Back to school, back to political law links (9/4/12)

CAMPAIGN PLANE DETAILS. Story here. “Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan showed off the campaign’s new planes shining in the bright Florida sun Friday, but the aircraft are hardly brand new.”

OCE REFERRAL ON REP. ANDREWS. Here. “The Board of the Office of Congressional Ethics recommended that the Committee on Ethics further review the above allegations concerning Representative Andrews because there is a substantial reason to believe that he improperly used congressional campaign and Leadership PAC funds for personal use, in violation of House rules and federal law.”

LOBBYISTS IN CHARLOTTE. The Hill. “Heather Podesta from Heather Podesta + Partners, along with her husband, Tony Podesta of the Podesta Group, are hosting several events in Charlotte throughout the week, including a brunch on Monday and Tuesday.”

PEOPLE’S PLEDGE IN THE NEWS. Story here. “The People’s Pledge does not legally bind outside groups from entering the Massachusetts Senate race.”

REP. RICHARDSON ETHICS ISSUE VIEW. Here. “A sitting member of Congress violates federal law and brings shame to the House of Representatives and all she receives is a slap on the wrist fine and a stern ‘talking to’?”

CHARLOTTE PARTIES. LA Times. “The lackluster economy also led many groups to cut back on their convention budgets.”

SQUARE FUNDRAISING. Story here. “In a sign that Mitt Romney’s campaign is serious about digital innovation in politics, it used this past week’s Republican National Convention to do a major roll out of its branded version of Square, the mobile credit card processing app and iPhone/iPad/Android accessory already popular with small businesses which the campaign is using for fundraising.”

USAT ON SOCIAL WELFARE GROUPS. Here. “The emergence of non-profits as the leading conduit for anonymous spending in this year’s presidential campaign is often attributed to the Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United ruling, which opened the money spigot, allowing corporations and unions to buy ads urging people to vote for or against specific candidates.”

FEW GIVE THROUGH COMPANIES. Forbes. “So far, most big donations have been made personally.”

NJ: JUDGE RESIGNS. Story here. “Longtime Ridgewood Municipal Court Judge Phillip F. Sheridan has resigned from his position following a NJ State Supreme Court ruling that bars law firms employing municipal judges from making political contributions, Ridgewood Court Administrator Maria Doerr confirmed Tuesday.”

TN: REGISTRY PERFORMANCE. Story here. “State legislators seem pleased on a bipartisan basis with the way Tennessee’s campaign finance watchdog agency performs, but one concerned citizen, Mike Hart, wonders if that’s not the equivalent of foxes being pleased with oversight of the hen house.”

VT: SUPER PAC IMPACT. Story here. “In the absence of hard evidence quantifying their effect, why all the fuss over super PACs?”

HAVE A GREAT DAY.

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