Hey everyone, stop getting on Shel Adelson's case. He's "against very wealthy ­people attempting to or influencing elections." But, he might give $100M to Gingrich anyway.

January FEC reports
NYT: GOP campaigns grow more dependent on "super PAC" aid
Elections, a parlor game for billionaires: "Weeks of intense campaigning in the early nominating states have left the leading Republican presidential candidates increasingly dependent on millions of dollars spent on their behalf by outside 'super PACs,' reports filed with the Federal Election Commission on Monday showed." The Times also has a great chart that lays all this out and here is AP's take.

Boston Globe: Super PAC that supports Romney doubles fund-raising
"A ‘‘super’’ political action committee supporting Republican Mitt Romney for president doubled its average fundraising haul last month, drawing upon repeat donations from wealthy business executives, according to financial reports the campaigns filed today with the government." And we looked at the biggest donors, most of whom are also givers to the Romney campaign.

HuffPost: Obama raises $29 million for campaign, Democratic Party
"President Barack Obama pulled in $29.1 million for his re-election campaign and the Democratic Party in January, raising his total for this election cycle to about $250 million."

WaPo: Pro-Obama super PAC Priorities USA Action raises $58,815.83 in January
"Now we know why some Obama supporters may have been so panicked: Priorities USA Action, the main pro-Obama super PAC, raised just $58,815.83 in January, according to a report filed late Monday with the Federal Election Commission. " More at The Hill.

Politico: Mitt Romney's burn rate a boon for Barack Obama
"Mitt Romney is burning through cash more than twice as fast as he’s raising it, new reports filed Monday show — a clear sign that a protracted GOP primary fight could leave the front-runner limping into a general election fight with President Barack Obama." More at LA Times, WaPo, NYT, The Hill, and HuffPost.

Roll Call: DC supporters look to boost Rick Santorum
"In a private meeting of House conservatives last week, a lobbyist describing himself as Capitol Hill's point man for the Santorum campaign made a pitch for the candidate."

Politico: Billionaire goes on GOP spending spree
Billionaire Harold Simmons is on a spending (shopping?) spree, doling out millions to Republican super PACs.

Politico: Club for Growth super pAC raises $1.5M
"The conservative super PAC Club for Growth Action raked in $1.5 million in January, fueling its efforts to hammer GOP candidates the group views as too moderate."

CNN: PayPal co-founder donates millions to Ron Paul super PAC
"Silicon Valley renaissance man Peter Thiel donated another $1.7 million in January to a super PAC that backs Ron Paul, according to disclosure documents filed Monday." The Hill on Paul's campaign committee fundraising.

Politico: Pro-Rick Santorum PAC picks up another mega-donor
"The super PAC supporting Rick Santorum’s presidential campaign pulled in $2.1 million in January – half of which came from a relatively low-profile Louisiana energy executive, according to a report filed Monday evening with the Federal Election Commission."

WSJ: Adelson donations dominate super PAC supporting Gingrich
"The latest campaign-finance report from Winning Our Future, a Super PAC that supports Newt Gingrich, confirmed what many already knew: The group has a hard time raising money from people with a last name other than Adelson."

Buzzfeed: Romney giving driven by fundraisers
"The Romney campaign's best fundraising day in January came not after his victory in the New Hampshire primary, but immediately after a day of fundraising in New York City before the South Carolina primary. The second best day for the campaign was the day of the fundraisers — January, 18th."

Campaign Finance/Fair Elections
Slate: Occupy the super PACs
Rick Hasen on U.S. Supreme Court response to the Montana case last week: "With last week’s statement, Justice Ginsburg has signaled that she or one of the other justices opposing the Citizens United case will use the Montana case to expose the fallacy of the Citizens United argument." More from Brenda Wright at Demos and at WaPo.

