Important tidbit from the New York Times preview of the State of the Union: "Mr. Obama will also propose political changes, perhaps in campaign finance. Those would tap the sentiment of many Americans, expressed among both Tea Party and Occupy protesters on the political right and left, that the system is rigged against them in favor of a privileged few."

Campaign Finance/Fair Elections
NYT: American voters--still up for grabs
In a column influenced by Public Campaign Action Fund/Democracy Corps polling last week, Thomas Freidman writes, "Finally, I want to vote for a candidate who supports a minimum floor of public financing of presidential, Senate and House campaigns. Money in politics is out of control today. Our Congress has become a forum for legalized bribery. Americans are losing faith in the instruments of government because they think the game is rigged by big money — and they’re right." National Journal picks up our poll here.

Public Campaign blog: Nancy Pelosi on Citizens United anniversary: Encourage small donors
In her statement on the 2nd anniversary of the Citizens United decision, Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) called for not just a constitutional amendment, but said "We must reform the system, empowering small donors and the grassroots with a greater role in our elections." Here's a joint statement from Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and former Sen. Russ Feingold on the anniversary. A rundown of actions from iWatch, truthout and a funny story on how Jim Bopp's office got occupied.

CBS: Scalia on unlimited political ads: turn off TV
"U.S. Supreme Court justice Antonin Scalia has a simple solution for people who don't like all the political advertisements unleashed by the court's decision two years ago that ended limits on corporate contributions in political campaigns — change the channel or turn off the TV."

HuffPost: Citizens United, how did it happen?
John Ennis has a new documentary out on Citizens United, featuring many of the people on this list. Check out a short preview.

Dennis Kucinich and Russell Simmons: The future of American Democracy
On Rep. Kucinich's (D-Ohio) new constitutional amendment: "This week, a constitutional amendment was introduced in Congress that will require all federal campaigns -- that is campaigns for president, vice president, senator and representative -- to be financed exclusively with public funds, and that will prohibit any expenditures from any other source, including the candidate. This amendment will also preclude any expenditures in support of, or in opposition to, any federal candidate, so that special interest groups will not be able to influence elections either. "

Post-Gazette: Corporate political spending targeted
"Investors and corporate governance experts are asking the Securities and Exchange Commission to require public companies to provide detailed disclosure of their political spending."

Congress/2012
NYT: Ex-representative may lobby for project he helped finance
Former Congressman Bill Delahunt is getting paid to lobby on same project he earmarked while in Congress.

TechDirt: MPAA directly and publicly threatens politicians who aren't corrupt enough to stay bought
"Reinforcing the fact that Chris Dodd really does not get what's happening, and showing just how disgustingly corrupt the MPAA relationship is with politicians, Chris Dodd went on Fox News to explicitly threaten politicians who accept MPAA campaign donations that they'd better pass Hollywood's favorite legislation... or else." More on this at The Hill and Chris Dodd says he's not a lobbyist.

Nightly Business Report: Companies that spend lots on lobbying, little on taxes
"The American activist group, U.S. PIRG, is targeting corporate influence in politics by calling out companies who they say spend more on lobbying than on taxes."

Bergen Daily Record: Influence of money in politics abuses sytem
Columnist Bob Ingle writes, "We have a growing problem in this nation, we’re in danger of losing control of our republic because of the influence of money."

Elizabeth Warren, Scott Brown still hammering out super PAC pledge
"The candidates in the Massachusetts Senate continued to jockey a first-of-its-kind agreement to limit outside ads after Democratic candidate Elizabeth Warren made a counteroffer Monday just days after talks hit an impasse."

Roll Call: Groups lobbying for a shoutout in the SOTU
"The White House has been reaching out to unions, interest groups and other downtown stakeholders for the past few weeks, soliciting data points and political feedback as it puts the finishing touches on Tuesday’s State of the Union address."

CNN: In Depth: Where money and politics collide
I'm wary of this: "t's become an easy talking point that this will be the most expensive presidential race in history, and that super PACs could tip the outcome. But in a special In Depth series of reports across all our prime-time and daytime television shows and digital platforms this week, CNN will take a hard look at that conventional wisdom -- exploring what super PACs are, what they do, who funds them, and how much power they really have." Here's the first report on American Crossroads.

