Campaign Finance/Ethics
Special interests distort elections  
Former Sen. Alan Simpson (R-Wy.) has an op-ed in Politico today. "Our nation’s fiscal future is inextricably linked to another systemic problem: the compromised state of U.S. governance and the role that special interest money plays in our elections." Goes on to talk about the need for Fair Elections

Will Obama throw a grenade to blow-up hidden campaign donations? 
A mostly good wrap up of Obama's draft executive order on contractor contributions ends with this, "If the President pulls the pin on this grenade, it will be one of the major political (and legal) stories of the year."

Draft executive order on outside spending disclosure would have sweeping reach
The Sunlight Foundation provides its analysis of Obama executive order. Koch Industries, a government contractor, would be covered. Interesting.

Congress/2012
Spring fundraising quarter tests likely GOP presidential hopefuls
"With the 2012 campaign starting several months later than it did four years ago, the contenders are under intense pressure to demonstrate their ability to bring in the dough before the slower summer season begins."

Arkansas GOP freshmen look inside Beltway for early fundraising
A story on freshmen fundraising and the creation of new joint fundraising committees. Public Campaign President Nick Nyhart: "It creates an appearance of corruption. It’s essentially a Sam’s Club marketing technique. They are wholesaling access to members of Congress and streamlining the ability of vested-interest money to reach like-minded members of Congress.”

BP cut tax bill by $13B due to losses from spill
BP got to write off $13B in losses on its taxes this year. Nick: "It doesn't add up. And it sends the wrong signal to the public about preferential treatment."

Baucus aide moves to K Street firm
A Senate Finance Committee aide to Max Baucus is moving over to K Street to Holland and Knight.

With public backing, Dems to push tax hikes for the wealthy
Democrats are going to push for increasing taxes on rich people, thinking they have the public behind them.

Tea Partier MI-01 Rep. Benishek receives three-quarter of his financing from non-Michigan sources
A post from Michigan about our release on freshmen Rep. Benishek and his out-of-state fundraising.

John Ensign bolted to avoid more public embarrassment
John Ensign's resignation will be final just one day before he was scheduled to give a deposition to the Senate Ethics Committee, according to inside sources. That now, of course, won't happen.

BP, Transocean spending more on lobbying
"A year after an explosion killed 11 workers and triggered the worst oil spill in U.S. waters, two companies at the center of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig disaster intensified their spending heavily to influence federal policymakers, new lobbying reports show."

Ethics panel may still rebuke Ensign
But, as Roll Call reports, we might still get some details on what went down in the Ensign scandal.

Sewers, swaps, and Bachus
Great column by Joe Nocera on an Alabama town's problem with the risky derivatives market and Spencer Bachus' (R-Ala.) work to delay implementation of derivative regulation.

Corporate tax overhaul enters debt debate
The debate over tax reform is going to be obnoxious as we watch everybody say the corporate tax rate is too high: "Thus some sectors with comparatively few major deductions could win big, including Wall Street. Others paying lower 'effective rates,' like domestic manufacturers, could lose."

Other/States
Gov. signs bill to up campaign finance disclosure
Washington State has passed some disclosure legislation. "The bill imposes stricter requirements for campaign transparency by lowering the dollar threshold for reporting contributions. It also requires that names of political action committees (PACs) include their sponsors, and strengthens the criminal and civil penalties for violating those provisions."

Don't undermine the Citizens' Elections program
Beth Rotman, the first director of Connecticut's Citizens' Election Program, says the legislature should not mess with the successful program. "As the Citizens' Election Program moves from its infancy, we should not jeopardize its future in this way."

Welfare for candidates doesn't help the process
Sean Parnell of the "first amendment group" Center for Competitive Politics says Wisconsin should get rid of its judicial public financing program.

Let's build on values of public financing plans
Keith Knutson, in response to Parnell, says the public financing system is a good foundation to build on and must be strengthened.

Bill strikes at "pay-to-play"
The North Carolina legislature is looking at legislation that would limit government contractors' ability to give donations to state candidates.