OFFICIAL OR POLITICAL? Scott Coffina discusses the purpose of President Obama’s recent travels here. “For any president running for reelection, there is not always a clear line between politics and policy, and he is entitled to a degree of deference in classifying his public events. Nevertheless, federal law prohibits the use of taxpayer money for political activity, which is defined as activity directed toward the success or failure of a candidate for partisan political office.”
SUPER PAC TERMINATION. POLITICO’s “Influence” has the scoop here on a PAC formed to support Herman Cain.
GINGRICH DRAWS COMPLAINT. Story here. “A complaint filed today with the FEC by CREW Executive Director Melanie Sloan alledges Newt Gingrich violated election law by holding the events that were paid for by his private company Gingrich Productions while campaign volunteers and staff collected information from supporters.”
HANDCUFFING THE COMMISSION. Politico. “The campaign by congressional Republicans for ‘process reform’ at the Federal Communications Commission is as much about lawmakers wanting to handcuff the commission as it is about how the agency operates.”
WILL CASE IMPACT NJ LAW? The impact on New Jersey campaign finance law of a recent opinion is the topic of this article. “Wisconsin Right to Life PAC v. Barland is another in a long line of cases stemming from the McCain/Feingold reforms of 2002.”
SENTENCE IN NYC CASE. The Times. “John F. Haggerty Jr., a political consultant who was convicted of stealing campaign funds from Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, admitted his guilt and was sentenced to one and a third to four years in state prison on Monday.”
LOBBYIST CONTRIBUTION BAN. Jessica Levinson discusses getting around California’s rules on lobbyist contributions here. “Federal law controls federal races, while state law dictates the permissible behavior for state races. Therefore, when state elected officials run for federal office, the same lobbyists prohibited from giving to state campaigns are free to give to federal ones.”
HAVE A GREAT DAY.