WaPo: Ending secret money in politics
A Washington Post editorial on the DISCLOSE Act: "As the Supreme Court explained in its Citizens United ruling, 'disclosure permits citizens and shareholders to react to the speech of corporate entities in a proper way. This transparency enables the electorate to make informed decisions and give proper weight to different speakers and messages.' What, exactly, is the problem with transparency?" Bangor Daily News wants DISCLOSE too.

Politico: Voting Rights Act under siege
"An intensifying conservative legal assault on the Voting Rights Act could precipitate what many civil rights advocates regard as the nuclear option: a court ruling striking down one of the core elements of the landmark 1965 law guaranteeing African Americans and other minorities access to the ballot box."

Congress/2012
PCAF Blog: Politicians shuldn't be for sale!
David Donnelly responds to last week's New York Times op-ed entitled, "A better way to buy politicians."

WaPo: Study: Negative campaign ads much more frquent, vicious than in primaries past
"Four years ago, just 6 percent of campaign advertising in the GOP primaries amounted to attacks on other Republicans; in this election, that figure has shot up to more than 50 percent, according to an analysis of advertising trends."

Aspen Times: Nonprofit wants Tipton to return funds
"Public Campaign contends that Rep. Scott Tipton should return contributions from Houston-based SG Interests to ensure the trust of his constituents. SGI recently paid a $275,000 fine as part of a settlement of an antitrust lawsuit filed by the U.S. Department of Justice. "

TechPresident: US Senate could save hundreds of thousands of dollars if it files campaign finance reports electronically, says the FEC
"One little-noted item in President Obama's budget proposal this week was a recommendation to require U.S. senators to file their campaign finance reports with the Federal Election Commission electronically. The FEC estimates that the switch from paper to bits would save it $430,000 annually."

NYT: Questions for and about Congressman Grimm
"Serious questions emerging about the behavior of Representative Michael Grimm, Republican of New York, deserve a thorough inquiry by the Office of Congressional Ethics and the Department of Justice."

Roll Call: Bachus starts accpunt to pay for ethics fight
"Rep. Spencer Bachus established a trust account earlier this week to pay for his legal fees, indicating that the Alabama Republican is preparing for what could be a protracted ethics probe."

Washington Times: Corporations make first political donations--and it's not through checks
On in-kind contributions: "Corporations have made some of their first significant political donations since a 2010 court ruling permitted them — and surprisingly, they’re not monetary."

LAT: Obama bundler's firm backed Romney's super PAC
Oops: "A Massachusetts-based building firm gave $25,000 to pro-Romney 'super PAC' Restore Our Future, even though its chief executive is a major backer of President Obama."

Roll Call: Associate confronted Rep. Ron Paul about flights
More evidence that Ron Paul double-dipped for some flight reimbursements--getting paid by both the nonprofit group AND taxpayers.

Republic Report: After Rep. Bushop calls for "New Jersey"-sized mining near Frand Canyon, industry throws him fundraiser
On a coal industry fundraiser that Rep. Bishop held last week.

Guardian: Occupy movement targets corporate interest group with ties to legislators
"Co-ordinated protests are planned in some 60 cities later this month against a right wing group which activists say has an unfair hand in writing state legislation that favours corporate interests."

US News: Super PACs strike at the heart of democracy
Rep. David Price (D-NC) writes, "A big corporation, billionaire, or millionaire with interests to protect—a lower effective tax rate than middle-class Americans pay, for example (see: Romney, Mitt)—is free to dominate the political playing field, make unlimited donations, intimidate candidates, or run misleading attack ads without viewers knowing who's behind them." But don't worry, Robert Samelson says it's only a myth that campaign money buys policy.

Election Law Blog: Sherman attacks Berman for corporate super PAC support
Nice catch by Rick Hasen in the increasingly nasty primary race between Reps. Sherman and Berman.

Other/States
Wisconsin State Journal: David Koch: "We've spent a lot of money in Wisconsin. We're going to spend more."
Check out this interview with David Koch.