Campaign Finance/Fair Elections
The GOP war on voting
Do read Ari Berman's piece in Rolling Stone. "Just as the nation gears up for the 2012 presidential election, Republican officials have launched an unprecedented, centrally coordinated campaign to suppress the elements of the Democratic vote that elected Barack Obama in 2008."

SEC proposal would disclose political donations by public companies
The Washington Post looks at the proposal before the SEC to require publicly traded companies to disclose their political contributions.

Congress/2012
New report: Supercommittee members don't need the money
We looked at the cash on hand, fundraising, and election results of all 12 supercommittee members. Yeah, they could give up fundraising for a few months. We also sent letters to each office to inform them of this fact.

Supercommittee member Upton creates joint fundraising committee
"Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich., one of the members of the Joint Select Committee for Deficit Reduction, filed paperwork Tuesday with the Federal Election Commission to create a joint fundraising committee." It's just more "cost-effective,"

As doomsday approaches, lobbyists go into action
An editorial on the supercommittee from NJ: "You don't have to be a Washington watchdog to believe that special interests shouldn't determine the outcome of one of the most important policy battles of our time."

Pay what?
Yesterday's clips included a report on 25 big corporations that pay more in CEO salaries than in taxes. Those big companies have also spent lots on campaign cash and lobbying over the years.

Union chief says new PAC will empower the nation's "silent majority"
Trumka on the AFL's new super PAC: "This advocacy arm will help build the power of America’s silent majority. It will not directly fund political or politicians’ campaigns. Nor will it match the endless flow of cash from corporations. But it will be an effort by and for working people.”

Huntsman's pre-presidential PAC raised lots of cash
Jon Huntsman may not have been able to campaign while he was still working for Obama, but his team of advisors was on the case--advisers that went to work for the Huntsman campaign. Ken Vogel at Politico says this really stretches the limit of campaign finance laws: http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0811/Vogel_on_Huntsmans_horizon.html?showall#

Donor to supercommittee Senate Dems lobby for tax breaks, federal funding
"Companies that earn billions from Pentagon contracts and lobby for billions more, universities that receive billions in research funding and financial firms that oppose new taxes and support old tax breaks for their industry figure in the top career donors to the three Senate Democrats on the super committee."

Big campaign bucks don't always spell victory
Sort of a strange article that conflates "big spending" candidates with "Self-funded" candidates to show the bigger spender doesn't always win. Well, it's mostly just self-funders that don't win.

Rick Perry backs AT&T merger plan with T-Mobile
Rick Perry backed the AT&T merger in May. Perry has received $500k from AT&T's PAC. American Bridge: "This is just one more example of Rick Perry’s pay-to-play network that represents the same old type of lobbyist-first politics."

Prosecutors want life sentence for lobbyist Kevin Ring. Why?
This Forbes columnist looks at the story of the feds pushing for a 20 year sentence for Abramoff associate Kevin Ring. You'll remember, of course, that Abramoff himself got just over 3 years in prison.

Perry, Obama planning trips to San Diego
On presidential fundraising in San Diego: "This summer America’s Finest City has become a veritable ATM."

Political parties see uptick in money this year
"The country's two political parties saw an uptick in donations this election cycle, with Democrats enjoying a 22 percent fundraising edge over Republicans ahead of next year's election, new federal data show."

Other
John Perzel, former Pennsylvania House speaker, pleads guilty to corruption
"The onetime speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives pleaded guilty Wednesday to eight criminal charges stemming from a public corruption investigation, making him the highest-ranking state politician to be convicted in the four-and-a-half-year inquiry."

Party leader criticizes CCI's tactics
The Iowa Democratic Party isn't super happy with the tactics of our friends at Iowa CCI, who were recently responsible for Mitt Romney saying corporations are people.

Senate urged to oppose bill requiring photo ID for voters
"Town clerks, the League of Women Voters and AARP called on the state Senate Wednesday to sustain Gov. Lynch’s veto of an election bill that will require all voters to present a photo ID."