[Political Activity Law]

ROLL BACK FOR CAMPAIGN FINANCE.  RC. “The Republican’s victory in the presidential contest has given new hope to opponents of current donation limits and other restrictions, while it has jolted fear into those who want to overhaul political money laws to put ordinary Americans on more equal footing with megadonors.”

WARREN SEEN.  WFB.  “Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.) was spotted entering a Monday meeting held by a group of liberal super-donors to discuss their plan to fight back following the crushing defeat they were dealt in last week’s election.”

SEC AND DISCLOSURE.  Hill.  “By leaving the politics to Congress and the FEC, the SEC can keep its focus on its core mission of protecting investors and maintaining fair markets.”

SUPER PAC STIRS.  Politico.  “A Democratic super PAC is filing public records requests with government agencies for documents involving President-elect Donald Trump’s presidential campaign and transition team, according to copies of the requests provided exclusively to POLITICO on Monday.”

PLOTTING FIGHT.  DC.  “The president of a secretive, left-wing dark money group told a Monday night, closed-door gathering of democratic operatives and ultra-rich liberals in D.C. the first step to dealing with a Trump presidency was ‘resistance.'”

CA:  FINE FOR MAILER.  MVV.  “The political group that formed earlier this year to support Vicki Veenker’s bid for the state Assembly is facing a $2,500 fine for failing to include a proper disclaimer on one of its campaign advertisements.”

KY:  $5,000 FINE.  KY.  “A former high-ranking Kentucky official who will soon begin serving prison time for bribery must also pay a $5,000 fine after settling 45 counts of ethics violations with the Executive Branch Ethics Commission.”

MO:  NEW RULES IMPACT.  BJ.  “Voters easily passed a constitutional amendment that limits donations at $2,600 for candidates and $25,000 for parties per election. It also will impose rules meant to increase transparency in political donations.”

HAVE A GOOD DAY.

COMMISSIONER ANN RAVEL NEWS AND VIEWS.  WE.  “She argued that money in politics presented a different problem insofar as political action committees were too ‘white and male.'”

NEW ALLY.  WP.  “One of the biggest super PACs that backed Donald Trump’s election is refashioning itself to serve as his main outside ally, planning to put pressure on Democrats and Republicans alike who try to stymie the new president’s agenda.”

ETHICS AND THE ADMINISTRATION.  NYT.  “Under federal laws, executive branch employees must comply with conflict-of-interest rules that guard against being influenced by personal investments, and they must curb payments from sources outside the government.”

TEACHOUT LOSS.  NY.  “[Her opponent] subsequently criticized Professor Teachout—his preferred epithet—for not understanding the First Amendment. ‘I think James Madison’s handiwork was better than Zephyr Teachout’s,’ he told me.”

FL:  VIEW ON CAMPAIGN FUNDS.  TBT.  “St. Petersburg’s proposed ordinance would require corporations that spend more than $5,000 in city elections to certify that they are not wholly or partly owned by foreign shareholders above certain thresholds.”

FL:  NEW RULES EYES.  HT.  “The Florida House of Representatives is poised to enact the most significant lobbying reforms in more than a decade when lawmakers return to Tallahassee for an organization session on Nov. 22.”

MO:  QUITTING EARLY.  STL.  “The new law imposes a six month waiting period before lawmakers can legally begin to lobby in order to end the perception that a legislator might be casting votes to win the favor of a future employer.”

TN:  OBSCURE CONTRIBUTIONS.  TN.  “n total, there are eight variations of Andy Miller’s name on Tennessee campaign finance reports: A.W. Miller Jr., A.W. Miller, Andy Miller Jr., Andrew Miller Jr., Andy W. Miller Jr., Andrew W. Miller Jr., Andrew Miller and Andrew W. Miller.”

HAVE A GOOD DAY.

TRUMP SPENT LESS.  IBT.   “Based on the most recent totals, Trump claimed the presidency in spite of Clinton raising $380.3 million more than the real estate mogul and billionaire.”

CAMPAIGN FINANCE MYTH EXPLODED.  CCP.   “‘The idea that money buys elections was disproven again last night by Donald Trump,’ said CCP President David Keating. ‘Trump and his allies were outspent by huge margins. Money allows candidates and groups to speak. Voters decide based on their beliefs. It’s time to put aside the discredited idea that money buys votes. Instead, we should focus on expanding First Amendment freedoms for all Americans.'”

DEMOCRAT ADDICTION.  NYT.  “If the Democratic Party hopes to win in the future, it must take a bold, unrelenting stand on behalf of working Americans, donors be damned.”

SPENDING PER VOTE.  CNBC.  “His campaign committee spent about $238.9 million through mid-October, compared with $450.6 million by Clinton’s. That equals about $859,538 spent per Trump electoral vote, versus about $1.97 million spent per Clinton electoral vote.”

8 MONEY SCANDALS.  MM.  “Here are eight money scandals that outraged the public in their day. Some of the politicians involved were convicted, some leveraged their connections to walk out of court, and in a few cases, corruption didn’t stop them from getting reelected or even running for president.”

CA:  SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT.  EG.  “Elk Grove City Council Member Steve Detrick agreed to pay $3,500 to settle an ethics violations case related to his 2012 council campaign, according to a document released last week by the Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC).”

FL:  LOBBYIST PLANE BAN.  NN.  “A new set of rules proposed by incoming House Speaker Richard Corcoran would ban members of the Florida House of Representatives from taking flights with lobbyists, a practice enjoyed by at least one Southwest Florida lawmaker.”

MT:  FIGHTING ALLEGED GAG.  CNS.  “Montana lawmaker Brad Tschida sued the state’s commissioner of political practices to allow him to discuss an ethics complaint he filed against the governor with other lawmakers, in accordance with his First Amendment rights.”

SD:  SURPRISE WIN.  AL. “In an election dominated by calls for change, South Dakotans voted Tuesday to overhaul the state’s campaign finance and ethics system.”

INDIA:  BLACK MONEY ISSUE.  QZ.  “Campaign financing in India has typically been driven by unofficial funds. Data over the last decade shows that some 75% of the money going to political parties is from undocumented sources, Milan Vaishnav, senior associate in the South Asia program at Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, explained in an interview on Nov. 08.”

HAVE A GOOD DAY.  Quite a week.  I’ll send around the next set of links early next week.  Have a great weekend.