Rep. Buck McKeon held a hearing with defense contractors on the sequester the other day. He didn't mention they were donors.

If you're in DC next week, head over to this Senate Judiciary Subcommittee hearing on Tuesday: "Taking Back Our Democracy: Responding to Citizens United and the Rise of Super PACs," featuring Buddy Roemer and Lawrence Lessig.

Campaign Finance/Fair Elections
WaPo: District earns a page in campaign-finance secrecy
Fantastic Harold Meyerson column that ties the "shadow campaign" of Mayor Gray to our federal campaign finance system. "If he is brought to trial, he might consider having Boehner and McConnell testify in his defense. A secret mega-donation? What’s wrong with that?"

NYT: Tough voter ID laws set off court battles
On voter ID and the lawsuits challenging them.

Slate: Campaign finance after Citizens United is worse than Watergate
Rick Hasen: "The 1974 scandal that brought down President Richard Nixon was all about illegal money secretly flowing to politicians. That’s still a danger, but these days, the biggest weakness of our campaign finance system is not what’s illegal, but what’s legal."

Nashua Telegraph: GOP senators all-too transparent in DISCLOSE Act vote
Ouch, the Nashua Telegraph isn't buying Senate R's on DISCLOSE: "This coordinated campaign, orchestrated shamelessly by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, was all about money, pure and simple. Of all the efforts concocted to give cover to deep-pocketed donors to conservative causes, the one that played out this week on Capitol Hill might be the least transparent of all."

The Hill: Secrecy is not a small business value. Transparency is.
This small business owner isn't buying political spending secrecy. "Robust disclosure rules for political spending are critical to ensure honest competition and a strong economy that rewards innovation and transparency, not pay to play politics. That’s why small business owners like me stand ready to support solutions."

Congress/2012
NY Daily News: Brooklyn federal grand jury probes campaign fundraising in Michael Grimm's 2010 campaign
Oh, maybe he's not off the hook: "A federal Brooklyn grand jury is probing alleged fundraising shenanigans in freshman Congressman Michael Grimm’s 2010 campaign, the Daily News has learned."

LAT: George Soros' son launches anti-big money "super PAC"
"A new 'super PAC' called Friends of Democracy aims to tap into the distaste voters have for money in politics by making that the theme of their attacks against House incumbents in tight races."

USA Today: Bain alumni raise $4.5 million for Romney
"Among Mitt Romney's most prolific fundraisers are two dozen current and former employees of Bain Capital and its parent firm who have helped raise at least $4.5 million to help their former colleague defeat President Obama."

CNN: Super PAC donors may keep opening wallets, but public may not see it
"But an unwelcome scrutiny came to Friess, Nevada billionaire Sheldon Adelson and some of the other wealthy donors to these super PACs, and some are planning for much of their future generosity to be behind a cloak of anonymity."

Businessweek: To raise cash, Romney heads overseas
"Though Mitt Romney has raised more money than Barack Obama in recent months, the president is still beating him in the little-noticed race to tap wealthy expats, topping Romney’s overseas donations by a nearly 2-to-1 margin, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Now the Romney campaign is taking the unusual step of dispatching the candidate to make personal appearances at fundraisers with Americans abroad." NYT.

WaPo: Can Hollywood be Obama's Sheldon Adelson?
If Morgan Freeman was under investigation for possibly violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, then yeah, I guess.

WSJ: Obama fundraiser Robert Wolf leaving UBS
"UBS investment banker Robert Wolf is leaving the bank to start his own advising firm, according to a memo from the bank’s executives today. The departure comes shortly after Wolf’s close relationship with President Barack Obama raised eyebrows inside the bank. "

NaJo: McCarthy working K Street ahead of tax vote
"As House Republicans prepare to vote on extending the Bush tax cuts later this month, a top House leader has been quietly courting key business lobbying groups to bring them, and the grassroots armies they command, on board with the effort."

Washington Times: Nebraska Senate race keeps super PAC ads
Nebraska Senate candidate Deb Fischer has no interest in taking up Bob Kerrey on his super PAC agreement.

WPRO: Doherty camp lashes out at Cicilline for donation from Bain exec
David Cicilline's Republican opponent is calling him a hypocrite for saying bad things about Bain but taking Bain money. (Not being influenced by donors is, obviously, what you're suppoed to do)

Capitol Tonight: Another Boehner fundraiser, this time for Buerkle
"House Speaker John Boehner is heading to Central New York on Aug. 4 to campaign for Rep. Ann Marie Buerkle, one of several GOP candidates in New York who is receiving help from the national Republican leadership."

WaPo: Democrats standing their ground against GOP fundraising
"Democratic House and Senate candidates may not be pulling in as much as Republicans from the special-interest groups spending millions on this year’s election, but the Democrats are doing well raising money through their own campaign operations, new fundraising reports released this week show."

Huffington Post: Jerry Perenchio, former Univision TV chief, backs anti-immigrant candidates
"Jerry Perenchio, who built a personal fortune as co-owner of the Univision Spanish-language TV network, donated at least $2.5 million to super PACs backing candidates who political analysts describe as anti-immigrant."

Sunlight: Pro-gay GOP super PAC has one donor
Paul Singer's super PAC to help pro-gay Republicans has just one donation--from Singer himself.

Record: Denham flexing fundraising muscle
"Republican Congressman Jeff Denham is the current fundraising champ among congressional candidates in the immediate region, according to federal campaign disclosure documents filed this month."

Roll Call: NRCC tops DCCC in June fundraising
"The National Republican Congressional Committee narrowly outraised the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee in June. The NRCC posted $10.7 million in receipts compared with the DCCC’s $10.5 million."

WaPo: Anemia drug made billions, but at what cost?
"Through a well-funded research and lobbying campaign, Amgen won far-reaching approvals from the FDA. Both pharmaceutical companies conducted trials that missed the dangers and touted benefits that years later would be deemed unproven. The companies took more than a decade to fulfill their research commitments. And when bureaucrats tried to rein in the largest doses, a high-powered lobbying effort occurred until Congress forced the regulators to let the drugs flow."

Other/States
Press Herald: Maine group dissects campaign financing
"A group that's advocating against the role of outside money and for transparency in Maine elections released a report Thursday listing the top privately financed legislative candidates over the past 10 years."