Campaign Finance/Fair Elections
Democrats ramp up calls for ethics probe of Clarence Thomas
"House Democrats are ratcheting up the pressure for a formal investigation into Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas for failing to disclose information relating to his wife's earnings -- as much as $1.6 million over the past 13 years -- on his annual financial disclosure forms."

Power of Capitol Hill lobbyists growing
Lee Hamilton writes about lobbying and the political process: "In Washington, the issues that tend to get taken up are ones that might mean hundreds of millions or even billions of dollars to a particular industry."

Lobbyists blast plan to bar them from federal boards
"Final guidelines that spell out the specifics of President Barack Obama’s plan to keep lobbyists off government advisory boards have once again riled K Street."

Congress/2012
#OccupyWallSt, then #OccupyKSt, then #OccupyMainSt, by Larry Lessig
"It is way too early, and perhaps even a bit crazy, to see an American Spring in the growing protests on Wall Street. Yet. But there is no doubt that if there is one place in America that these protests should begin, it is there, and it is now."

Buddy Roemer to Occupy Wall Street: "I Stand By You"
Republican Presidential candidate Buddy Roemer stands with the Wall St. protestors: "Both parties are guilty of taking the big check and are bought by Wall Street. My campaign is the only one that speaks out against this and I look forward to the day lobbyists are not allowed to donate to campaigns."

Super Committee holds more closed-door meetings
Look, more secret supercommittee meetings!

Foreign interests lobbied super committee members
Interesting piece from Janie Lorber at Roll Call on foreign lobbying of supercommittee members. "That figure is chump change in comparison with the millions of dollars those lawmakers bring in every year. But while the POGO analysis shows no signs of wrongdoing, the timing of meetings, contributions and communication provide a glimpse at the techniques lobbyists use to grease Congressional wheels."

Letter to supercommittee: End taxpayer subsidies to big oil to reduce deficit
53 groups sent a letter to supercommittee members urging them to end the wasteful oil subsidies. We report on all the big oil numbers those committee members have.

Top GOP bundler to Romney camp
Paul Singer, the head of hedge fund Elliott Management has signed on with Mitt Romney after his hopes were dashed by Gov. Chris Christie's decision not to run.
- More on Christie donors heading Romney's way; http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204294504576613424142748548.html?mod=ITP_pageone_1

Paul campaign raises $8 million in 3rd quarter
Republican Presidential candidate Ron Paul raised a respectable $8 million for his presidential bid in the 3rd quarter.

Rick Perry's $17 million fundraising total appears to lead Republican field
"Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry appears to have raised more money than his GOP rivals in the first six weeks of his campaign, suggesting that the Texas governor remains competitive despite a series of major stumbles that have hurt his standing in the race."

Bachmann: Perry used jobs fund to reward backers
"Rival Michele Bachmann recently likened one of the deals subsidized by the Texas Enterprise Fund to Solyndra, the California energy company that went bust after receiving a $528 million loan from the federal stimulus program."

Eric Cantor puts the House up for sale (moreso)
The Progress Report yesterday focused on Rep. Eric Cantor's (R-Va.) new super PAC: "Instead of focusing on putting more Americans back to work, Eric Cantor is focused on raising corporate special interest cash in order to elect more extremists and advance his own political future."

Major election spenders to remain secret until after first votes
"Voters in the early presidential nominating states will soon be bombarded with millions of dollars in advertising from independent political organizations whose donors can remain secret until after the first five primaries and caucuses are held."

Super PACs on the rise
"More super PACs have formed so far this year than in all of 2010, suggesting the novelty breed of political committee is on track to become a dominant force this cycle."

Trade deals were cash cow for K Street
"The expected passage of the trade deals with Colombia, Panama and South Korea marks the end point of a long campaign that saw the respective governments spend freely on lobbyists, lawyers and public relations to help push the deals to the finish line."

Other
96 year old Chattanooga resident denied voting ID
Well, their plans to suppress voters seem to be working exactly as planned. A 96 year old woman in Chattanooga was denied a voter ID the other day.