USE OF TITLES ISSUE. The Post. “Officially, members can’t use their position for private fundraising, but ethics watchdogs were typically okay with the practice as long as it was clear that it was Joe Politician-the-man, not Joe Politician-the-official who was invoked.”
LEVERS OF POWER. The Times. “Every president lives at the intersection of policy and politics, never more so than during a campaign season.”
SEN. REID AND SPEECH AND DEBATE. The Hill. “Republicans say Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) flouted the spirit of ethical prohibitions against political activity on federal property Wednesday after he ripped Mitt Romney on the Senate floor.”
VH ON VH. Story here. “Rep. Chris Van Hollen called a federal court ruling allowing tax-exempt groups to conceal the [identities] of their donors ‘a blow against transparency in the funding of political campaigns.'”
ABOVE THE LAW ON VH. Here.
SITE RELAUNCH. Politico. “Congress.gov is getting a facelift.”
FEC AGENDA. The agenda for today’s FEC meeting is online here.
POLITICAL FILE RULE UPDATE. Story here. “The National Association of Broadcasters on Sept. 17 filed a motion with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to defer until after the election its appeal of the Federal Communications Commission’s rules requiring TV stations to disclose information online about political ad purchases, saying the additional time will allow the group to ‘gain experience with the new regulatory requirements at issue and explore possible alternative means of resolving the issues.'”
G LOBBYING. Politico. “Google has 21 outside firms on retainer and spent nearly $9 million on lobbying during the first half of 2012, according to Senate lobbying reports.”
LOBBYING ON DEFENSE FIRM MERGER. The Hill. “Two teams of lobbyists have been hired to help assuage any national-security concerns that might arise in Washington over the merger of the European defense companies BAE Systems and EADS.”
OBAMA COMMENTS NOTED. HuffPo. “Speaking at a fundraiser hosted by the famous rapper and singer couple Jay-Z and Beyonce, President Barack Obama made comments, seemingly in jest, asking guests to help out his campaign against Republican nominee Mitt Romney by giving $10 million to outside efforts to help him retain the White House.” More here, including comments of Cleta Mitchell.
FCPA IRONY. FCPA Professor. “Will a U.S. company’s interaction with a ‘foreign official’ be subject to more scrutiny and different standards than its interaction with a U.S. official?”
DC: PUBLIC FINANCING URGED. The Post. “A D.C. councilmember who says more than $113,000 went missing from his campaign account this summer is pushing for public financing of political campaigns in the district.”
KS: FINE ON VIOLATION. Story here. “The Kansas Ethics Commission today fined a Johnson County state Senate candidate and an assistant in the county district attorney’s office for violating campaign finance laws.”
HAVE A GREAT DAY.