Thursday’s political law links

INSIDE SOLYNDRA. The Post. “Solyndra’s ability to secure federal backing also made the company eager for more assistance, interviews and records show. Company executives ramped up their Washington lobbying efforts, hiring a former Senate aide to work with the White House and the Energy Department.”

OVERTURNING CU? The Hill. “A pair of House Democrats introduced legislation Tuesday to overturn the Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United ruling that freed corporations to spend unlimited money on elections.” More on H. J. Res. 78 here.

PERRY’S WALL STREET DISADVANTAGE.  Roll Call.  “Perry is the only presidential candidate in the field affected by the rules, which are aimed at curbing pay-to-play abuses in the lucrative municipal bonds and public pension industries.”

BP PAC CASH FLOW.  Politico.  “BP has clawed its way back from political purgatory, finding itself right where it was before the Deepwater Horizon disaster: contributing significant cash to candidates happy to take it.”

BERKLEY ETHICS MATTER.  The Times.  “Nevada Republicans have filed an ethics complaint against Representative Shelley Berkley, Democrat of Nevada, accusing her of using her office to enrich herself by promoting legislation and intervening with federal regulators to help out her husband’s medical practice”

“CRONYISM” IN THE NEWS.  The Post.

CLIENT GIVING.  The Post.  “Texans for Public Justice compiled a list of Toomey’s clients over the past decade and compared it with donors to Perry’s campaigns. The group found that 42 out of 105 [Mike] Toomey clients donated a total of $5.53 million to Perry from 2001 to 2011, including the two years that Toomey worked as the governor’s chief of staff between lobbying stints.”

CREW’S BRIEF.  Story here.  “A government watchdog group known for aggressively advocating prosecution against unethical lawmakers is seeking dismissal of a criminal case against former presidential candidate John Edwards…  This is the first time that CREW has supported dismissal of a case against a politician.”

REPORT FROM MONTANA.  Here.  “The Montana Supreme Court made it clear Wednesday during oral arguments that it won’t be easy to preserve the state’s century-old ban on corporate political spending — but the justices also had tough words for the clandestine organization behind several lawsuits aimed at dismantling campaign finance laws.”

REPORT FROM MINNESOTA.  Here.  “Minnesota’s recent campaign finance law, which generated headlines — and headaches — for Minnesota companies during the 2010 gubernatorial campaign, will take center stage in a St. Louis courtroom today in a high-profile attempt to overturn the statute.”

PHILADELPHIA REWRITE.  Here.  “Bowing slightly to protests from lawyers, businesses, and nonprofit organizations, the city Board of Ethics agreed Wednesday to revise proposed rules for the city’s first lobbyist registration law, now likely to take effect in October.”  And in other Philadelphia news, hopefully the Nats will sweep the Phillies and win today’s game.

STAND BY YOUR TWEET.  Story here.  “Twitter is now letting candidates and their political committees purchase political advertising, the company says.”

HAVE A GOOD DAY.

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