Campaign Finance/Fair Elections
Roll Call: Campaign finance onus placed on agencies
"Democrats on Capitol Hill have called for hearings and legislation to rein in unrestricted campaign money, but the real action is at a handful of federal agencies being bombarded with letters from lawmakers, lobbyists and activists."

WaPo: Weakening the power of super PACs
Letters in response to Robert Samuelson's piece last week on super PACs.

The Nation: SEC Commissioner backs more disclosure on political spending
Good news! "Public Citizen has been urging the Securities and Exchange Commission to require publicly traded companies to disclose political donations, and today it picked up an important endorsement—from a current SEC commissioner."

Boston Globe: Mass. activists: Overturn Citizens United ruling
"Massachusetts lawmakers and activists are trying to gain momentum for a resolution to overturn a U.S. Supreme Court decision making it easier for corporations and wealthy donors to pour millions into political campaigns."

Boston Globe: Each new attack ad shows need to disclose super PAC donors
The Boston Globe likes the DISCLOSE Act.

Congress/2012
Politico: American Future Fund ads target Obama in 9 battleground states
"The American Future Fund, a Republican independent expenditure group, is planning to go after President Barack Obama’s ties to Wall Street in a $4 million ad campaign targeting nine swing states, an AFF official tells me." AFF does not disclose its donors.

NYT: Fine line between "super PACs" and campaigns
A must-read on super PACs and coordination: "The overlapping roles and relationships of the consultants in Suite 555 at 66 Canal Center Plaza offer a case study in the fluidity and ineffectual enforcement of rules intended to prevent candidates from coordinating their activities with outside groups."

CNN: Adelson makes new "sizeable" contribution to pro-Gingrich super PAC
The billionaire primary continues! "Casino mogul and major Republican donor Sheldon Adelson made an expected new contribution this week to the super PAC supporting Newt Gingrich."

Republic Report: Predatory lending kingpins quietly funnel massive donations to Romney's super PAC
Ben Nelson, an intern with the crowd-sourced political transparency website LittleSis, has an interesting look at two donors to Restore Our Future, the pro-Romney super PAC.

Roll Call: K Street wrestles with conventions
"As Beltway insiders know, these quadrennial affairs can offer lobbyists and their clients an unparalleled opportunity to schmooze with political elites from across the nation. They also provide the chance to get a corporate brand splashed in front of an audience of decision-makers. But the events are costly."

WSJ: Unions rejigger political spending
"Labor-union contributions to candidates and parties are leveling off in the 2012 election cycle, hindering Democrats' campaign-funding plans amid a spending surge by groups backing Republicans."

The Hill: Heding its bets, Google picks Romney backer as top Washington lobbyist
"By hiring former Rep. Susan Molinari (R-N.Y.), a supporter of Mitt Romney, to head its lobbying team, Google is hedging its bets on the outcome of the 2012 presidential election."

WSJ: Three cheers for super PACs!
The Wall Street Journal, in a move that will surprise nobody, stands up for the super PACs

The Hill: Romney and Obama super PAC backers also spent big dollars on lobbying
"Donors who have funded the super-PACs supporting Mitt Romney and President Obama spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in 2011 on lobbying activity to influence federal action."

LA Times: The havoc wreaked by "super PACs"
Doyle McManus' column on super PACs that "created a new list of wealthy kingmakers on whom the candidates now depend for their political survival."

WaPo: Can the Republican Party survive its billionaires?
Charles Homans writes about the outspoken billionaires in this year's primary and the problems they may cause for their preferred candidates.

Bloomberg: Who are Romney's most loyal donors?
Jonathan Salant looked at the big donors that have been funding Romney's political efforts for hte past decade.

NYT: Cash and Carry
Thomas Edsall writes, "If enacted, the tax proposals Mitt Romney outlined last week to the Detroit Economic Club would provide multimillion-dollar benefits to a newly powerful constituency: the rich men and women who are bankrolling super PACs." While there is a growing debate about income inequality, it's those that benefit the most from it controlling our elections.

Bloomberg: Schumer's Wall Street backers tageted in tax fairness standoff
"The Democratic Party’s tax-fairness campaign theme pits Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, among the chief architects of that message, against some of his most influential constituents and top campaign donors."

WaPo: Bribing foreign officials
Editorial on efforts by groups like the US Chamber to weaken the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

Roll Call: A force to fix rental car policy
People power! "For months, Enterprise Rent-A-Car has been fighting legislation that would make it illegal to rent vehicles that have been recalled by their manufacturers. But it only took 48 hours for a Change.org petition to force Enterprise, the industry's most powerful lobbying force and biggest political donor, to the bargaining table."

NYT: The long-suffering super PAC
A fictional interview between a reporter and the head of a super PAC, the mom of the candidate the PAC is supporting.

NYDN: Rep. Michael Grimm, before he entered Congress, sought leniency for New York-based developer
Before he got to Congress: "Staten Island Rep. Michael Grimm urged a federal judge to spare a New York-based developer with three bribery-related convictions from serving a day in prison, the Daily News has learned."

Jezebel: Major Romney donor has incredibly creepy history with women
And Jezebel makes its first appearance in the daily clips!

Salon: Interview with Sen. Russ Feingold
Glenn Greenwald interviewed Feingold, with some discussion about campaign finance

Other/States
AP: Public financing proposed for Supreme Court races
"Fearing wealthy donors might unduly influence Supreme Court races, a Kentucky lawmaker is pushing a longshot proposal that would create a public financing system for would-be justices on the state's highest court."

Albany Times Union: The score: 99 to 1
Nice piece from Michael Kink on the impact of OWS and 99 percent protests, with a mention of Gov. Cuomo's push for public financing.

Public News Service: Wisconsin recall elections fueled by out-of-state cash
"Money from outside Wisconsin is flooding into the state in an effort to influence the upcoming senate recall elections, and the number of dollars involved is staggering."