Political law links

CONTRIBUTIONS AND LOBBYING.  KCRA.  “It used to be that lobbyists would take politicians on trips, but when rules were changed and that was outlawed, politicians and their fundraisers came up with this variation — organize the trips and invite the lobbyists along to pay for them.”

FCC MOVES ON AD BUY DISCLOSURE. The Hill. “Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler on Thursday circulated a notice of proposed rule-making that would require cable, satellite and radio companies to post information about political advertisements online.”

FINAL PUSH.  WPRO.  “There are five more days until Election Day, and as candidates make their last push to gain the support of voters, political groups are running more adds in key districts.”

MAILING IN THE NEWS.  Newsminer.com.  “There’s no disputing that the Opportunity Alliance’s action is legal, but just because one can do a thing does not mean that one should. The group should be ashamed of its underhanded gambit; it has no place in the Last Frontier.”

CT:  INDEPENDENT SPENDING UP.  Courant.com.  “Millions of dollars in outside political money from the right and left is flooding into Connecticut, with the latest installment a $1.17 million contribution of ‘dark money’ from a non-profit conservative group in Ohio called A Public Voice.”

NJ:  SUIT DISMISSED.  NJ.com.  ” A judge today dismissed a lawsuit against a super PAC tied to state Sen. Raymond Lesniak that was filed by a group of Elizabeth Board of Education candidates, according to a lawyer for the PAC.”

NY:  EXPERIMENT FIZZLED.  WXXI.  “An experimental public campaign finance system for the state Comptroller’s race has fizzled, after the lone candidate who applied for the program failed to meet the minimum threshold to obtain the public monies.”

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Political law links

NPR ON THE RULES.   NPR.  “A huge amount of what we call outside spending, which is super PACs and political nonprofits that can’t coordinate with candidates but can spend whatever they want – a huge amount of that money is pouring through groups that don’t disclose anything in real time about their donors and disclose only a little bit about what they’re spending.”

SUPER PAC DOMINATION.  USAT.  “Forty-two of the nation’s superwealthy have donated nearly $200 million to super PACs to shape next week’s midterm elections, according to a USA TODAY analysis of contributions of $1 million or more.”

LOBBYISTS AND SUPER PACS.  The Hill.  “Democratic lobbyists have ponied up for outside spending groups in the midterm elections cycle, contributing up to $25,000 per check in the battle for the House and Senate.”

EXHAUSTING SYSTEM.  Boston Globe.  “When all is said and spent, the 2014 midterms will be record-setting in several dubious categories…”

CA:  REIMBURSEMENT EVIDENCE.  OCregister.com.  “Documents show illegal money laundering in county Supervisor Janet Nguyen’s 2012 campaign and six donors have admitted being reimbursed for their political contributions, according to court filings by the state Fair Political Practices Commission.”

FL: BONDI RESPONDS.  Post on Politics.  “Attorney General Pam Bondi, featured prominently in a New York Times article about corporate lobbyists using campaign contributions and other blandishments to influence attorneys general around the U.S., defended her record today during a campaign stop in Palm Beach County.”

NY:  DEBLASIO MOVES.  NYDN.  “Mayor de Blasio steered at least one massive donation to an upstate Democratic committee that promptly funneled the money to two state Senate candidates — taking advantage of a huge loophole in campaign finance rules.”

OH:  STATE REP.  PLEA.  Cleveland.com.  ” State Rep. Dale Mallory, a Cincinnati Democrat, pleaded guilty Wednesday to charges that he illegally accepted NFL tickets from lobbyists and failed to disclose the gifts.”

OR:  LARGEST DONATION.  WWeek.com.  In the news is a “$4.46 million check that Dupont Pioneer, an Iowa-based agri-business company, dumped into the No on 92 campaign, which is seeking to block the labeling of genetically modified foods.”

WI:  WHO’S GIVING.  Madison.com.  “About two-thirds of the money raised by the Republican Party of Wisconsin this year came from donors who contributed more than $10,000.  For the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, about 40 percent of funds raised came from donors who gave more than $10,000.”

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Political law links

ATTACKING BIG MONEY.  Roll Call.  “Sullivan is one of more than half a dozen Republican congressional candidates who have made assaults on big money in politics an important campaign theme. Until now, the issue was almost exclusively a Democratic talking point.”

GIFTS RULES AND STATE AGS. NYT. “Attorneys general are now the object of aggressive pursuit by lobbyists and lawyers who use campaign contributions, personal appeals at lavish corporate-sponsored conferences and other means to push them to drop investigations, change policies, negotiate favorable settlements or pressure federal regulators, an investigation by The New York Times has found.”

CA: IN-KINDS ALLEGED. Fresno Bee. “Democrats are asking the state’s political watchdog agency to investigate the California Republican Party for allegedly violating campaign finance laws in support of GOP candidate Andy Vidak, who is seeking reelection in the 14th state Senate District.”

CA:  MORE SCRUTINY.  SMDP.  “Mayor Pam O’Connor returned a slew of $325 contributions from developers to whom she’d previously conferred a benefit but, according to the most recent campaign disclosure statements, she accepted more from owners of a different development company she’d voted to help.”

HI:  MAINLAND SUPER PACS.  Star Advertiser.  “Mainland super PACs tied to the Republican Governors Association and the Demo­cratic Governors Association will rival the top two candidates for governor in spending on Hawaii, bankrolling negative advertisements so the candidates are free to concentrate on more positive themes.”

KS:  RULES GAP.  HuffPo.  “With just three weeks left before the upcoming midterm elections, a group called ‘Kansans for Justice’ surfaced with the aim of persuading voters to oust two of their state Supreme Court justices.”

MT:  MAILER APOLOGY.  ABC.  “The presidents of Stanford University and Dartmouth College are sending 100,000 letters to Montana residents disavowing election mailers that state officials called deceitful and worried will influence the state’s two Supreme Court elections.”

RI:  CASINO REPORTS EXTENSION.  WT.  ” State elections officials are giving supporters and opponents of more table games at Newport Grand to correct their campaign finance reports.”

WA:  SHELDON ALLEGATIONS.  TDN.com.  “Supporters of a conservative Democratic state senator who crossed the aisle to help form a mostly Republican majority in that chamber are alleging campaign finance violations against him in his re-election bid against another Democrat.”

WV: USE OF CAMPAIGN FUNDS. AGweb.com. “A West Virginia lawmaker says buying a steer is a good use of campaign funds.”

HAVE A GOOD DAY.