Political law links (9/6/12)

NEW RAHM ROLE. The Post. “Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel — a legendary fundraiser and political strategist before he won elected office — has dropped his honorary chairmanship of the Obama campaign to help raise big-dollar contributions, so that Democrats can compete with what is emerging as a clear GOP fundraising advantage this election cycle, campaign and fundraising individuals said.”

SOLYNDRA FIGURE IN CHARLOTTE. Story here. “Steven J. Spinner, a former Department of Energy official at the center of the Solyndra scandal that cost taxpayers $535 million, ran for the exits when he saw ABC News cameras at the Democratic National Convention.”

DUKE CEO PROFILE Here. “Nineteen months after he locked hands in triumph with Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx upon landing the Democratic National Convention, host committee co-chairman Jim Rogers rides a cascade of political and corporate intrigue into convention week.”

RULING ON MN LAW. Story here. “A Minnesota law requiring disclosure of independent corporate political spending is ‘most likely unconstitutional,’ a federal appeals court ruled Wednesday.”

PROBATION SENTENCE IN ENSIGN-RELATED MATTER. Story here. “A judge sentenced a onetime top aide to former Sen. John Ensign to a year’s probation Wednesday for violating federal lobbying restrictions.”

ALICE IN CAMPAIGN FINANCE-LAND. NJ Election Law Enforcement Commission’s Jeff Brindle explains here. “With a gubernatorial election as well as a legislative contest in the Garden State next year, it is incumbent upon the Legislature to pass legislation that will require registration and disclosure of contributions and expenditures by independent groups seeking to influence the outcome of the election.”

ETHICS ISSUES IN NC. US News. “Sexual harassment, assaults, and bribes, oh my!”

DC: BAN NOT ON BALLOT. The Post. “A proposed initiative to ban corporate donations in the District will not be on the November ballot, but a Superior Court judge ruled Tuesday that proponents can take the next month to review their submission to try to qualify for a future election.”

WV: RESCUE FUND ARGUMENT. Story here. “After nearly two hours of oral arguments, the question of additional public funding in the West Virginia Supreme Court race rests squarely in the hands of the state Supreme Court.”

HAVE A GREAT DAY.

I’ve got today’s political law links here

DONOR FULFILLMENT. Politico. “The perks started even before the convention officially convened, with donors on Monday night getting the chance to pose for photos on stage at the Time Warner Arena, according to literature detailing the Obama Victory Fund’s donor fulfillment program obtained by POLITICO.”

KEN VOGEL ON POLITICO LIVE. Politico’s live coverage of the Democratic convention featured an interesting segment with reporter Ken Vogel discussing HLOGA and related topics last night. I’ve tried to catch as much coverage as I can online here both this week and during last week’s events in Tampa.

LABOR ORGS AND 12. Story here. “As unions around the nation plunge in earnest into another election season of phone banks, door-to-door canvasses and leafleting, they find themselves confronting a political landscape that is more daunting than any they have faced in decades.”

CO: WARNING ON LIMITS. Story here. “Colorado Republicans and Democrats attending their respective national conventions – and getting SWAG bags and other freebies – need to remember Amendment 41.”

IL: GAMING DONATION BAN. Story here. “When Gov. Pat Quinn shot down a plan to boost gambling in the state, he called for more ethical safeguards and conjured up cautionary images of mobsters infiltrating Illinois casinos.”

WA: MORE ON CHURCH ACTIVITY. Story here. “The group seeking to overturn Washington’s gay marriage law has changed its website instructions to churches that want to raise money for the effort, but state campaign finance officials say that the language is still not in compliance with state law.”

HAVE A GREAT DAY.

Back to school, back to political law links (9/4/12)

CAMPAIGN PLANE DETAILS. Story here. “Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan showed off the campaign’s new planes shining in the bright Florida sun Friday, but the aircraft are hardly brand new.”

OCE REFERRAL ON REP. ANDREWS. Here. “The Board of the Office of Congressional Ethics recommended that the Committee on Ethics further review the above allegations concerning Representative Andrews because there is a substantial reason to believe that he improperly used congressional campaign and Leadership PAC funds for personal use, in violation of House rules and federal law.”

LOBBYISTS IN CHARLOTTE. The Hill. “Heather Podesta from Heather Podesta + Partners, along with her husband, Tony Podesta of the Podesta Group, are hosting several events in Charlotte throughout the week, including a brunch on Monday and Tuesday.”

PEOPLE’S PLEDGE IN THE NEWS. Story here. “The People’s Pledge does not legally bind outside groups from entering the Massachusetts Senate race.”

REP. RICHARDSON ETHICS ISSUE VIEW. Here. “A sitting member of Congress violates federal law and brings shame to the House of Representatives and all she receives is a slap on the wrist fine and a stern ‘talking to’?”

CHARLOTTE PARTIES. LA Times. “The lackluster economy also led many groups to cut back on their convention budgets.”

SQUARE FUNDRAISING. Story here. “In a sign that Mitt Romney’s campaign is serious about digital innovation in politics, it used this past week’s Republican National Convention to do a major roll out of its branded version of Square, the mobile credit card processing app and iPhone/iPad/Android accessory already popular with small businesses which the campaign is using for fundraising.”

USAT ON SOCIAL WELFARE GROUPS. Here. “The emergence of non-profits as the leading conduit for anonymous spending in this year’s presidential campaign is often attributed to the Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United ruling, which opened the money spigot, allowing corporations and unions to buy ads urging people to vote for or against specific candidates.”

FEW GIVE THROUGH COMPANIES. Forbes. “So far, most big donations have been made personally.”

NJ: JUDGE RESIGNS. Story here. “Longtime Ridgewood Municipal Court Judge Phillip F. Sheridan has resigned from his position following a NJ State Supreme Court ruling that bars law firms employing municipal judges from making political contributions, Ridgewood Court Administrator Maria Doerr confirmed Tuesday.”

TN: REGISTRY PERFORMANCE. Story here. “State legislators seem pleased on a bipartisan basis with the way Tennessee’s campaign finance watchdog agency performs, but one concerned citizen, Mike Hart, wonders if that’s not the equivalent of foxes being pleased with oversight of the hen house.”

VT: SUPER PAC IMPACT. Story here. “In the absence of hard evidence quantifying their effect, why all the fuss over super PACs?”

HAVE A GREAT DAY.