Today's must-read from Nick Confessore in the Times: "After months on the sidelines, major liberal donors including the financier George Soros are preparing to inject up to $100 million into independent groups to aid Democrats’ chances this fall. But instead of going head to head with the conservative “super PACs” and outside groups that have flooded the presidential and Congressional campaigns with negative advertising, the donors are focusing on grass-roots organizing, voter registration and Democratic turnout." AP, LA Times.

Campaign Finance/Fair Elections
WaPo: Taking a scythe to the Bill of Rights
George Will really has a bee in his bonnett lately around campaign finance! Here's a post we did last year about a previous column.

Journal-Sentinel: If money can't be limited, require more transparency
"If limiting the influence of big money is all but impossible after the Supreme Court's landmark Citizens United decision, at least require the donors to be named."

Roll Call: Using super PACs to get rid of super PACs
"Want to get big money out of politics? Set up a super PAC. That seemingly incongruous formula has been seized on by a growing number of watchdog groups, self-styled reformers and student activists who have set up more than a dozen super PACs aimed at putting a stop to unrestricted campaign spending."

American Prospect: A black cloud over the ballot box
Great Tova Wang piece: "While we will continue to fight disenfranchising laws in the legislatures and the courts, we must also go to work at a grassroots level in communities, assisting citizens in obtaining proper voting ID if it is at all possible."

Congress/2012
Politico: Axelrod says ad buy is $25 million, slams Rove and Kochs as super PAC "contract killers"
On the Obama campaign's $25 million ad buy. "It's a breathtaking figure, but one that Axelrod framed as pushing back on the broad spectrum of anti-President Obama ads coming from Republican-leaning groups like American Crossroads, Americans for Prosperity and the American Energy Alliance." TPM, National Journal, HuffPost, Washington Post.

LATimes: Super PAC supporting Romney rethinks donations from federal contractors
"Restore Our Future — a super PAC that has spent more than $42 million on behalf of GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney — had previously solicited money from federal contractors. Now it is warning the contractors to get legal advice before giving."

NWI Times: Romney hits up Indiana donors, ignores voters on eve of primary
"Mitt Romney swooped into Indiana for a private fundraiser Monday night but left the state without holding a single public event, just hours before the polls opened for Republicans to select their presidential candidate."

Roll Call: Many in Google Inc's army are paid to wait
On Google: "Today the company, which is facing intense scrutiny on Capitol Hill and a FTC investigation into anti-competitive practices, has 77 registered lobbyists, including former Members of Congress and some of the city’s priciest and most prestigious firms. And that number doesn’t even include the scores of influence, public relations and legal professionals who operate as something of a shadow army and whose work is not subject to lobbying disclosures."

Public Campaign: Bank of America's political spending we know about
Bank of America will face some protests and political spending resolutions at this week's shareholder meeting. We look at the Bank of America money that we do know about.

Politico: Republican Freedom PAC launches
"Republican operatives are launching a new super PAC aimed at knocking off Senate Democrats, with the goal of raising $10 million to help the GOP win the Senate majority."

HuffPost: Richard Mourdock seen doing business with campaign donors
"The Huffington Post reported last week on Mourdock, who is the state treasurer, soliciting bidders to run a $50 million fund for the Indiana State Police Pension at the same time he was holding a fundraiser with finance companies. If any of the people solicited for the fund-raiser were interested in bidding, it could be a violation of Securities Exchange Commission rules against "pay-to-play" arrangements."

iWarch: Super PACs outspend favorite candidate in Indiana Senate race
"Super PACs and other outside groups are on track to spend more on tea party favorite Richard Mourdock in his battle to unseat Sen. Richard Lugar in Indiana’s Tuesday Republican primary than Mourdock’s own campaign, records show." ThinkProgress.

Salem News: Tierney asks Tisei to sign "People's Pledge"
"Incumbent Democratic Congressman John Tierney borrowed a play from Republican Sen. Scott Brown yesterday, calling for an agreement to limit the impact of outside money on the Massachusetts 6th Congressional race."

Daily Herald: For Duckworth and Walsh, it's not how much you raise but how you raise it
Interesting: "Republican Congressman Joe Walsh is pointing to recent out-of-town fundraising by his 8th District opponent to say that Democrat Tammy Duckworth has weak suburban ties. Duckworth is pushing back, noting that more than 10,000 individuals who each contributed $100 or less to her campaign is a 'testament to her grass-roots support.'"

Politico: Body discovered in ocean during Hoyer fundraiser
"Campaign donors to House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer had a startling moment this weekend when they discovered a dead body in the ocean during a political fundraiser at a resort in Puerto Rico."

Roll Call: DCCC creates Republican "scandal" calendar
Heh: "In a publicity move designed to dampen the morale of House Republicans six months out from the 2012 elections, operatives from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee hand-delivered a 'scandal' calendar to every GOP lawmaker Monday."

WaPo: Top Obama donors withholding money over executive order punt
"Some leading gay and progressive donors are so angry over President Obama’s refusal to sign an executive order barring same sex discrimination by federal contractors that they are refusing to give any more money to the pro-Obama super PAC."

The Hill: Anti-incumbent super PC close to targeting Rangel
"The Campaign for Primary Accountability, a big-spending anti-incumbent super-PAC, may spend against long-time Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-N.Y.), the group's spokesman told The Hill Monday evening."

WSJ: Campaign text-donation plan gets a new push
"Now, two political consulting firms are pushing a bipartisan plan to make online giving even easier by letting cellphone users make small donations with a single text."

Republic Report: What do UFO sightings and super PACs have in common?
Heh: "Just as many Americans who have personally witnessed a UFO also think super PACs don’t corrupt democracy."

Tennessean: Citizens United has made ordinary contributors irrelevant
Letter to the editor: "It seems clear that the candidates, the message and the outcome are now largely controlled by the big money." Another in Mississippi.

MinnPost: 3M shareholders should support resolution on political spending
Commo Cause Minnesota's Mike Dean writes, "That is why 3M shareholders should support a resolution at the annual shareholder meeting today that urges the board of directors to adopt a policy prohibiting the use of corporate funds for any political election or campaign."

Other/States
Fired Up Missouri: Out-of-state bankers really don't want you to vote for stuff
"The good folks looking to raise the minimum wage one whole dollar and stop predatory lending in the Show-Me state turned in their signatures yesterday. But the Bankers tried one last time to keep you from voting on this important issue, and keep the money a-flowin' from Missourians' pockets to out-of-state CEOs."

The Hill: Union cash floods states to combat Republican agendas
"Unions poured millions of dollars into state-level battles to beat back legislation that would limit labor’s political power. Annual financial reports filed with the Labor Department by national and local unions show they gave nearly $16 million in contributions to more than a half-dozen umbrella groups, according to a review by The Hill.