Good morning. I’ll have my impressions from COGEL after I have a moment to collect my thoughts. The conference ended yesterday and I attended a panel during each session of the conference. My glib reaction is that they might want to rename the event COGEL-Bopp, because almost every session I attended on the substance of the law featured a discussion of Mr. Bopp’s lawsuits against various state election authorities.
Earmarks in the news
In Politico.
After agreeing to kill earmarks, some of the most conservative GOP lawmakers are already starting to ask themselves: What have we done?
Minnesota over
Emmer concedes.
Local chambers and the ads of 2010
Politico’s Cummings reports that some local chamber groups are taking issue with some of the ads run in 2010.
More than 40 local chambers issued statements during the midterms distancing themselves from the U.S. Chamber’s campaign — including nearly every major local chamber in Iowa and New Hampshire, key states for the presidential campaign.
Penalty for New York lobbyist
The Times reports.
One of the most influential lobbyists in Albany has been implicated in Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo’s wide-ranging investigation of the New York state pension fund and has agreed to pay a $500,000 fine.
Free speech and Facebook and Twitter
The Times discusses issues related to Wikileaks here.
Both Facebook and Twitter — but particularly Twitter — have received praise in recent years as outlets for free speech. Governments trying to control the flow of information have found it difficult to block people from voicing their concerns or setting up meetings through the sites.
At the same time, both Facebook and Twitter have corporate aspirations that hinge on their ability to serve as ad platforms for other companies. This leaves them with tough public relations and business decisions around how they should handle situations as politically charged as the WikiLeaks developments.
(Sarah Palin reports a cyberattack. News here.)
Who tea party-backed members are hiring
Is the topic of this report: “Many incoming GOP lawmakers have hired registered lobbyists as senior aides.”
Woe is RNC
The Republican National Committee has quietly disclosed more than $4 million in previously unreported debt in amended filings with the Federal Election Commission, meaning yet another headache for embattled party chairman Michael Steele.
Ethics moving in Alabama
A report is here.
House and Senate committees are meeting Thursday morning to address the governor’s seven-bill package.
Have a good day
And we’ll see what’s in the political law news bag tomorrow.
