Tuesday’s political law links (11/13/12)

WHAT 12 MEANS. The Times. “While the outcome of the 2012 elections dealt a blow to the wealthy donors who poured several hundred million dollars into groups seeking to defeat Mr. Obama, the president’s re-election does not presage a repudiation of the deregulated campaign financing unleashed by the Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United decision. Instead, his victory most likely reinforced the practice.”

CFR PROSPECTS.  Roll Call.  “By opening up the system to an onslaught of money, politicians give up one of the powers they value most: control.”

EXCESS CASH MOVES. Story here. “So what happens to that monster chunk of change remaining?”

GIFT RULES IN THE NEWS. WFB. “New Jersey Republicans are accusing Sen. Bob Menendez (D., N.J.) of having violated Senate ethics rules by failing to disclose or seek Senate permission for air travel and lodging provided by a wealthy campaign donor.”

SUPER PAC SUCCESS. Politico. “The two groups’ involvement in these key Senate battles — despite the public disapproval of super PACs and secret money by Democratic leaders — would prove critical in the stunning Democratic Senate sweep in last week’s elections.”

MINI-SUPER PACS. Story here. “There are now 940 super PACS registered with the Federal Election Commission.”

JACKSON UPDATE. Story here. “A former U.S. attorney representing embattled Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. is negotiating a plea deal with the federal government, CBS 2 has learned.”

ELECTION PROFITS. The Post. “‘Those numbers are eye-popping,’ said campaign finance lawyer Kenneth Gross. ‘This was the first presidential election since Watergate where both candidates rejected federal funds and competed to gather private contributions. It meant there were no holds barred in spending on the general election.'”

WILL, 12, AND CU. Here. “The advocacy infrastructure that is being developed by both sides in the post-Citizens United world will, over time, favor the most plausible side, which conservatives know is theirs.”

CAMPAIGN FINANCE FALLACIES. Commentary. “What we had in 2012 was a bellyful of democracy. Some of us may not like what it bought us, but schemes to limit political speech won’t make the system any more fair or honest.”

REPEAL OF LIMITS URGED. HuffPo. “The regime of campaign finance limits has been a failure. The only part of the effort that remains — contribution limits — is now responsible for increasing, rather than limiting, the power of money in elections. Given that reality, now is the time to eliminate all such contribution limits.”

FIRST AMENDMENT DAMAGES. Volokh. How should a jury calculate damages in a case with First Amendment implications?

USVI ALLEGATIONS. Story here. “A U.S. Virgin Islands senator was accused Thursday of generating more than $1 million through illegal activities, including demanding bribes in exchange for favorable legislation.”

HAVE A GREAT DAY.

Good morning, here are today’s political law links (Thurs., 11/8/12)

CU IMPACT QUESTIONS. Thompson-Reuters. “Despite the U.S. Supreme Court’s unleashing of corporate campaign spending in its 2010 ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, big business does not seem to be able to buy elections. That conclusion contradicts the doomsday predictions that followed Citizens United and the 2010 campaign cycle.”

DEAD OCE?  Roll Call.  “But the bottom line is that if Pelosi and Boehner do not pick replacements, the OCE cannot function.”

MONEY IMPACT.  The Times.  “The biggest single donor in political history, the casino billionaire Sheldon Adelson, mingled with other Romney backers at a postelection breakfast, fresh off a large gamble gone bad. Of the eight candidates he supported with tens of millions of dollars in contributions to ‘super PACs,’ none were victorious on Tuesday.”

NEW HOUSE RULES. Roll Call. “The House Republican Conference will vote on new rules next week that would limit the influence of freshmen at the leadership table and make it easier to bring up bills under suspension of the rules.”

SEN. TESTER AND CU. Story here. “Yet Tester spoke most forcefully Wednesday about shining a light on the river of money spent on his contest and many others by so-called outside and ‘dark’ money, by groups that often don’t have to disclose or detail their donors or expenditures.”

SPENDING IMPACT. The Post. “Record spending by independent groups largely defined how the 2012 elections were fought, but the money had no dis­cern­ible impact on the outcome of most contests, according to an early analysis of ballot results and expenditures by The Washington Post.”

SPENDING IMPACT. Politico. “The high-dollar barrage spurred once wary Democrats to launch their own big money machine — which ended up nearly matching the GOP’s overall spending and actually put more ads on the air than the Republicans.”

