Good morning, here are today’s political law links

MONEY RACE. Roll Call. “As outside-group crossfire blasts through two Senate races, candidates aren’t just raising money early — they’re spending it.”

WH ANSWER ON PETITION. The Hill. “The White House responded on Wednesday to official petitions demanding a recount of President Obama’s 2012 reelection by urging his political opponents to ‘work with your fellow citizens to help tackle the challenges that we can all agree our country faces.'”

FEC ASKED. Story here. “The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee on Monday asked the Federal Election Commission to treat married gay couples the same as opposite-sex spouses, part of an early push to bring federal statutes in line with the Supreme Court’s decision last week striking down part of the Defense of Marriage Act.”

GOOLSBEE AND IRS. DC. “Former White House Council of Economic Advisers chairman Austan Goolsbee sparked a mini-scandal in 2010 when he told reporters during a background press briefing that Koch Industries—the company of libertarian philanthropists Charles and David Koch—paid no income taxes.”

DONOR VIEW. Story here. “‘I’m not giving nobody another dime,’ [Sheila] Johnson recently told The Washington Post. ‘I’ve spent way too much money on politicians. . . . It’s like throwing money down a toilet.'”

ROMNEY, CHRISTIE, AND CAMPAIGN FINANCE. Story here. “Concerns that Governor Christie’s presence on the ticket would prevent Wall Street donors from giving to his election effort factored into Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s decision to avoid nominating the New Jersey governor as his vice presidential pick, according to an upcoming book obtained by CNN.” Here‘s more: “A ‘pay to play’ regulation from the Securities and Exchange Commission prevented the country’s largest banks from donating to candidates and elected officials from states in which big banks were located. If Christie, the governor of New Jersey, were added to the ticket, Romney’s campaign would have been barred from accepting any campaign contributions from Wall Street – a critical source of cash for the GOP candidate, formerly a private equity manager.”

AZ: HORNE CASE UPDATE. Here. “The question of whether Attorney General Tom Horne and an aide will be prosecuted for campaign-finance violations is now up to Yavapai County Attorney Sheila Polk.”

HI: “FREE RANGE” LOBBYISTS. Here. “Kauai still has no system for regulating lobbyists, and county officials seem blissfully unaware they have been ignoring a key constitutional provision for decades.”

MD: LOBBYIST SPENDING TRACKED. Here. “With deep-pocketed casino companies apparently satisfied with the Maryland General Assembly’s changes to the state’s gambling laws in 2012, the list of top-spending Annapolis lobbying groups returned to historical norms this year.”

VA: CUCCINELLI WALLED. The Post. “Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli II’s staff purposely shielded him from allegations of improper behavior by Gov. Robert F. McDonnell for five months last year, knowing the attorney general was friendly with a key donor at the center of those accusations, according to new information released by Cuccinelli’s gubernatorial campaign.”

WI: UNION RECALL ALLEGATION. Story here. “In a remarkable turn, the growing investigation of a powerful local union is turning up evidence of likely financial abuse by the labor group’s top staffers during last year’s attempted recall of Gov. Scott Walker.”

UK: BERCOW’S JAUNTS. Daily Mail. “Commons Speaker John Bercow has run up a £100,000 in just three years on a taxpayer-funded tour of Britain and the world, MailOnline can reveal.”

HAVE A GOOD DAY.

Have a great 4th

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Have a great Independence Day!

VRA CHALLENGE.  Roll Call.  “House Republicans face a political dilemma as they consider how — and whether — to rewrite the Voting Rights Act after the Supreme Court neutered some of its most powerful provisions last week.”

SECOND AIDE QUITS.  Story here.  “A second aide to Rep. Joe Garcia, D-Fla., resigned last week as part of an ongoing election fraud investigation that continues to fester in the freshman’s office.”

MCCONNELL CHALLENGER.  The Hill.  “Kentucky Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes announced Monday she will challenge Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), giving Democrats their favored candidate and turning the race into one of the 2014 cycle’s marquee contests.”

FORMER MEMBERS TARGETED.  BLT.  “Representative Steve Israel (D-N.Y.) has renewed his effort to keep federal retirement benefits from former members of Congress who receive lucrative lobbying jobs.”

CAMPAIGN TRAIL ETHICS.  C&E.  “Maybe someday the political world will find a way to adopt universal ethical standards and codes of conduct for political campaigns. But until that happens, you are on your own.”

