Campaign Finance/Ethics
Supporting Clean Elections fund keeps politics fair 
This letter in Maine reminds Mainers to check the box on their tax form that gives money to the Clean Elections fund.

Who is bankrolling a lawsuit to end the ban on foreign money in U.S. Election?
ThinkProgress has a post up on the lawsuit moving through the courts that would end the ban on foreign nationals from contributing to U.S. political campaigns. The law firm representing them, Jones Day, also represents Koch Brothers and the U.S. Chamber. It’s unclear who’s funding the suit and this post argues it’s unlikely it’s the actual defendants.  

For public financing reform, all eyes on New York State
Check out this piece in The Huffington Post about efforts to bring Fair Elections-style reform to New York.

Supreme Court to hear challenge to constitutionality of Arizona public financing law
Here is Democracy 21’s take on the McComish/Arizona Clean Elections arguments coming up next Monday. Over the next week, we’ll be seeing more of this.

Congress/2012
GOP freshman Pompeo turned to Koch for money for business, then politics
When freshman Rep. Mike Pompeo needed help with a business, he turned to the Koch brothers. When he decided to get into politics, he went back to them again. He also hired one of their lawyers to lead his office. Common Cause’s Mary Boyle: “It’s the same old story — a member of Congress carrying water for his biggest campaign contributor. I don’t know how you make the argument to your constituents that it’s in their interests to defund the EPA or a consumer database.”

The transparency lobby
Eliza Newlin Carney writes about the push for revamping lobbying disclosure requirements.

Loaning a campaign cash but not writing it down
More than a dozen members of Congress loaned their campaign money—they just forgot to write it down on their disclosure forms, which is a no-no.

The war on Warren
Paul Krugman takes on the GOP war on Elizabeth Warren to head the consumer protection agency. “Nothing could be worse, from the point of view of bankers and the politicians who serve them, than to have consumers protected by someone who knows what she’s doing and has the personal credibility to stand up to pressure”

Obama’s support for nuclear power faces a test
Exelon, a big player in the nuclear power scene in the U.S., is based in Chicago and its employees have given lots of money to Obama’s campaign over the years, according to this Washington Post story, and now he appears to be doing their bidding.

House Dem lawmakers drive Feb. fundraising edge over GOP
The DCCC outraised the NRCC by about $300,000 in February.

RNC has $21 million in debt
The RNC is still $21 million in debt, after raising $5.2 million in February.

Money go-round
This article from South Dakota talks to the federal delegation about fundraising. Both Sens. Thune and Johnson say that since limits are so low nobody is influenced by contributions.

Other
Groups launch petition drive to repeal records bill HB477
In the closing days of the Utah legislative session, an anti-transparency bill was passed making changes to the state’s open government laws. An effort to repeal the law is now up and running.

Mysterious Justice Samuel Alito
A profile of Justice Alito: “By operating one case at a time, rather than from a grand vision, Alito has proved himself to be the closest thing conservatives have to a feelings justice.”

Wisconsin judge blocks union collective bargaining law
On Friday, a judge in Wisconsin blocked the anti-worker law passed by the Wisconsin Republicans on the grounds that it violated the state’s open meetings law.

Senator’s girlfriend had help getting job
This lead is brutal: “Even though the state is supposedly broke, top officials in Gov. Scott Walker's team were able to scrape together enough money to give a state job to the woman identified as Sen. Randy Hopper's girlfriend.” Hopper’s estranged wife has already signed the recall petition against him.

Some concerned conservative group skirting campaign reporting law
There’s a new push in Nebraska for more transparency on political spending. Common Cause Nebraska’s Jack Gould: “By ... claiming their carefully worded attack ads are only educational, they are distorting political campaigns to the point that public trust is lost.”