Good morning, here are political law links for Mon., March 26th

CONVENTION FUNDING STORY. The Post. “Although the host committee needs to raise $37 million, it is banned, under new rules imposed by the Obama campaign and the Democratic Party, from accepting corporate cash and individual donations of more than $100,000 — for the first time in history.”

HOUSE ETHICS IN THE NEWS. The Post. “The House Ethics Committee said Friday it has launched an investigation into allegations against Rep. Shelley Berkley (D-Nev.) and a fresh inquiry into Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-Fla.) .”

FAMILY TIES. The Times. “Eighty-two lawmakers paid family members through their office payrolls, campaign committees and political-action funds…”

HYPERLINK ETHICS GUIDANCE. House Ethics Memorandum.

GLOBAL COMPLIANCE SYMPOSIUM CONFERENCE. Mike Koehler will appear on a distinguished panel this Wednesday to discuss the future of the FCPA. More here.

FEDERAL CONTRACTOR GIVING.  The Times.  “The ban on contractor donations is a broad one, applying to ‘any political party, committee, or candidate for public office, or to any person for any political purpose or use.'”

DISCLOSE ACT HEARING SET. Senate Rules. The hearing will be this Thursday at 10 a.m.

SUPER PAC FEARS. The Post. “Even a phalanx of well-funded conservative super PACs hasn’t been able to stockpile enough money to rival Obama, who had nearly $85 million in his campaign bank account at the end of February, records show.”

DONORS AND THE WHITE HOUSE.  The Post.  “President Barack Obama is using privileged access to one of America’s greatest landmarks to reward his most generous financial supporters in ways that Republicans Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum can’t match: More than 60 of Obama’s biggest campaign donors have visited the White House more than once for meetings with top advisers, holiday parties or state dinners, a review by The Associated Press has found.”

PINTEREST POLITICS. ClickZ. “Like corporate brands, political campaigns are just beginning to explore ways to use Pinterest, which lends itself well to the campaign visuals that can produce an emotional impact on voters, sometimes called ‘polioptics.'” I haven’t explored Pinterest much, but I hear it’s growing faster than Facebook did, with millions of news users every month.

LOANS AND INTEREST. Story here. “Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a nonpartisan nonprofit, and the watchdog website Open Secrets examined campaign finance records and found that Broun and 247 other congressmen ‘use their positions to financially benefit themselves or family members.'”

REVOLVING DOOR.  Roll Call.  “In general, federal law bars senior administration officials from lobbying their former agencies for one year, and on taking office in 2009, Obama issued an even broader post-employment ban.”

IA LOBBYING RULES. Story here. “For individual elected officials, Iowa has a stringent law governing gifts, limiting their value to $3 or less, about the price of a coffee shop java. But what some consider a loophole allows unlimited spending on food, drinks and entertainment at functions during the legislative session when all legislators are invited — a time when function sponsors are often lobbying for or against bills.”

LATEST IN MT CASE. Story here. “The Montana attorney general’s office filed new arguments Friday in the ongoing court battle over Montana’s political spending restrictions, saying the state’s ban on corporate campaign contributions is constitutional.”

HAVE A GREAT DAY.

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