Wisconsin Protest
Vos attends DC fundraiser, dismisses labor leader’s claims 
This State Rep. who attended the BGR fundraiser yesterday is living in fantasy land. “People are thinking, ‘If they can do it in Wisconsin, maybe we can do it in our state, or maybe (even) at the federal level.’ Wisconsin is definitely a national leader in efforts of fiscal responsibility, and it seems the rest of the country respects that.”

Union protesters march through DC streets
A great story from the DC Fox affiliate on Wednesday’s protest.

Hundreds protest DC fundraiser for Wisconsin Republicans
And a local story from Wisconsin on the protest

A full round up is here: http://campaignmoney.org/blog/2011/03/17/early-coverage-yesterdays-wisconsin-gop-dc-corporate-lobbyist-fundraiser-protest

Campaign Finance
Citizens United not enough for right
Giving corporations free rein to influence elections isn’t quite enough for some people on the right, Politico reports this morning. A good read.

Clean Elections doesn’t deserve GOP attempts to make it illegal
Good editorial from the Daily Sun saying Clean Elections, while not perfect, deserves to stay in place in Arizona.

Congress/2012
Democrats set ambitious goals for top fundraisers
“The nation’s top Democratic contributors were given an ambitious set of marching orders on Thursday, with a select group of 450 donors each asked to raise $350,000 before the end of the year”--a big increase from the $250 the same donors were asked to raise for the entire 2010 cycle.

Feds say big GOP donor lampooned elderly investors in $200m ponzi scheme
Tim Durham, the CEO of National Lampoon, Inc. and a major GOP donor, was arrested by the FBI for running a $200 million Ponzi scheme.

Don’t adjust your set: Now campaign ads never end
Campaign ads are nonstop these days, with a lot of thanks going to the tax code.

Lobbyists flock to Capitol Hill jobs
“New tallies indicate that nearly half of the roughly 150 former lobbyists working in top policy jobs for members of Congress or House committees have been hired in the past few months. And many are working on legislative issues of interest to their former employers.” Also? The Pope is Catholic.

Barbour PAC donation eyed
A Texas businessman that recently gave $100,000 to Haley Barbour’s leadership PAC, s benefitting from the sale of its interests in Mississippi—after it was endorsed by Barbour and approved by several state agencies.

Nathan Myhrvold’s lobbying efforts lead to...a strange lawsuit
There’s some lawsuit about lobbying, patents, and Ross Perot’s running mate.

Ex-regulator flacking for pro-nuke lobby
A former member of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, “is now helping the pro-nuclear lobby in its public-relations response to the disaster in Japan.”

House votes to end money for NPR
The House really stuck it to Click and Clack yesterday.

Other
Bill would end “pay to play” in Prince George’s county.
After a handful of scandals in the county government, the state legislature will likely pass legislation to end “pay to play” in Prince George’s county.