SUPER PAC IMPACT. Roll Call. “But while Republicans have already launched into recriminations and second-guessing, it’s too early to write off the GOP’s well-funded super PAC and nonprofit allies.”

LAME DUCK LOBBYING. Story here. “Indeed, by Wednesday morning lobbying shops all over town were filling their clients’ inboxes with post-election analysis.”

K ST. LINES.  Roll Call.  “If a revolving door between government and downtown actually existed, the line to get through it in the next few weeks would easily snake for miles.”

K ST. TALENT POOL.  The Hill.  “Headhunters estimate that a former House member can expect a starting $500,000 annual salary on K Street, while a former senator can fetch $1 million per year.”

DELAYS IN THE DMV.  The Post.  “But there’s no question about it: Some precincts in Northern Virginia held the dubious distinction of having the most brutally long lines for voters in the Washington region on Tuesday.”

DC:  BROWN LOSES.  The Post.  “On Tuesday, a candidate finally broke through. But observers are split on whether David Grosso’s victory over D.C. Council incumbent Michael A. Brown reflected a sea change in the city electorate or merely Brown’s dismal political and personal circumstances.”

MD:  GAMBLING APPROVED.  The Post.  “Shortly before midnight Tuesday, after it had become clear that Maryland voters had approved a casino in Prince George’s County, the developers of National Harbor celebrated with fireworks.”

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

Good morning, here are today’s political law links for Wed., 11/7/12

AND THE WINNER IS…  The Times reports.

STOP THIS INSANITY OPINION.  Here.

TRACING CONTRIBUTIONS.  LAT.  “Under California rules, a nonprofit must disclose its donors if its money is earmarked for a particular initiative. The Fair Political Practices Commission sued Americans for Responsible Leadership to access records that might show whether the group violated disclosure law.”

SHEILA KRUMHOLZ INTERVIEW.  Here.  “Just before election day, she talked about this year’s political cash cows, and the 20-plus years she’s spent following the Watergate admonition to follow the money.”

LOBBYIST RULE IN THE NEWS.  Story here.  “In one of his final interviews before the polls close on Election Day, President Obama made the demonstrably false claim that he has barred lobbyists from working in his administration.”

“SHADOW GROUP” TALK IN THE WASHINGTON TIMES.  Story here.  “Election Day is upon the nation, and groups that did not even exist just weeks ago are spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to sway voters, while the big-money advertisers are switching to boots-on-the-ground tactics.”

ETHICS ISSUES AND CAMPAIGNS.  Story here.  “Most members of the House of Representatives who battled through scandals secured victories on Election Day, but a few couldn’t escape the cloud hovering over their campaigns.”

LATE MONEY COUNT.  Story here.  “In the day before the election, more than $3.5 million was spent supporting GOP nominee Mitt Romney or opposing President Barack Obama, while $34,000 was spent in support of the president, according to Federal Election Commission reports. While Romney has enjoyed greater support with outside groups, the president’s campaign has raised more money, which has kept the two candidates about even in total ad spending.”

FEDERAL CONTRACTOR UPDATE.  Courthouse News.  “It is constitutional for Congress to bar government contractors from contributing to political candidates, parties and their committees, a federal judge ruled.”

NFL PAC ACTIVITY.  Story here.  “The NFL just hit the midseason mark with a handful of players in the running for Most Valuable, but the league has already decided their Most Valuable Politicians.”

BRIN IN POLITICS?  CNET.  “It’s election day in America, and Google co-founder Sergey Brin isn’t happy about the situation.”

CA:  PROP. 32 UPDATE.  Here.  “Prop 32 results are in and California voters have decided not to pass the campaign finance reform measure with 55 percent of voters deciding No. The race was called around 2:25 am on Tuesday morning.”

CO:  AMDT 65 NEWS.  Here.  “Amendment 65, which would theoretically stop the influence of corporate spending in political campaigns, was projected to win by The Denver Post, netting more than two-thirds of the votes.”

CO:  GESSLER INVESTIGATION.  Story here.  “Hours before Election Day, the Colorado Independent Ethics Commission has announced it is launching an investigation into a complaint that Secretary of State Scott Gessler misappropriated roughly $2000 in state funds for personal travel and expenses.”

HAVE A GREAT DAY.