Campaign Finance/Fair Elections
LA Times: New York proposes tough rules on campaign disclosure
A look by Matea Gold into the new regulations proposed by NY AG Eric Schneiderman, including a few groups likely to be most affected, naming AFP, NRA, LCV, and NARAL. It’s important to note that even groups registered and politically active in other jurisdictions will have new responsibilities if they raise significant money in New York, one of the fundraising capitals of the world.

Sunlight Foundation: New York Proposed Regulations Move Toward Greater Campaign Finance Disclosure
Laurenellen McCann points out two ways that the NY AG’s new rules could be made stronger.

Sunlight Reporting Group: Watch dog groups call for Congress, President to fill ethics posts
More about the calls to appoint commissioners to the FEC and OCE.

Congress/2012
Politico: Colbert donates super PAC funds to charity
What does a super PAC do with a leftover $773,704.03? Colbert’s super PAC will give $125,000 to reform groups the Center for Responsive Politics and Campaign Legal Center, as well as $125,000 each to three different Hurricane Sandy relief efforts and the Yellow Ribbon Fund.
More from The Hill
 
Politico: K Street ready to swing into action
Payday: “The backlog of big issues facing President Barack Obama and the divided Congress is a lobbyist’s dream: tax and financial legislation, defense, health care, transportation, energy and immigration, just to name a few.”
 
OpenSecrets Blog: Women Donors for Obama
It wasn’t just an advantage in votes. In 2012, 44.1 percent of Obama’s itemized (>$200) contributions came from female donors, while only 28.2 percent of Romney’s large contributions came from women.
 
Washington Times: Obama pleaded poverty but spent as much as Romney
Tim Carney writes that while Obama repeatedly warned of a fundraising disadvantage against Mitt Romney (remember “I will be outspent”?), he and Romney were actually in a virtual tie with $1.1 billion each, when counting in allied super PACs and other outside groups. Counting only money under control of the candidates, Obama had $200 million more.
 
OpenSecrets Blog: Down-to-the-Wire Presidential Spending
Some super PACs and other groups spent almost all of their cash in the last week before the election, and about $4.1 million was laid out on the very last day. Overall, outside groups spent $97.7 million on the presidential election in the last week.
 
KVUE: Super PAC App voters warm on Obama, cool on outside spenders
“The Super PAC App merged both, allowing users to identify sponsors, access fact checks and vote on political ads in real time. … Now that the election is over, the app's parent company Glassy Media has released a database of more than 38,000 individual votes tracking users' responses.”

Other/States
LA Times: Judge to hear money-laundering case against politician brothers
“An administrative law judge will hear evidence on allegations that state Sen. Tom Berryhill (R-Modesto) illegally used two county Republican committees to launder $40,000 in political funds to benefit the 2008 election effort of his brother, former Assemblyman Bill Berryhill (R-Stockton).”