Read this Reuters story on childhood obesity and the big money that food and beverage industries spend on politics: "At every level of government, the food and beverage industries won fight after fight during the last decade. They have never lost a significant political battle in the United States despite mounting scientific evidence of the role of unhealthy food and children's marketing in obesity.

And, did you know that Brennan Center's Monica Youn is an award-winning poet? She is. And she was featured on All Things Considered this weekend.

Campaign Finance/Fair Elections
Times Union: Pay mind to the job you have
Times-Union Column on Andrew Cuomo, 2016, and campaign finance: "Yet this past week, fellow Democrat Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver introduced legislation that would do exactly what the governor had advocated for years. But now, Gov. Cuomo gave it what the press called a 'cool' reception."

Roll Call: FCC approves new rule on political tv advertising
Good: "The Federal Communications Commission approved new regulations Friday requiring broadcasters to publish political advertising data online, a move that could shed light on who is trying to influence elections amid unprecedented campaign spending." Sunlight Foundation, Source 2012.

NYT: A senator fights back
The New York Times looks at Claire McCaskill's fight with super PACs in her re-election. It ends with: "Congress could also require disclosure of donors, and end the coordination between outside groups and political parties. That is increasingly unlikely, however, as long as some members of Congress owe their elections, and their allegiance, to the same groups."

Congress/2012
Miami Herald: FEC fines Marco Rubio's 2010 Senate campaign
"Marco Rubio’s 2010 Senate campaign committee agreed to pay an $8,000 fine as part of a settlement with the Federal Election Commission for violating campaign finance laws in connection with more than $210,000 in contributions." Politico.

NPR: Romney lets big-dollar "bundlers" stay anonymous
Another story about how the Romney campaign won't release their bundlers.

Politico: Member-slaying super PAC unveils next targets
Looks like the Center for Primary Accountability is going after Eddie Bernice Johnson and Silvestre Reyes.

Bloomberg: Tea Party congressmen accept cash from bailed-out bankers
Love this story: "Now those incumbents are collecting thousands of dollars for re-election campaigns from the same Wall Street firms whose excesses they criticized. They have taken no significant steps to curb them or prevent future taxpayer-financed rescues." PCAF's David Donnelly: "Candidates who run the first time on an aggressive platform trying to protect voters against special interests then have to change their tune to pay the piper and listen to those who fund their campaigns."

Politico: Democrats mine Texas for 2012 cash
"National Democrats facing tough races in 2012 have been flocking to the Lone Star State to cash in."

Forbes: Buffett and companies give $500k to 2012 campaigns
"While most of the attention has been focused on conservative donors to super PACs, Warren Buffett and his companies have quietly contributed more than $500,000 this year to political campaigns and committees."

PCAF Tumblr: Million dollar donors
Mitt Romney held a fundraiser at the home of billionaire hedge funder John Paulson, a man who has donated $1 million to Romney's super PAC.

NYT: Obama campaign confronts voter ID laws
"Field workers for President Obama’s campaign fanned out across the country over the weekend in an effort to confront a barrage of new voter identification laws that strategists say threaten the campaign’s hopes for registering new voters ahead of the November election."

Roll Call: Green voters go on the offensive
Eliza's story on LCV increasing its spending: "As GOP-friendly super PACs and nonprofits dramatically outraise their progressive counterparts, the LCV has responded aggressively. It was among the first Democratic-friendly groups to set up a super PAC of its own in 2010, spending $5.5 million in that cycle."

WSJ; The new rules for political donations
WSJ lays out the changes in campaign finance this year.

The Hill: Obama pokes fun at Romney dog controversy with fake super PAC ad
Ok, this was pretty good: "President Obama unveiled a faux super-PAC ad during his speech at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Saturday, joking that while families are off limits in the upcoming campaign, dogs are 'fair game.'"

CRP: Pharma, utilities and big ag lead lobbying in 2012
"Pharmaceuticals, utilities and big agriculture have led the lobbying charge so far this year, according to preliminary figures from latest lobbying disclosures."

Politico: John Boehner's poker face
Why did John Boehner change his tune a bit on whether they could lose the majority in November? "Republican aides and strategists say the speaker’s comments reflected a growing concern that Republican contributors were shifting their focus from maintaining the House — which seems highly likely to remain in GOP hands — to winning the Senate and White House."

Bloomberg: Romney aims to raise $800 million for general election
Jonathan Salant story on presidential fundraising, with neither side using public matching funds. Craig Holman: "We have come full circle to the Watergate era when presidential candidates were totally beholden to special interests and the wealthy."

NYT: Obama campaign raises money for Hillary Clinton
"Obama campaign officials have asked the president’s elite donors and fund-raisers to donate to Mrs. Clinton’s defunct presidential campaign committee, with the goal of retiring $245,000 in debt left over from her 2008 White House bid. As secretary of state, Mrs. Clinton is barred from engaging in political activity or actively fund-raising for herself."

NYT: Bill Clinton deployed to help Obama raise cash
"Former President Bill Clinton is coming to the aid of President Obama on Sunday night in the first of a series of joint fund-raisers intended to tap his deep-pocketed network and marry two wings of a party that have lived together uneasily since their 2008 showdown."

Tennessean: Black writes off $1M campaign loan
Oh, you know, just writing off a $1M loan: "A spokeswoman for U.S. Rep. Diane Black’s re-election campaign said Thursday that Black won’t be repaying herself nearly $1 million of the money she loaned her campaign for the 2010 election."

The Hill: Super PAC cuts off Lugar in Indiana
Gosh, Dick Lugar can't catch a break: "The American Action Network, a super-PAC that backs establishment Republicans, has pulled out of Indiana's Senate race, the latest bad omen for Sen. Richard Lugar (R-Ind.). 'We've decided we're going to let this race play out,' AAN spokesman Dan Conston told The Hill Friday evening."

Chicago Tribune: Lawmakers seek inquiry into stations' lobbying spending
"Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) and Rep. Mike Quigley (D-Ill.) asked for an investigation of whether stations properly disclosed in their lobbying expenditures by devoting on-air time to opposing the music industry's long-sought-after performance rights legislation."

Detroit Free Press: Super PACs have yet to take off in Michigan politics
"Although a dozen super PACs have been set up in Michigan, it remains to be seen how influential they will be in state politics."

Other/States
Journal Gazette: After outburst, Morris gets 1 donation
Saying crazy things doesn't always pay: "Republican state Rep. Bob Morris of Fort Wayne received just one contribution after his outburst against the Girl Scouts earlier this year."