DOMA AND CAMPAIGN FINANCE.  Story here.  “The Federal Election Commission may be asked to reconsider an advisory opinion it issued in February in light of last week’s Supreme Court’s invalidation of the Defense of Marriage Act.”

CA:  SPENDING SCRUTINY.  LA Times.  “Expense reports filed over a decade of the Calderon family’s engagement in the California Legislature sheds light on the variety of ways political funds can be spent.”

IL:  SESSION BAN PROPOSED.  Story here.  “Former White House chief of staff Bill Daley, who is considering running for Illinois governor, called Monday for a ban on campaign contributions while the Legislature is in session, saying the current rules are too lax and are one reason lawmakers can’t agree how to fix Illinois’ pension system.”

VA:  CHEF TESTIMONY.  Story here.  “Virginia Gov. Robert F. McDonnell repeatedly used state assets for personal and political purposes, including directing state employees to work at private and political events, according to new allegations from McDonnell’s former chef.”

HAVE A GREAT DAY. I hope you have a great Independence Day! I’ll send around the next set of links early next week.

 

Good morning, today’s political law links

DOMA AND CAMPAIGN FINANCE.  Caplin & Drysdale.  “Presumably, the Federal Election Commission will now interpret the word ‘spouse’ to include all legally married couples where it appears in federal campaign finance law.  This would end DOMA’s discriminatory impact in this area.”

DOMA’S LIKELY IMPACT.  InsidePoliticalLaw.com.  “The Supreme Court’s decision today invalidating the Defense of Marriage Act will impact campaign finance laws as well, probably nowhere more clearly than in casting doubt on the FEC’s February decision advising a candidate for the special U.S. Senate Primary Election in Massachusetts that he could not treat contributions from a same-sex couple married under state law as coming from a ‘spouse’ under the FEC’s regulations.”

IRS APOLOGY PAY.  Forbes.  National taxpayer advocate Nina Olson has proposed $1,000 “‘apology payments’ to taxpayers abused by the IRS.”

COMMITTEE SAYS LERNER WAIVED.  Story here.  “Republican lawmakers on Friday passed a resolution declaring that an Internal Revenue Service official waived her Fifth Amendment right last month when she proclaimed her innocence at a congressional hearing, but legal experts said the vote is all but meaningless.”

WHO GIVES.  The Post.  “Everyone knows that a relatively small number of wealthy people donate the lion’s share of money to political campaigns.  But, you probably never suspected just how small that group actually is.”

STATE TREND:  HIGHER LIMITS.  Story here.  “State governments from the Rocky Mountains to the Atlantic seaboard are attempting to blunt the influence of free-spending super PACs and nonprofits by allowing people to contribute more money to political candidates.”

NJ:  DEVELOPMENTS IN PAY TO PLAY.  Story here.  “Birdsall evaded pay-to-play restrictions by asking employees to write personal checks for $300 or less, which do not have to be disclosed publicly, and then reimbursing them through bonuses.”

VA:  GIFTED GOVERNOR.  The Post.  “As we’ve noted before, Mr. McDonnell has taken cover behind Virginia’s anemic disclosure requirements, which exempt gifts to family members, and has ignored calls to provide a comprehensive accounting of the gifts his family has received. He is now suffering the consequences: a slow drip of damaging revelations that threatens to destroy his political career and his otherwise admirable legacy as governor.”

DC:  PUBLIC FINANCING?   The Post.  “As introduced, the Grosso-McDuffie bill, which is roundly supported by most of their colleagues, would allow qualified candidates to tap a special public campaign fund after raising $5,000 in small contributions of $100 or less. After that, candidates could continue to receive a four-to-one match for donations throughout the campaign.”

MD:  HENSON V. STATE.  Many thanks to alert reader Will Atkinson for bringing Henson v. State of Maryland to my attention.  The case involved challenges to Maryland’s requirements for an authority line on campaign calls, among other points.

MO:  GIRDING FOR DECISIONS.  Story here.  “New commissioner of political practices Jonathan Motl said he expects to start issuing decisions soon on a list of complaints dealing with disclosure of money in politics.”

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HAVE A GREAT DAY.  It’s Independence Day week, so I’ll have a set of links today and tomorrow and after that the next set of links will be next Monday.