Washington Post: Newt Gingrich launches fundraising, organizing blitz
"Newt Gingrich moved quickly Sunday to capi­tal­ize on his victory in the South Carolina primary, launching an aggressive fundraising and organizing effort and casting himself as the only candidate thus far to have captured the enthusiasm of the Republican base. " He has raised over $1M since his SC win.

Roll Call: K Street's largest firms saw some dips in 2011 business
"Some of K Street’s biggest players reported less revenue last year than they did in 2010. The economy, Congressional stalemates and more focus on executive branch agencies combined to hand many lobby shops little or no boost to their bottom lines." More at Politico and more from Roll Call on how K Street is looking to next year.

The Hill: Chamber cuts lobbying spending in half for 2011
"The U.S. Chamber of Commerce cut its lobbying spending nearly in half in 2011, according to lobbying disclosure reports filed Friday."

Rasmussen: 58% says U.S. needs new campaign finance laws
New polling: "Most Americans, regardless of political affiliation, think the country needs more campaign finance laws but a plurality still opposes public financing of presidential elections. They’re evenly divided over whether incumbents should be banned from receiving campaign contributions of any kind."

The Hill: Romney camp marks anniversary of Gingrich House reprimand
"As South Carolina votes Saturday, Mitt Romney’s campaign sent a press release wishing Gingrich a 'happy anniversary' for the House decision to reprimand him, which happened on Jan. 21, 1997." And CRP looks at Gingrich's campaign finance past.

Politico: Pro-Romney super PAC blitzes Florida
"Although its been just hours since Newt Gingrich won the South Carolina primary, outside political groups have already flooded the next battleground state -- Florida -- with several million dollars worth of advertisements and phone messages."

Politico: Meet the super super PAC
A super super PAC? "Here’s how it works: under new federal rules, a traditional PAC and super PAC may operate under one roof. These hybrid operations can raise and spend unlimited amounts of cash to promote or oppose candidates, as any super PAC can, while simultaneously giving limited amounts of money directly to campaigns and committees, like a traditional political action committee."

Politico: Obama's donors want more than Keystone
"Many green-minded donors who backed the president during his last race in 2008 say they're thrilled with the White House's decision to reject the pipeline. But they remain unconvinced that Obama is committed to their issues."

Wausau Daily Herald: Majority of Duffy's campaign money from PACs
"U.S. Rep. Sean Duffy's latest campaign fundraising report demonstrates a typical phenomenon for incumbent candidates -- a shift away from individual contributions and toward political action committees representing a variety of interests."

WaPo: Mitt Romney to release tax returns Tuesday
"Hoping to put to rest the mounting controversy over his personal finances, Mitt Romney said Sunday that he will release his 2010 tax returns and an estimate for 2011 Tuesday."

Newsday: Unmask the Super PAC donors
Newsday wants more disclosure.

LA Times: Few South Carolina voters jump on the Colbert-Cain train
"Satirist Stephen Colbert’s push for protest votes in the South Carolina primary fell flat Saturday as former candidate Herman Cain took just over 1% of the vote in the GOP presidential primary."

Other/States
Our view: Keep donors' names public
"A bill that would make it clear who the major donors to political ads really are is making its way through the California Assembly."

Huffington Post: Governor Cuomo's bet
Jay Mandle writes on Huffington Post, "Winning public campaign funding in New York will not only enhance the voice of the citizenry there. It will also encourage similar efforts elsewhere. And with that, wealthy political patrons will at long last be confronted with a powerful challenge to their dominance."

Times Union: Campaign donations come from new and old sources
A look at recent campaign fundraising filings in NY.

Tucson Sentinel: Bill would require shadowy political groups to list donors
In Arizona: "HB 2835 would require corporations, limited liability companies and labor organizations that influence elections to act as a political action committee does and file campaign-finance reports listing their sources of funding."

Daily Times: Gov. makes her case for lobbyist reform
"Gov. Susana Martinez on Sunday called on state legislators to prohibit themselves from becoming lobbyists for two years after leaving office. Martinez, a Republican, said the proposal is nonpartisan and should be accepted by lawmakers from both parties as a means of improving public confidence in government."