“I SHOULD HAVE VOTED AT A HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS.” Story here. “The Maine Republican Party says 19 people who registered to vote on Election Day 2004 used a Holiday Inn Express in South Portland as their home address.”
LIGHTSQUARED RULES FAST-TRACKED. The Post. “Republicans questioned Thursday why the Federal Communications Commission fast-tracked an initial approval for a company — well-connected among Democrats — to provide cellphone service through satellites, a technology that other agencies say disrupts Global Positioning System devices, hurricane-tracking systems, and military and commercial airlines.”
POLITICO ON PERKY PERRY. Here. “Some of the same Texas donors who have funded Perry’s political rise also have footed the bills for Perry and his family to jet around the world, stay in luxury hotels and resorts, vacation in tony Colorado ski towns, attend all manner of sporting events and concerts, and to maintain, entertain – and even pay the cable bill – at the 4,600-square-foot mansion with a heated pool that taxpayers are renting him at a cost of about $10,000 a month.”
PRO-PREZ SUPER PAC PIGGYBACK. Story here. “A meeting of the top fundraisers for President Obama’s 2012 reelection campaign kicks off tonight in Chicago with a speech-watching party at Obama’s headquarters. Right afterward, the national finance committee members have been invited to another event – a reception hosted by Bill Burton and Sean Sweeney, two former White House aides who formed an independent “super PAC” to support Obama’s reelection.”
SOLYNDRA ATTACKS. Solyndra is the topic of the third item in this Politico report. “The Republican National Committee is working aggressively to make a scandal out of the bankruptcy of a bankrupt California renewable energy concern called Solyndra that has been touted as a stimulus success story by the president and vice president.”
MEMBER TRAVEL IN THE NEWS. Story here. “Four years after Congress enacted new rules barring groups that lobby from paying for House Members to take long trips, dozens of lawmakers traveled to Israel this summer with staffers and family members for seven-day tours paid for by the nonprofit arm of a pro-Israel lobbying group.”
HLOGA’S ANNIVERSARY. How will you mark the anniversary of the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act’s passage in September 2007? Roll Call discuses aspects of HLOGA here. “[Sheila] Krumholz said she has no easy explanation but placed her bets on the sweeping lobbying and ethics reform law enacted in 2007, which for the first time imposed criminal penalties on ethics violators. That gave Washington players who do only minimal lobbying an incentive to avoid registering unless absolutely necessary.”
SUPERCOMMITTEE LOBBYING APPROACHES. Politico. “Lobbyists and trade groups are turning to companies in the hometowns and states of supercommittee members to put a local face on their causes, which includes protecting oil and gas incentives and corporate accounting rules.”
TAX BREAKS AND THE VIDEO GAME INDUSTRY. The Times. “Many tax policy analysts say the breaks for the video game industry — whose domestic sales of $15 billion a year now exceed those of the music business — are a vivid example of a tax system that defies common sense.”
YOULOBBY. Roll Call. “When it launches next month, YouLobby will help voters pool their money to buy the sort of lobbying muscle powerful interest groups have long enjoyed. A passionate citizen can use the site to start an advocacy campaign, solicit donations and hire a professional lobbyist with that money.”
SENTENCE FOR DIMASI. Story here. “Former House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi was sentenced Friday to eight years in federal prison for using his clout to steer two state contracts to a software firm in exchange for kickbacks.”
NO COFFEE IN KENTUCKY. Story here. “All three candidates for governor generally favor proposed changes in state ethics laws for legislators.”
HAVE A GOOD DAY.