Michael Isikoff, NBC News
with reporting by NBC's Azriel Relph and Lisa Riordan Seville

After the speeches were over and the TV cameras in Florida were turned off, the pro-Mitt Romney Super PAC called Restore Our Future disclosed its fundraising Tuesday night, just before the midnight ET deadline.

It showed total receipts of $17.9 million during the last six months of last year. It had previously reported raising $12.2 million in the first six months of the year. The PAC ended the year with $23.6 million in the bank, hoarding a huge bankroll for the primaries and general election. The figures for January are not yet included.

Top Wall Street moguls from big hedge fund and private equity firms, including principals from Bain Capital,  topped the list of donors that pumped more than $17.9 million into the Mitt Romney Super PAC,  helping to bankroll attack ads in the Republican primary states.

But while the filing by Restore Our Future shows its formidable fundraising prowess, it will do little to alleviate criticism that Romney is too closely tied to Wall Street and other corporate interests.

The Romney Super PAC collected seven $1 million donations, including one from Paul Singer, the billionaire and secretive head of the Elliott Management hedge fund, and two others from hedge fund kingpins Julian Robertson of Tiger Management and Robert Mercer of Rennaissance Technologies.

Others accounting for $1 million donations included Florida energy executive Bill Koch of Oxbow Carbon, who has also been a fundraiser for Romney's presidential campaign; Miguel Fernandez, who chairs a Miami private equity firm MBF Healthcare Partners; and Rooney Holdings of Tulsa Oklahoma.

Also giving a total of $1 million were firms headed by Frank L. VanderSloot of Idaho. He is also the co-chair of Romney's Idaho finance operation. His firms, operating under the names Melaleuca Inc., Melaleuca of Asia Ltd. Co., Melaleuca of Japan Inc., Melaleuca of Southeast Asia Inc., gave a total of $250,000. The company sells Nicole Miller Timeless Age Defying Serum and other home "wellness"  remedies. Forbes magazine has a profile of VanderSloot here.

Three executives of Bain Capital, the private equity firm formerly headed by Romney, gave a total of $625,000.

Romney has insisted he is not involved in the Super PAC and has no control over its ad buys or messages. But further evidence that the group is working closely with Romney's interests came Tuesday night when Restore Our Future held back its required filing with the Federal Election Commission until after Romney had given his victory speech in the Florida primary.

The filing underscores the key role of wealthy donors and companies in funding the super pacs. Some 62 of its contributors gave $100,000 or more.

Other big donors include:

Chris Shumway, Shumway Capital Investments, Greenwich, Conn., $750,000.

Bob Perry, Perry Homes, Houston, $500,000.

Steven Webster, Avista Capital, Houston, $500,000.

The full list of donors is here.

By contrast, a Super PAC supporting Newt Gingrich reported $2.1 million, not counting $10 million from a casino magnate donated in January.

The Super PAC supporting President Obama reported $4.4 million received by year end. A Super PAC supporting Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who has dropped out of the Republican race, reported $5.5 million.

Super PACS are known to the Federal Election Commission as independent committees, because they are forbidden to coordinate their activities with campaigns. Outside the limits of campaign finance laws, Super PACs may raise unlimited sums of money from corporations, unions, associations and individuals. They can use that money to advocate for or against political candidates.

Read more about the reports filed Tuesday:

Casino magnate Adelson's family gave early money to Gingrich PAC

Spielberg, labor union are big backers of Obama Super PAC

Perry PAC's $1 million donor got help with nuclear waste dump

Major GOP Super PAC raised $51 million in 2011

Not 'Desperate' for cash: Obama lists his big fundraisers

Sugar Daddy: Huntsman's father gave $1.9 million to Super PAC

Colbert Super PAC raises $1 million; non-satirical PACs to follow

Update: The full list of donors to the Super PAC is here, but that filing does not list the greater amount donated to the nonprofit.

WASHINGTON (AP) — American Crossroads, the Republican "super" political committee that plans to play a major role in this year's presidential campaign, raised more than $51 million along with its nonprofit arm last year, The Associated Press has learned.

The figures from Crossroads — the group backed by former George W. Bush adviser Karl Rove — were among the first financial reports being made public Tuesday, the deadline for super PACs and presidential candidates to file financial reports with federal election officials.

While most recent public attention has focused on groups spending major sums for negative TV ads assailing GOP presidential primary rivals Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich, Tuesday's figures are a sign of even greater spending to come in the general election battle between the Republican nominee and Democratic President Barack Obama.

