Campaign Finance/Fair Elections
Will One of These Cases Be the Next Citizens United?
Mother Jones provides an outlook on a number of campaign finance cases coming before the courts.

38 Organizations Urge Senators to Vote for DISCLOSE Act of 2012
In a letter sent today, thirty-eight organizations urged all Senators to vote for S. 2219, the DISCLOSE Act of 2012, sponsored by Senator Sheldon Whitehouse and co-sponsored by 43 Senators.

New Corporate foe: The Shame Lobby
“You’re seeing more corporations back off of things,” Common Cause President and CEO Bob Edgar said. “Corporations that are sensitive to their brands often want to make sure that their brand is not tarnished by association.”

Beware of Unintended Consequences of New Campaign Ad Ruling
"The Van Hollen suit didn't address indirect expenditures, so, according to Hasen, if non-profit groups want to keep their donor lists secret, they may switch their spending to ads that contain express advocacy."

What the Law Says About Campaigns and Super PACs at the Heart of the 2012 Election
"Campaigns and independent groups known as super PACS are legally prohibited from coordinating their activities. But the law has been somewhat vague, giving groups broad leeway to interpret the law and frustrating advocates for campaign finance reform who want stricter regulations."

Watchdogs Urge Senators to Oppose Bill to Hide Pay-to-Play Activiites by Government Contractors
"Today, the Campaign Legal Center, together with more than a dozen government watchdog organizations, urged the Senate to oppose legislation that would block disclosure of campaign spending by government contractors."

Congress/2012
Sherrod Brown Held Corporations Accountable, Now They're Spending Millions to Unseat Him
Our friends at Republic Report look at spending by the Chamber of Commerce and others against Sen. Brown.

G.O.P. 'Super PAC' Weighs Hard-Line Attack on Obama
"The group suggested hiring as a spokesman an 'extremely literate conservative African-American' who can argue that Mr. Obama misled the nation by presenting himself as what the proposal calls a 'metrosexual, black Abe Lincoln.'"

Romney Raises $40.1 Million in April, Nearly Matching Obama
"Mr. Romney and the R.N.C. raised $40.1 million in April, just shy of the $43.6 million that Mr. Obama and the Democratic National Committee raised for the month."

Dem Candidates Take Fight to Wall Street
"Democratic candidates are using JPMorgan's $2 billion loss in campaign attacks against Wall Street, a trend liberal groups predict will escalate between now and election day."

Deb Fischer's Knight in Super PAC Armor: Joe Ricketts
Move over Sheldon Adelson: "The Ending Spending Action Fund super PAC, funded by Ameritrade founder Joe Ricketts, whose family also owns the Chicago Cubs, made a mark in Nebraska with a targeted and very late $250,000 ad buy on behalf of Deb Fischer. The buy came just when momentum had shifted to Fischer and was double the amount the state senator spent on ads for herself. And in a close race, it might have made the difference for her."

Anti-Establishment PAC Taps Donors to Establishment GOP Causes
"The Campaign for Primary Accountability, a super PAC that bills itself as nonpartisan and was instrumental in ousting  incumbent Republican Reps. Jean Schmidt (Ohio) and Don Manzullo (Ill.), has raised nearly all of its $2.5 million from donors who have supported Republican candidates and the GOP party committees the group claims to be working against."

Ex-Lawmakers on K Street Avoid 'Scarlet L," Shy Away From Registering as Lobbyists
"The Hill found roughly 30 lawmakers from the 111th Congress who are employed at law firms, lobby shops, trade groups and think tanks that are registered to lobby. Yet only 10 of those individuals are themselves registered to lobby. "

Matthews: We've Gotta Junk the Filibuster
Hardball's Chris Matthews says the filibuster needs to go.

The Nation: Obama Must Hold the Banks Accountable
Ari Berman: "It's impossible to "reform" Wall Street if the president is dependent on the financial sector to bankroll his re-election campaign. The banks can be Obama's friend or his enemy, but right now they can't be both."

The Ongoing Dem Super PAC Quest
"Two stories on the homepage this morning highlight just how hard Democrats -- who once condemned the whole post-Citizens United campaign finance landscape -- are now working to break into the outside-money game."

Mystery Donor Gives $7 Million to Group
"An anonymous donor gave $7 million to the American Action Network, a conservative group that spent millions to aid Republicans in the 2010 midterm congressional elections, according to tax returns the organization is filing with the Internal Revenue Service."

Carol Shea-Porter Blasts Super-PACs
"I was ranked seventh in the country (in the last election) in the amount of money spent attacking me, and it worked very well, as you know," Shea-Porter said. "We will have (this election) to talk about Super PACS, who they are and what is really behind them."

Other/States
Judge Throws Out Some Parts of Law, But Leaves Campaign Contribution Limits for Trial
"A federal judge Wednesday threw out Montana’s ban on corporate donations that finance “independent expenditures” in campaigns, and struck down a pair of so-called “clean campaign” laws as unconstitutionally vague...Yet perhaps the most significant portion of the case is unresolved: Whether Montana’s decades-old limits on campaign-contribution amounts are constitutional."

Lawmakers May Remove Certain Campaign Finance Limits
"House Majority Leader Barbara Flynn Currie, D-Chicago, advanced legislation that would remove contribution limits once an outside group spends $100,000 on behalf of one candidate for the Legislature or local government. Lifting the restrictions would give an opponent a chance to "level the playing field," she said. The trigger to lift the limits in a campaign for a statewide office would be $250,000."