Fair Elections/Campaign Finance Nevadans split over free speech expansion, By Doug McMurdo A new poll shows Nevadans are pretty evenly split on the U.S. Supreme Court's Citizens United ruling earlier this year.

• Here’s the question that was posed to the citizens

Rocky road for campaign finance, by Meredith Shiner U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) may bring the DISCLOSE Act to the floor even if it just means scoring political points showing Republicans as siding with corporations. Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-ME) said she’s reviewing but it needs changes and Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) calls it a “bailout for unions.”  Chances of campaign finance bill affecting midterms dim, by Susan Crabtree Another article on the chances of the DISCLOSE Act getting passed indicating that Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-ME) wants to slow down the process. 

• “Unless Congress acts, none of this new money need be disclosed to the voting public,” said U.S. PIRG spokeswoman Lisa Gilbert. “It is a frightening prospect a danger to our democracy.”

 FEC orders Biden’s 2008 presidential campaign to pay $219,000, by Amy Goldstein Vice-President Joe Biden's campaign has to pay $219,000 to for “excessive contributions and recordkeeping errors” during his 2008 nomination for president.  Congress A fund-raising gap, by Jeff Meleny

• "In red states and blue states — nearly a dozen competitive Senate races in all — Republicans raised more money over the last three months than their Democratic challengers," explained Meleny in this New York Times article.

 Supreme Court ruling raises bar for corruption, fraud prosecutions, by Spencer Hsu  The U.S. Supreme Court's "honest services" ruling is jeopardizing several high-profile investigations, including those related to ex-lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who was convicted in late 2008 of corruption and fraud.   Obama admin defends hiring of ex-health insurance exec to oversee reform, by Sam Stein  Some are questioning the hiring of Liz Fowler, a former insurance exec, to handle implementation of healthcare reform legislation.

• “She may be uniquely qualified ... but part of implementing health care reform legislation is repairing the public trust that was damaged by the way it was passed -- the public saw the influence industry on display and they were sickened by what they saw," said David Donnelly, National Campaign Director for Public Campaign Action Fund. "I think the White House could have found another uniquely qualified person from among the other 300 million Americans."

 Senate sits on mine safety bill as GOP waits for W.Va., by Mike Lillis  U.S. Senate Republicans are holding up a mine safety bill in response to the deadly Upper Big Branch mine explosion in April, saying they need to wait for the investigation to finish.