OPINION IN HLF. Here. After an important discussion on standing, the opinion holds that three of five communications are electioneering communications.

VH STATUS. InsidePoliticalLaw.com.

L-PAC STRATEGY. Roll Call. “In this cycle’s costliest and most competitive House and Senate races, Members of Congress are deploying a little-noticed but influential weapon: their personal political action committees, typically known as leadership PACs.”

SUPER PAC HOUSE STRATEGY. The Times. “The emergence of smaller super PACs helped fuel a surge in September advertising by outside groups in House races: Far more money was being spent far earlier than for the 2010 elections, when Republicans won control of the House.”

LISA GILBERT ON DISCLOSURE. USAT. “The SEC should protect investors by creating a rule requiring publicly traded companies to disclose their political spending.”

POST FOCUS ON ETHICS. The Post. “[Three] lawmakers were among 73 members of Congress who have sponsored or co-sponsored legislation in recent years that could benefit businesses or industries in which either they or their family members are involved or invested, according to a Washington Post analysis.”

CAMPAIGN FRAUD PROTECTION. C&E. “Conventional wisdom would have you believe that misappropriation of campaign funds in the political world is a rare occurrence. But the truth is that no one really knows how widespread the misappropriation of funds really is.”

STOCK ACT ][. Politico. “The Washington Post continues its Capital Assets series with an A1 piece exposing a loophole in the current congressional ethics rules.”

TIMES LAMENTS. Editorial here. “This is only the first presidential election in the Citizens United era of unlimited spending, and the first since 1976 in which both presidential candidates spurned the public finance system.”

SOCIAL MEDIA LURE. The Times. “If the presidential campaigns of 2008 were dipping a toe into social media like Facebook and Twitter, their 2012 versions are well into the deep end.”

REPORT ON ONLINE DONATIONS. Daily Caller. “President Barack Obama’s re-election campaign has been soliciting foreigners for donations, an explosive report from the conservative Government Accountability Institute (GAI) shows.”

FL: ETHICS WISH LIST. Story here. “The commission has developed a package of 11 proposed ethics reforms, but the politics of the Legislature requires it focus on a limited number.”

FL: “WILD WEST.” Story here. “But within Florida, Democrats hold little influence in state-level politics. As a result, they are vastly out-gunned by outside groups siding with the GOP, although Democrats are still helped by spending from labor organizations and trial lawyers.”

IL: LIMITS CASE. Story here. “A federal judge on Friday rejected an immediate effort to overturn state law limiting direct campaign contributions to political candidates, citing the potential for corruption if Illinois returned to an era of unlimited donations to electioneering politicians.”

HAVE A GREAT DAY.