CFROMNIBUS TO THE PRESIDENT. Politico. “The Senate voted on Saturday night to approve a $1.1 trillion deal and avert a government shutdown, sending the legislation to President Barack Obama for his signature after an unusual weekend session and days of drama in the House.”
OBAMA AND REFORM. Bloomberg. “President Barack Obama in 2008 pledged to blunt the power of big money interests in politics. Instead, he’s overseeing the return of a gilded age with billionaires running their own parties out of high-rise offices and candidates spending more of their time mingling with them behind closed doors.”
CLC’S NOBLE ON CFROMNIBUS. CLC. “Currently, the maximum a person can give to a national political party is $129,600 per year. Although this limit is out of reach of all but the wealthiest citizens, cromnibus amends the campaign finance laws to allow an individual to contribute $777,600 to the national political party committees every year, or more than $1.5 million dollars over a two-year election cycle.”
FEC RULES AND THE HILLARY RUN. WP. “Another issue her aides are considering is a Federal Election Commission rule that requires a 120-day waiting period before an outside group can make an expenditure on a candidate’s behalf if they have hired a vendor or strategist who worked for the candidate’s campaign.”
HOUSE ETHICS MATTERS CONCLUDE. Four matters are listed here.
BUSH SIGNALS. WP. “Bush’s top strategist, Mike Murphy, has also been telling potential campaign staffers not to sign up to work for another candidate and to expect Bush’s announcement soon.”
VOGEL ON ELIAS. Politico. “A powerful Democratic lawyer helped craft a provision that was slipped into a year-end spending bill allowing political parties to raise huge new pools of cash — including some for legal fees that are likely going to be collected by his own firm.”
EDITORIAL VIEW ON CFR. WP. “If rivers of money are to keep flowing, voters should at least be able to detect the influence buying that’s likely to follow.”
DONORS AND SONY HACK. DB. “In the Sony emails, there are numerous correspondences of Sony execs complaining about being constantly harassed by movie moguls Steven Spielberg and Jeffrey Katzenberg for high-priced donations to back various democratic candidates, from Alison Lundergan Grimes to, yes, Hillary Clinton.”
FORMER MEMBERS LOBBYING. McClatchy. “Outgoing members of the House are barred from lobbying their former colleagues directly for a year. The Senate requires a two-year “cooling-off” period. Former lawmakers can, however, provide strategic advice to lobbying firms, and some continue to do so without formally registering as lobbyists.”
VA: PUCKETT PROBE CLOSED. RTD. “Federal prosecutors will not seek criminal charges surrounding the abrupt June resignation of state Sen. Phillip P. Puckett, D-Russell, from the legislature.”
HAVE A GOOD DAY.