Campaign Finance/Fair Elections
The Counter Reformation: The Fall of Campaign Finance Reform
Paul Blumenthal’s second part of a three part series. He talks to several about recent campaign finance battles including Public Campaign President Nick Nyhart: "If the Court was 7-2 or 6-3 [opposed to getting money out of politics] a constitutional amendment would rise to top of demands," said Nick Nyhart, the executive director of Public Campaign, a public financing advocate.”

Democracy Loses with Super PACs
Democracy 21 President Fred Wertheimer: “In simple terms, the presidential candidate super PAC is nothing more than a shadow arm of the candidate’s campaign created to raise unlimited contributions that cannot be legally raised by the campaign. The idea that it is some kind of separate operation is nonsense. The candidate super PAC allows donors to bypass the restrictions on contributions to the candidate and provide unlimited and potentially corrupting contributions to directly support the presidential candidate.”

Complaint Filed Re: Illegal Keystone XL Lobbying by TransCanada’s Paul Elliot
Friends of the Earth have filed a complaint with the Justice Department regarding a top pipeline lobbyist’s failure to register as a foreign agent.

The Facebook PAC: When Social Media Discovers It’s Big Business
“But the emergence of a Facebook PAC is worth noting for at least one reason. It's a reminder that Facebook, as well as Google, is a big corporation with corporate interests, when both have spent the last several years reveling in the conventional Washington wisdom that these companies simply are the Internet.”

A Movement to Reclaim the American Dream
Katrina vanden Heuvel writes about the American Dream Movement: “it demands urgent democratic reforms to curb the power of money in politics.”

Congress/2012
D.C.’s GOP Money Men Hedging Their Bets
“Despite the money race’s enormous political implications, there are more fence-sitters now than in any presidential election in recent memory. Big K Street names like Charlie Black, Ed Rogers, and former Reps. Bill Paxon and Tom Reynolds remain on the sidelines, along with plenty of lower-tier lobbyists and operatives, according to a number of senior Republican donors and fundraisers.”

In GOP Race, Romney, Perry, Paul Are The Money Men
“Only three Republican presidential candidates are worth any money - campaign money, that is. Mitt Romney, Rick Perry and Ron Paul have banked millions.”

Perry Fund-Raisers Put Campaign’s Haul at $10 Million-Plus
Poor Gov. Perry (R-Texas), the money used to come in such big amounts before!
“This is a totally different way of fund-raising from what Perry is used to,” said Mr. Keelen. “In Texas, if you felt strongly about his ideas, you could write a check for $1 million,” whereas federal law caps individual donations at $2,500.”

Freshmen Cash In
They may not enjoy it, but Freshmen are certainly learning the ropes of fundraising
“In September and October, the House freshmen are hosting at least 100 fundraisers at Washington power-broker haunts like Charlie Palmer Steak and the Capitol Hill Club, a private GOP hangout for which the price of admission can run between a few hundred and a few thousand dollars.”

Rep. David Rivera’s Fundraising Down in Wake of Ethics, Criminal Probes
Apparently Rep. Rivera (R-Fla.) isn’t one of those aforementioned freshman…money seems to be only trickling in for him as he faces allegations of corruption.

Trust in Government at All Time Low
“A CNN/ORC International Poll released Wednesday morning indicates that only 15 percent of Americans say they trust the government in Washington to do what's right just about always or most of the time.”

Supercommittee Members Have Received $41 Million in Wall Street Donations
Death and Taxes Magazine covers our report with National People’s Action.

States/Other
State Rep Wants Wisconsin to Return to Publicly Financing Elections
“Rep. Andy Jorgensen, D-Fort Atkinson, introduced a proposal Monday to re-establish the Wisconsin Election Campaign Fund’s budget for public financing of elections, according to a statement from Jorgensen’s office.”

Student ID Stickers to Vote Under Voter ID Law Criticized
Wisconsin State Legislators Scott and Jeff Fitzgerald “requested Monday that a legislative committee review the legality of a statewide policy that allows universities and colleges to put stickers on student identification cards for students to vote under Wisconsin's new voter ID law.”

Senior Cantor Aid Joins Blank Rome
Another aide through the revolving door.