HLOGA POLL IN ASSOCIATIONS NOW. Here. “While a majority of lobbyists said the law has brought more transparency to the lobbying profession, only about 20 percent said it has improved ethical standards. The survey also suggests that lobbyists find the law confusing, particularly provisions regarding what constitutes a gift.”

BIERSACK ON WASHINGTON JOURNAL. C-SPAN. CRP Senior Fellow Bob Biersack was on Washington Journal yesterday.

2012 MONEY RACE. The Times. “Maybe the ‘super PACs’ were not so super after all.”

DONORS DOMINATE. USAT. “Five individuals and couples have contributed more than $10 million each to super PACs, the new independent political groups responsible for the record amounts of outside money gushing through this year’s presidential and congressional elections.”

UNION WEB. Sunlight. “Deep-pocketed corporate moguls have captured most of the headlines this year when it comes to creative campaign giving, but the working class is showing it can play the same game.”

COMMUNICATING WITH EMPLOYEES. The Times. “Imagine getting a letter from the boss, telling you how to vote.” CCP’s perspective is the topic of this post: “The truth is, corporations have always been allowed to communicate with their employees about political matters via their PACs and in other FEC-limited communications. This is nothing new. The method of communication and the number reached may have increased, but that doesn’t make it any more likely that Koch Industries will begin to behave like thought police, firing those who disagree with impunity. If they haven’t in the past, there’s little reason to suspect they will now.”

EDSALL ON CAMPAIGN FINANCE. The Times. “If there is one rule of thumb governing campaign finance regulation, or the lack thereof, it is that the consequences of any changes in the system are unpredictable.”

NATIONAL MEDIA ON YARD SIGN VANDALISM. The Times. “Signs for Mr. Obama and Mitt Romney are being swiped, mangled, shredded, spray-painted and urinated on all around Miami and in places farther afield. They serve as proxies, easy targets, for all the fury, disappointment and disgust the presidential race has stirred, at least among some voters.”

MT: TIMES ON MT CASE. Here. “The conservative justices waved away the well-documented record of political corruption in Montana that gave rise to its law. Instead, they reaffirmed the baseless theory that ‘independent expenditures, including those made by corporations, do not give rise to corruption or the appearance of corruption.’ Any review of history would lead to a different conclusion.”

NC: WILMINGTON HIRES. Story here. “The city again has hired McGuireWoods Consulting LLC to lobby the General Assembly on its behalf, as it did in this year’s lawmaking session, City Manager Sterling Cheatham said.”

EU: LOBBYIST SELF-REGULATION? Story here. “The official guidelines for the register prescribe under ‘cost estimate’ that ‘outsourced activity costs, consulting fees and subcontracted activities related to activities falling under the scope of the register’ must be included.”

HAVE A GOOD DAY.