This op-ed in Virginia talks about our broken political system and writes, "One reform before Congress right now is the Fair Elections Now Act, which would allow federal candidates to choose to run for office without relying on large contributions from special interests or large donations from lobbyists, freeing them from constant fundraising."

"The Supreme Court is not bound by the code of conduct for federal judges, but justices have said they follow it voluntarily. Justice Clarence Thomas, however, does not appear to believe that he needs to adhere to those rules."

The House approved a Big Oil handout yesterday.

"The arms race of campaign fundraising kicked up a notch when Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) sent out a solicitation this week for donations to a new 'super PAC' conceived by several of his former advisers."

Yesterday, Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said that said "that anything Congress could do to slow down the implementation of Wall Street regulations passed in the wake of the economic collapse, 'the better America will be.' ". I doubt it--but it will probably be good for his campaign bank account.

There is renewed scrutiny on Rep. Charlie Bass (R-N.H.) and "his close ties and investments to the biomass industry."

"President Obama is off to a strong start tapping large donors for his reelection, figures released this week by the Democratic Party show."

"With millions of dollars in the bank and no challenger, the path to re-election looks like a freshly paved freeway for some Senate incumbents. But using recent history as a road map, those factors can be poor predictors of electoral success and certainly don't guarantee another term."

22 federal lobbyists made personal contributions to both RNC and DNC committees in the 2010 cycle.

I missed Thomas Friedman's column yesterday on Congress' dysfunction. He writes: "We need a full-time government, and instead we’ve created a Congress that is a full-time fund-raising enterprise that occasionally legislates and a White House that, save for 100 days, has to be in perpetual campaign mode."

A Style-section story on former members and life after Congress (it often includes K Street.)

"Even as GOP lawmakers outlined their ethics reform proposals yesterday in an effort to restore confidence in the Legislature, a new public corruption scandal was erupting involving lobbyist Richard McDonough, who was convicted last week along with former House Speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi of rigging $17 million in state software contracts for kickbacks."

The Boulder, CO City Council is thinking of putting a referendum on the November ballot on "corporate personhood."