Good morning, here are political law links for Mon., 2/11

$400,000 YARD SIGN DISPUTE. The Post. “The modest placard Sam and Maria Farran planted in their yard during the 2008 election put them on a collision course with the neighborhood homeowners association. It was four inches taller than the association’s covenants allowed.”

JACKSON JR. UPDATE. Story here. “Former Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. has signed papers in a plea deal with federal prosecutors in which he admits to violating campaign finance law, according to sources familiar with the case.”

TIMES ON MENENDEZ. Here. “At issue are the curious dealings between Mr. Menendez and his close friend and benefactor Salomon Melgen, a wealthy Florida eye surgeon and major Democratic donor.”

OFA AND (C)(4) STATUS. WS. “Obama for America continued its metamorphosis this week into Organizing for Action (OFA), an independent organization that will advocate for various “progressive” causes, including immigration reform and gun control. The BarackObama.com website, home of the presidential campaign of Barack Obama, has been changing as well, but the transition has not been without its missteps.”

ODOM TO APPEAR. Story here. “U.S. District Judge Lacey Collier has scheduled a hearing at 11 a.m. Tuesday to allow Odom to enter a plea. He faces a maximum five-year prison sentence on charges that he laundered $23,000 in contributions to former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee in 2007.”

SEC AND POLITICAL ACTIVITY. This Times editorial discusses President Obama’s nominee for SEC chair. It doesn’t mention her view of the SEC’s regulation of corporate political activity.

FL: GREER TRIAL BEGINS. The Times. “This Monday begins the long-awaited trial of Jim Greer, 50, a flamboyant former chairman of the Republican Party of Florida. Mr. Greer, who was chosen for the job by Mr. Crist, was indicted in 2010 on charges of fraud, money laundering and theft.”

IA: PUBLIC FINANCING POTENTIAL. Story here. “The measure, Senate Study Bill 1072, would allow candidates for the Legislature, governor and other state offices the option of campaigning solely with public money or to continue using private dollars.”

MO: NIXON ON LIMITS. Story here. “Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon says he remains serious about his threat – laid out in his State of the State address — to go directly to the voters if the General Assembly doesn’t reinstate campaign donation limits.”

TX: REVOLVING DOOR ISSUES. The Times. “The latest batch of former legislators, who have left their House or Senate seats either by their own choice or that of the voters, invariably includes some who quickly begin careers as lobbyists hoping to influence former colleagues on behalf of deep-pocketed clients.”

HAVE A GREAT DAY.

Political law links for Thurs., 2/7/13

SCHOCK ETHICS UPDATE. Politico. ”The House Ethics Committee will not form a special investigative panel to probe allegations that GOP Rep. Aaron Schock (Ill.) improperly solicited super PAC contributions from other Republican lawmakers, including Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.). But it is not dropping the case either.”

OWENS ETHICS UPDATE. Politico. “The House Ethics Committee will keep an eye on Rep. Bill Owens but has stopped short of launching a formal investigation into whether the backbench Democrat took an improperly funded trip to Taiwan.”

EXCESS FUNDS SPENDING. USAT. “Former House members are spending their leftover money to pay for everything from luxury cars to foundations that bear their names, a USA TODAY review of new campaign-finance reports shows.”

SHIFT VIEW. Roll Call. “But proponents of an election law overhaul, who had received assurances from incoming freshman Democrats that they would back such fixes as campaign finance disclosure and federal matching funds legislation, see the House Majority PAC video as a bad sign.”

LOBBYING STATUS.  The Post.  “Is the lobbying business shrinking or just changing? It’s hard to say.”

TRAVEL RULES AND EXTENDED TRIPS. Roll Call. “House lawmakers and staffers normally cannot accept lobbyist-sponsored travel connected to official business lasting more than one day.”

NEWS REPORT: COMPLAINT FILED. Story here. “The California Republican Party has filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission alleging that Rep. Raul Ruiz’ appearance in a Super PAC’s online video amounts to an illegal campaign contribution.”

FL: SCOTT’S SPENDING. Story here. “Rick Scott is preparing to defend his Florida governorship with the most expensive reelection campaign in state history, drawing up plans for a battleship-sized political operation aimed at overcoming the Republican’s deep personal unpopularity.”

FL: PARTIES AND LEADERSHIP FUNDS UNDER PROPOSAL. Story here. “In place of CCEs, the bill would lift the $500 maximum contribution to candidates to $10,000, and require far more rapid disclosure of donors for candidate committees, political committees and electioneering committees.”

HAVE A GOOD DAY. I’ll send around the next set of links on Monday. Have a great weekend.

Good morning, here are today’s political law links (2/6)

ADS UP IN KY. The Hill. “Just days after opening his campaign headquarters in Louisville, McConnell is already facing on-air attacks from the left — earlier than any other Republican incumbent in the nation.”

GA: LOBBYIST DEFINITION CONSIDERED. Story here. “Of all possible obstacles to ethics reform, who thought the biggest one would be defining the word ‘lobbyist’? Yet, that’s where we stand today.”

MA: APPEAL IN DIMASI CASE. Story here. “Lawyers for former House speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi and a former lobbyist urged a federal appeals court panel Tuesday to overturn their convictions for political corruption, maintaining a jury was wrong to convict them of a kickback scheme to help a software company win state contracts.”

MN: CFB URGES MORE DISCLOSURE. Story here. “The Minnesota Campaign Finance Board voted Monday to encourage the Legislature to pass tougher economic disclosure laws. A proposal backed by the board would require officials to make public their consulting interests and details about income earned by their spouses.”

TX: TXT. C&E. “The Texas Ethics Commission has approved a Houston-based PAC’s proposal to allow committees to solicit text message contributions from state donors.”

UT: REFORM ADVOCATED. Story here. “Some interesting changes may be coming to legislative campaign finance disclosure, if Sens. John Valentine and Lyle Hillyard have a say.”

HAVE A GOOD DAY.