Mon. political law links

CONSULTANTS AND NONPROFITS.  Daily Beast.  “The often negative and misleading ads these groups put out may be little help to voters trying to make informed decisions, but the increased spending is a boon to the consultants who make millions no matter who wins.”

LOVING THE SUPER PACS.  The Hill.  “When it comes to Democrats and outside money, they’ve learned their lesson for 2014 — if you can’t beat them, join them.”

SLEEK SUPER PACS.  MSNBC.  “n recent months, a new breed of smaller, more targeted Super PACs has emerged—some supporting specific candidates, others pushing issues their founders care about.”

QUESTIONS AND D’SOUZA CASE.  Weekly Standard.  “Four United States Senators have a written a letter to FBI director James Comey about the indictment of author and filmmaker Dinesh D’Souza. Senators Charles Grassley, ranking member of the Judiciary Committee, Jeff Sessions, Ted Cruz, and Mike Lee are the four senators, all Republicans, to have signed the letter.”

INDICTMENT MADE.  LAT.  “A wealthy Mexican businessman, accused of hoping to buy influence with political contributions, has been indicted on a federal charge of making illegal contributions during the 2012 mayoral election.”

LOBBYIST REGISTRATION AND REPORTING COVERAGE.  The Nation.  “On paper, the lobbying industry is quickly disappearing.”

BYE, BYE, BIENNIAL LIMIT.  How big will the Supreme Court go in McCutcheon?  The opinion may come soon; check SCOTUSBlog for the latest. Prof. Hasen’s views were in yesterday’s Post, online here.

CA:  FPPCS DIDN’T GO FAR ENOUGH.  LAT.  “California’s political ethics agency signed off Thursday on a $133,500 fine for a lobbyist who made improper campaign contributions to elected officials, but the attorney whose lawsuit triggered the investigation is not satisfied.”

GA:  SUPER PAC HELP.  Politico.  “Republican operatives in Georgia have formed a new super PAC to aid GOP Gov. Nathan Deal in his reelection bid this fall, POLITICO has learned.”

KS:  LETTING LOBBYISTS GIVE.   Wichita Eagle.  “A change in campaign finance laws would allow lobbyists to donate to party committees for the House and Senate during the legislative session.”

NY:  BIG $ BEHIND CFR.  NYT.  “On Monday, a national group that seeks to lessen the influence of big campaign donors plans to unveil a $1 million advertising campaign aimed at promoting the public financing plan.”

PA:  GIFT RULES LATEST.  Philly.com.  “An ordinance, introduced by all members of Council on behalf of Council President Darrell Clarke, amends a portion of the Philadelphia Code by placing limits on gifts from anyone having a financial interest in a city matter to any employee who can affect official action.”

SC:  LOGJAM BROKEN.  The State.  “The state Senate agreed Thursday that lawmakers should not have political action committees, anonymous political groups must reveal their donors and public officials must disclose who is paying them.”

TX:  FINES OWED.  WLTX (video started playing automatically for me).  “The chair of the Richland County Council has been hit with a $45,000 fine from the State Ethics Commission.”

VA: SWISS CHEESE.  WP.  “The quiet move to scrap the notarization requirement is just one example of why Virginia’s political class should be ashamed of the weak, loophole-riddled ethics measure.”

WV:  STRONGER RULES.  Charleston Gazette. “Legislation that targets West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey and strengthens his office’s ethics rules will be up for a passage vote in the House of Delegates Monday.”

HAVE A GREAT DAY.

Thurs. political law links, 2-20-14

TIMES WANTS IRS RULES.  NYT.  “If anything, the I.R.S. rules, which should be sped up to have some effect on the November elections, ought to be stronger.”

ENROLL AMERICA QUESTIONS.  BizPacReview.com.  “Emails reveal an intimate working relationship between the White House Office of Pubic Engagement and Enroll America President Anne Filipic – a former Obama aide.”

SITES TWEAKED.  CNN.  “The National Republican group whose mission is to elect GOP House members has altered some of its misleading websites for 2014 congressional candidates, making it more clear that any contributions made through the sites will be going toward defeating Democrats, not supporting them.”

MT:  NEW TERM SOUGHT.  The Montana Standard.  “A Montana legislator who is defending himself against allegations that he took illegal corporate contributions has filed to run for another term.”

SC:  ETHICS AND DISCLOSURE BILL MOVING?  WLTX.com.  “As is stands right now, Courson says the bill would require lawmakers to disclose their income, and make independent expenditure groups disclose how much money they were given for campaign use.”

TX:  COMMENT SOUGHT ON DISCLOSURE RULES.  MySanAntonio.com. (via Trey Traynor).  “State campaign finance regulators are moving forward with a draft regulation aimed at pulling back the curtain on secret donors influencing Texas elections.”

VA:  ETHICS REFORM SUPPORT.  News & Advance.  “Much work remains to make it the comprehensive measure that most voters were anticipating in light of the expensive gifts and loans received by former Gov. Bob McDonnell and his wife from a wealthy donor.”

HAVE A GREAT DAY.

Wed. political law links, 2-19

MCCUTCHEON SPECULATION FRENZY.  Public News Service.  “Another major Supreme Court decision on campaign finance could come as early as next week.”

FIREWALLS AND COORDINATION.  Roll Call.  “When the Supreme Court deregulated independent political spending four years ago, the court reasoned that unrestricted money posed no corruption risk because a firewall separates candidates from their outside benefactors.”

SUPER FANS TO SUPER PACS.  Mother Jones.  “Adam Parkhomenko and Allida Black are unlikely friends; they are the even unlikelier masterminds of Ready for Hillary, a super-PAC that has risen from ragtag origins to become a central component of Hillary Clinton’s shadow presidential campaign-in-waiting.”

WRITING FOR MONEY.  Roll Call.  “Unfortunately, House rules impose tight restrictions on the extent to which members and staffers may earn outside income.”

CFR RECIPE.  Bloomberg.  “We should just go with floors, not ceilings, plus disclosure. What does that mean? Partial public financing so that candidates can mount at least fairly serious campaigns, then allow candidates and parties to take in whatever contributions they want as long as it’s all above-board and disclosed.”

LA:  FIGHTING FOR SUPER PACS.  The Advocate.  “The argument made by The Fund for Louisiana’s Future is that Louisiana violated the First Amendment clause in the U.S. Constitution by capping individual contributions to political action committees at $100,000 per four-year election cycle.”

NY:  PUSH FOR CFR.  Daily Freeman.  “Advocates for public campaign financing said Tuesday that Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s inclusion of election reforms in his budget proposal give them their best shot for success after decades of inaction.”

PA:  NEW SITE LAUNCH.  FOX43.com.  “Gov. Tom Corbett today announced his administration has launched a revamped, more user-friendly website for Pennsylvanians to view the campaign finance reports of candidates for state legislative and statewide offices.”

HAVE A GREAT DAY.