SWIPE FEES AND CONTRIBUTIONS. The Hill reports. “Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) has reaped a windfall in contributions from banks and lobbyists since introducing legislation to delay new regulations on debit-card swipe fees.”
LIMIT ON ANONYMOUS DONATIONS? Politico reports. “The Obama administration is considering a number of measures to compel disclosure of the kind of anonymous campaign contributions that helped finance millions of dollars of attack ads against Democrats during the 2010 elections.” The same story mentions a draft Executive Order on government contracting/pay to play issues.
FACEBOOK AND OBAMA I. The President’s Facebook town hall is today. More information here.
FACEBOOK AND OBAMA II. Politico reports. “Facebook is downplaying the partisan aspects of Obama’s visit Wednesday. In a statement, a Facebook spokesman said: ‘We’re honored that President Obama will be visiting Facebook next week and will be using our platform to communicate directly with an international audience. More broadly, we’re heartened that political figures are using Facebook to organize and reach people in a direct, personal, simple way that was unimaginable a decade ago.’”
R’S AND THE ONLINE GAME. The Times. “During last year’s midterm elections, Republicans caught up with Democrats in using technology and social networks, and now many Republicans elected to the House and Senate are using these tools more than Democrats, according to several political and technology experts.”
PACE OF ETHICS REFORM IN NJ. That’s the topic of this story. “New Jersey Governor Chris Christie said the Democratic-controlled Legislature has done nothing on proposals to overhaul ethics regulations that he proposed in September.”
JAIL AND RESTITUTION IN CAMPAIGN WORKER CASE. The Post reports. “An Anne Arundel County Circuit Court judge sentenced the former campaign treasurer for Maryland Sen. Ulysses Currie (D-Prince George’s) to five years in prison for stealing more than $100,000 from his campaign, according to the Anne Arundel criminal clerk’s office.”
HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND. MORNING UPDATES WILL RESUME MONDAY, APRIL 25TH.