Campaign Finance/Fair Elections 
Why the GOP should support publicly funded campaigns
Former Sen. Alan Simpson (R-Wyo.) responds to George Will's lame column bashing Fair Elections.
- And as a reminder, here was our response: http://publicampaign.org/blog/2011/04/29/where-theres-will-theres-nay

Obama's "Gangster Politics"
More hysterical freak out from the anti-disclosure crowd on Obama's planned executive order.

Citizens United decision profoundly affects political landscape
Great new report from Center for Responsive Politics, with charts! "An analysis by the Center for Responsive Politics reveals that the Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission Supreme Court ruling of January 2010 has profoundly affected the nation's political landscape."

New campaign launches to stop Karl Rove corruption of the 2012 election
"CampaignAccountabilityWatch.org, a new coalition of dozens of fair election non-profit organizations and advocates, is fighting back against Mr. Rove and others, such as the Chamber of Commerce and American Future Fund, to make sure that they do not violate campaign finance law in the upcoming election as they have done in the past.
 
Congress/2012
Big oil gets its payday
House Republicans killed an effort to end oil subsidies yesterday. David cites our data: "According to their data, released today, those voting to block debate on oil subsidies received $36,066, on average, in campaign contributions from oil and gas interests. Those who voted to begin debate received, on average, $7,192 in campaign contributions from the industry."
- Here's our full report on it: http://campaignmoney.org/press-room/2011/05/05/house-members-side-big-oil
- Sam Stein at Huffington Post does research on the sponsors: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/05/big-oil-drilling-bill-sponsors-contributions_n_858329.html

Rep. Rob Bishop: Quit Trying to Demonize oil companies
Rep. Rob Bishop did his best "leave Britney alone!" impression yesterday on the House floor, forgetting to note that oil companies make up his 5th largest lifetime contributor.

Senate GOP pledges to block nominee without changes to consumer agency
Senate Republicans have said, en masse, that they will block any candidate to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFBP) unless the agency is significantly weakened to give Wall Street back some power.

Michael Bloomberg attending fundraisers for John Boehner, DCCC
Next week, just days after his caucus began pushing legislation to weaken Wall Street reform, John Boehner will hold a fundraiser at the St. Regis in Manhattan with Wall street donors.

Republicans shelve medicare overhaul plan
Passing a sell-out to insurance companies wasn't so popular after all.

Paul's "money bomb" nets over $1M
And Ron Paul has raked in over $1 million in his latest "money bomb" fundraising effort.

Kirk Adams picks up sports, CEO backing
Former Arizona House Speaker that helped send the repeal of Clean Elections to the ballot is picking up the endorsements of a lot of rich people.

Fund-raising for '12 elections sets fast pace
Texas members of Congress moved quickly in the 1st quarter to raise money for their next election. Dave Levinthal with CRP: "The more time you spend fund-raising, the less time you have for governing, or meeting with your constituents"

In Treasury plan to overhaul corporate taxes, a political minefield
The debate over corporate tax rates, etc, is going to be obnoxious with many of our largest corporations, who give millions in campaign cash, whining about already paying too much.

Hispanic connection opens doors for niche group
"Egües, a Cuban-American business consultant from Miami, established the National Hispanic Landscape Alliance last month based on the premise that being Hispanic has become a hot political commodity in Washington."

Other
Is Gov. Rick Scott rewarding donors with private prison plan?
Florida Gov. Rick Scott is pushing to privatize the state's prison system, something that could greatly benefit a corrections company that donated $400k to the Florida Republican party in 2010 and $25k to Scott's inaugural fund.

PAC fined for not answering complaint that it laundered contributions from former Texas speaker
"The Texas Ethics Commission has fined a political action committee $10,000 for failing to respond to an investigation into a complaint that it laundered illegal contributions by then-House Speaker Tom Craddick to three state representatives in 2008."