Other big Super PACs required to disclose their donors Tuesday include Restore Our Future, the Romney-leaning PAC that has contributed to a deluge of ads hammering Gingrich, and Winning Our Future, the Gingrich-supportive group that has been critical of Romney's time at a venture capital firm. Both super PACs are run in part by former advisers to the candidates.

The American Crossroads PAC has about $15.6 million cash on hand, representing only part of the money it has in the bank to spend on defeating Obama. Financial details from Crossroads GPS — the nonprofit arm — are unclear because it doesn't have to disclose its donors under IRS rules, althoughCrossroads GPS was responsible for most of the groups' fundraising haul.

The Crossroads war chests underscore the extraordinary impact Super PACs could have on this year's race for the White House. In GOP primaries so far, groups working for or against presidential candidates have spent roughly $25 million on TV ads — about half the nearly $53 million spent on advertising so far to influence voters in the early weeks of the race.

Crossroads' financial reports, which the AP obtained ahead of the Federal Election Commission, identify wealthy donors who had given contributions reaching as high as seven figures by the end of 2011. Among the largest contributors is Dallas businessman Harold Simmons, who gave the group $5 million last November and whose holding company, Contran Corp., donated an additional $2 million.

Simmons is a major donor to GOP and conservative causes who pumped as much as $4 million into the "swift boat" campaign that helped sink Democratic presidential nominee Sen. John Kerry in 2004. Simmons, an early supporter of Texas Gov. Rick Perry's presidential run, also was a fundraising "bundler" putting donations together for Arizona Sen. John McCain.

Other Super PACs have already had a major effect this primary season. One group, for instance, effectively saved Newt Gingrich's candidacy, while another tore into him in Florida and elsewhere. At the minimum, the groups' spending is a precursor to the general election — when super PACs aligned with both Republicans and Obama plan to dole out even larger sums.

These groups are the products of a 2010 Supreme Court ruling that removed restrictions on corporate and union spending in federal elections. The groups can't directly coordinate with the candidates they support, but many are staffed with former campaign workers who have an intimate knowledge of a favored candidate's strategy.

Since this summer, the groups have spent tens of millions on ads in key GOP primary states like Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Florida. The PACs have also unleashed millions on expenses typically reserved for campaigns, including direct mailings, phone calls and get-out-the-vote efforts.

Few groups are likely to be as influential as American Crossroads, which plans to raise hundreds of millions of dollars this election cycle and enlists support from high-profile GOP figures such as former Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour.

Crossroads' financial reports show other large donors such as Joseph W. Craft III, a Tulsa businessman whose Alliance Holdings, a major coal producer, gave $425,000. Other contributions include: $500,000 from Dallas-based Crow Holdings; $250,000 from Chicago philanthropist and GOP supporter Janet Duchossois, and $100,000 from Sam Zell, a Chicago real estate billionaire whose Tribune media company is now in bankruptcy.

Outside spending by individuals isn't new. Liberal-leaning billionaire George Soros gave more than $20 million to help groups supportive of Kerry — these groups were known as "527" organizations — and his 2004 White House bid. But the high court's Citizens United ruling essentially gave a green light to individuals who want to pump unlimited sums into outside groups that would in turn support candidates.

The Obama campaign on Tuesday disclosed a list of 61 people who raised at least half a million dollars for the president's re-election efforts. Among them are movie producers Jeffrey Katzenberg and Harvey Weinstein and embattled former New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine, whose $70,000 in contributions from himself and his wife were refunded by the Obama campaign and the Democratic National Committee.

A handful of other financial filings began trickling in to the Federal Election Commission Tuesday afternoon, including those from the Gingrich campaign. It said the former House speaker raised $10 million during the fourth quarter, in addition to $5 million this month. Those totals are separate from super PAC money being spent on his behalf by outside groups.

Perry, the Texas governor who was an early star in the Republican primaries, raised an anemic $2.9 million this past quarter, compared with $17.2 million within the first two months of his entering the race last summer. The Jon Huntsman-leaning Our Destiny super PAC raised about $2.8 million — with more than $1.8 million coming from his father, Jon Huntsman Sr.

Endorse Liberty, a group supportive of libertarian-leaning Rep. Ron Paul of Texas, said it raised $3.9 million for online advertising in key primary states.

___

Associated Press writers Stephen Braun and Jim Kuhnhenn contributed to this report.

Why doesn't the fact-checking come first?

After a presidential debate, even before the debate has ended, we're able now to read fact-checks from Pulitzer Prize-winning PolitiFact and many news organizations.

But shouldn't the candidates get their facts straight and tell the truth in the first place?

"American politics has become a battle of talking points," said Bill Adair, editor of PolitiFact and Washington bureau chief for The Tampa Bay Times. "Once candidates find a talking point they like, they often stick with it — even when fact-checkers say it's wrong."

