Campaign Finance/Fair Elections
Fulfilling the promise of "Citizens United"
Op-ed from Harvard Professor John Coates and Public Citizen's Taylor Lincoln: "Despite reflexive opposition to the disclosure of political spending from many self-appointed business advocates, research we are publishing Wednesday suggests that disclosure of political activity might benefit corporate valuations and, at the least, mandatory disclosure would pose no threat of a detrimental effect."
- More on the report over at TPM: http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/09/with_the_2012_political_money.php.

John Edwards's lawyers: prosecution is political
"Lawyers for former senator and presidential candidate John Edwards filed motions with a federal court in North Carolina Tuesday seeking dismissal of the criminal case against him and charging that the prosecution amounts to a political crusade."

Congress/2012
Q&A with Sen. Rob Portman on budget cuts
An interview with supercommittee member Sen. Portman (R-Ohio). He was asked about our call to end fundraising and he said campaign cash doesn't affect his decisions, though, he says, "Personally, I've canceled a bunch of events."

Jon Kyl lowers supercommittee expectations
And this from supercommittee member Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.): "If either outside forces or the president or even members of Congress were to force the committee members into situations where you have to compromise our principles, that’s going to be very, very hard to do."

Debt commission members rake in health money
"Doctors, drugmakers, hospitals and health insurers have spent millions over the years wooing lawmakers who now are on the powerful congressional panel charged with finding a formula to control deficits and debt, a new analysis finds."

Donors to Senate GOP super committee members seek tax cuts, tax breaks
The headline says it all!

Dave Camp will raise money with lobbyists hours before looking at their clients in the supercommittee
Related: Rep. Dave Camp (R-Mich.) is fundraising with lobbyists tonight, many with a stake in the supercommittee debate--including Pfizer PAC. What will they be talking about?

Buddy Roemer on the Daily Show
Buddy Roemer was on the Daily Show last night. Check it out. "It's the special interests that write the tax code."

Rick Perry will mine California donors on debate trip
Rick Perry is heading to California for a debate..and fundraising tour. "Perhaps more than any other candidate, the Texas governor will use the upcoming trip to raise money for his presidential campaign."
- Yesterday, we rounded up the dozens of stories on Rick Perry and his favors for campaign donors: http://campaignmoney.org/blog/2011/09/06/rick-perrys-texas-sized-favors-big-donors.

Vote out the entire Congress? You bet.
A full 54 percent of respondents to an NBC/WSJ poll said they would vote out every single member of Congress if they could.

Our view: Rise above partisan politics
The Anchorage Daily News takes on our broken political system and the supercommittee, looking at their campaign cash and lobbyist ties. "And the supercommittee members need to rise to the occasion -- no matter how many lobbyists pepper them, no matter who's given them what in the way of campaign contributions."

On some timely campaign contributions by Delta Air lines
Michigan Rep. Candice Miller (R) voted against the House GOP/Delta union busting effort in committee, but then switched her vote on the floor. She then got a big check from Delta, according to PCAF research. Neat.

In the land of denial
The New York Times on GOP 2012 candidates and their global warming denial.

White House may take bigger role in vetting costly regulations ahead of 2012
Will the president give more handouts to businesses unhappy with new regulations? "The involvement of President Obama’s chief of staff in last week’s decision to withdraw a smog rule might signal a more muscular White House role in vetting costly regulations ahead of the 2012 election."
- Some liberal Dems won't be happy if he does more with EPA: http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/677-e2-wire/179789-liberal-dems-to-white-house-dont-cave-on-other-epa-rules-after-ozone-retreat.

Super PAC plans major primary campaign for Perry
More on yesterday's news that the Rick Perry-aligned super PAC will spend tens of millions to help him win the primary. "The sheer size of the budget is striking, on par with the total amount of money raised by all the Republican candidates combined in the first six months of the year"

Berkley pushes back on report challenging her ethics
Rep. Shelley Berkley (D-Nev.) "on Tuesday was pushing back against a published report that their relationship has created conflicts of interest for the eight-term member of Congress."

McCaul, Issa top list of wealthiest members of Congress
Lots of rich people in Congress.

Other
Embezzlers welcome
A follow up to yesterday's story about the California campaign treasurer arrested by the FBI for embezzlement. "That point is: if campaigns were businesses, they would be the type of businesses that would be easy to rob."

Supreme Court hears campaign finance case
"Justices heard arguments Tuesday in a case brought forward by a number of groups, who argue the rule that requires third party groups running ads that advocate for or against a candidate for elected office to report their funding."