Untitled Document Wisconsin Protest
Hundreds of Wisconsin Protestors Crash GOP Fundraiser
The Slatest picks up the protests.

• “With tickets going for between $1,000 and $5,000 a head, David Donnelly, national campaigns director for the Public Campaign Action Fund, says that the money will probably go toward fighting state senator recall efforts. ‘There's a tremendous amount of money on both sides: upwards of a million to two million in each Senate district,’ Donnelly told the National Journal. ‘The stakes are so incredibly high, and people see this [event] as a national proxy fight.’”

Campaign Finance/Ethics
A Plea for More Disclosure on Political Ads
The New York Times’ Caucus Blog covers the possibility that the Federal Communication Commission will step in to regulate disclosure on political ads.
 
Wis. Supreme Court Election Looms
Independent expenditures are pouring into the state Supreme Court election and some are blaming it on the state’s new public financing law.

• "To some degree, this is a direct result of campaign finance rules. The candidates don't have enough money. The public financing isn't enough to run a statewide race and that shifts all the power to independent organizations."

 
RNC Attacks on Campaign Finance Laws Rejected by Supreme Court…Again
Democracy 21’s Fred Wertheimer discusses the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to deny certiorari petition to review Cao v. FEC.
 
Senator Pierce Proposes Defunding Clean Elections
A small piece on the bill to essentially kill Clean Elections in Arizona.
 
Campaign Crimes Point to Lessons for Future Races
This article argues that Maine’s current Clean Election law doesn’t give campaigns the tools needed to police volunteers.
 
Third Trial Scheduled for Ex-Lobbyist Ring
“Kevin Ring, a former colleague of ex-lobbyist Jack Abramoff, will face a third trial related to a public corruption scandal, this time on charges that he lied to investigators hired by his former lobbying firm.”
 
Group Files Lawsuit over Ethics Initiative
“A Utah public interest group sued the state Monday, claiming an ethics initiative is being illegally kept off the November 2012 ballot even though the group says enough signatures have been gathered to qualify it for inclusion.”
 
Congress/2012
Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, Jon Huntsman, Haley Barbour: Show us the money in 2012
“A handful of wealthy first-time presidential candidates are all bracing for grueling, invasive and potentially embarrassing public financial disclosure — including the richest of them all, Donald Trump.”
 
Other
How Powerful are the Koch Brothers?
Ezra Klein examines the Koch Brothers’ power.
 
End to $500 Campaign Contribution Cap in Sight?
A new bill moving through the state Senate in Florida would allow individual contributions of up to $10,000 for gubernatorial candidates.