Perhaps the first questions in the next presidential debate should be something along these lines...

For Newt Gingrich:

Former Speaker Gingrich, in debate after debate, you've taken credit for balancing four federal budgets when you were the speaker of the House. As has been pointed out repeatedly by fact-checking organizations, the four years of balanced budgets were fiscal 1998 through 2001, but you were in office for only the first two of those budgets. You left the House in January 1999 and had no role in crafting the budgets for the subsequent two years. In addition, you opposed the two tax-raising deals that were largely responsible for balancing the budget. (Fact-checks here from The New York Times and here from The Washington Post.)

Similarly, you said that people can use food stamps "to go to Hawaii," claimed that the ethics charges against you were conducted by "a very partisan political committee," and said that "no federal official at any level is allowed to say 'Merry Christmas.'" 

All these statements were false, according to PolitiFact.

PolitiFact scorecard on Gingrich

Equal-time: Questions for the other candidates are below 

It's been nearly five years since PolitiFact and a host of similar services started debunking the most outrageous statements. In that time, have the candidates become more honest?

"Not overall, but we've seen glimpses that they will alter their wording after we've called out a falsehood," Adair said. "For example, the way Newt said the balanced budget line in the last debate was more accurate, because he didn't say the four consecutive years were when he was speaker. So maybe he responded to the fact-checking."

Here are specific follow-up questions for each of the current Republican candidates, as well as President Barack Obama, based on fact-checking by PolitiFact and the major newspapers:

For Mitt Romney:
Former Governor Romney, in every debate so far, you've said something like, "Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were a big part of why we have the housing crisis." But studies have shown that Fannie and Freddie were late to invest in subprime mortgages, following the lead of Wall Street firms that you never mention. (Fact-check from The New York Times here and here.) The unspoken narrative in your comments, and those of the other candidates, panders inaccurately to those who want to believe that loans to unworthy minorities, driven by the Community Reinvestment Act, caused the financial crisis. In fact, most subprime loans were made by lenders who were not covered by the CRA, but who were driven by the need for profits to satisfy their Wall Street investors. Are you trying to deflect blame from Wall Street?

Similarly, you have said repeatedly that President Obama "went around the world and apologized for America," said "I don't have lobbyists running my campaign," and claimed that President Obama's health care law "represents a government takeover of health care."

All false, according to PolitiFact.

PolitiFact scorecard for Romney.

For Rick Santorum:
Former Senator Santorum, you have repeatedly criticized Gov. Romney's health insurance program in Massachusetts for the so-called individual mandate, for requiring individuals to buy health insurance. Why not mention that in 1994, when you were running for the U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania, you supported an individual mandate.

Similarly, you said that an Obama administration policy prohibits people who work with at-risk youth from promoting marriage as a way to avoid poverty, claimed that "a third of all the young people in America are not in America today because of abortion," and said, "Any child born prematurely, according to the president, in his own words, can be killed." 

All false, according to PolitiFact.

PolitiFact scorecard for Santorum.

For Ron Paul:
Representative Paul, you've said that the United States "is bankrupt." The country isn't unable to pay its debts, nor is it impoverished. The credit rating of the United States is AA+ at Standard & Poor's (one step below the top of a 20-step scale), and AAA at the other rating agencies.

Similarly, you claimed that only a few sentences in your racist and conspiratorial newsletters were inflammatory, that the majority of the American people believe we should go back on the gold standard and that you never vote for legislation unless it's specifically authorized in the Constitution.

All false, according to PolitiFact.

PolitiFact scorecard for Paul.

And in the general election, maybe the first question to the incumbent could start something like this:

For Barack Obama:
President Obama, you've said that most of the money for your campaign came from small donors, that you've excluded lobbyists from policy-making jobs, that you haven't raised taxes once.

All false, according to PolitiFact.

You've claimed that your opponents plan to cut funding for Israel to zero. PolitiFact rated that claim "Pants on Fire," its lowest rating.

"One theme we've seen in Obama's statements," says PolitiFact's Bill Adair, "is that he is exaggerating how he has fulfilled promises. We know this, of course, because we keep track of all 500+ promises on our Obameter."

PolitiFact scorecard for Obama and Obameter keeping track of his campaign policies

Should the candidates be asked: As you prepare for a debate, is part of your preparation to remind yourself, whatever I say, I should play it straight with the American people? Aren't you embarrassed to repeat statements that any 8th-grader could look up in 20 seconds and discover have been proven untrue? Or do you calculate that it's acceptable to twist the facts to win an election?

Readers, what do you think? What would make the candidates stick to the facts? Add your comments below.