Thursday’s political law links

TODAY AT THE FEC.  The agenda for today’s Federal Election Commission meeting is online here.

INTERNET COMPANIES LOBBY.  Roll Call.  “Zynga — a San Francisco-based social network game developer — LinkedIn, Mozilla and Twitter waded into a Washington policy debate on Tuesday for perhaps the first time as part of a coalition of Internet companies opposing legislation intended to crack down on websites selling counterfeit goods.”

ELECTIONS AND POLICY CHANGE.  The Times.  “The full retreat on the smog standard was the first and most important environmental decision of the presidential campaign season that is now fully under way. An examination of that decision, based on interviews with lobbyists on both sides, former officials and policy makers at the upper reaches of the White House and the E.P.A., illustrates the new calculus on political and policy shifts as the White House sharpens its focus on the president’s re-election.”

SEC. CHU ADDRESSES SOLYNDRA.  Story here.  “Energy Secretary Steven Chu will take full responsibility for approving a $535 million loan guarantee to the now-bankrupt solar firm Solyndra during a House hearing Thursday, insisting that politics did not influence the decision.”

LESSIG ON PUBLIC FINANCING.  Here.  “So imagine a system that gave a rebate of that first $50 in the form of a ‘democracy voucher.’ That voucher could then be given to any candidate for Congress who agreed to one simple condition: the only money that candidate would accept to finance his or her campaign would be either ‘democracy vouchers’ or contributions from citizens capped at $100. No PAC money. No $2,500 checks. Small contributions only. And if the voter didn’t use the voucher? The money would pass to his or her party, or, if an independent, back to this public funding system.”

SUPER PAC TIES.  The Post.  “Federal Election Commission guidelines include a 120-day ‘cooling off’ period after an operative leaves a campaign to work for an allied group, but there is disagreement about what exactly is allowed during that time.”

CAMPAIGN FINANCE AND OTHER CHARGES IN FIESTA BOWL CASE.  Story here. “A 276-page report of an investigation conducted by Fiesta Bowl board members and a retired Arizona state Supreme Court justice found the ‘apparent scheme’ to reimburse at least $46,539 for employees’ political contributions.”

DOES SUNLIGHT CAUSE CANCER?  What if contributions had to be kept anonymous?  Not a new question, but more here.

FUNDRAISER ARRESTED. The Times. “A fund-raiser for the New York City comptroller, John C. Liu, whose campaign finances are under federal investigation, was arrested on Wednesday morning on charges that he helped illegally funnel thousands of dollars into Mr. Liu’s campaign account, according to court papers and people briefed on the case.”

HAVE A GREAT DAY.

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