Congress/Influence
ProPublica: Controversial Dark Money Group Among Five That Told IRS They Would Stay Out of Politics, Then Didn’t
Americans for Responsible Leadership, the Arizona non-profit that spent $5.2 million boosting Mitt Romney and sent $11 million into state ballot propositions, was one of five secret money groups that told the IRS they would not be active in politics at all.
 
OpenSecrets Blog: Bennett to K Street
“Former Sen. Bob Bennett (R-Utah) will officially register as a lobbyist tomorrow and he's coming out swinging -- at limits on former lawmakers becoming lobbyists.”
 
Sunlight Reporting Group: Lobbyists save big businesses from fiscal cliff tax hikes
Sunlight looks deeper into the corporate tax breaks hidden within the “fiscal cliff” deal, preserved or added through good old-fashioned lobbying.
 
Politico Influence: Harkin a Little Monster at Heart?
Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa)—who is 73—is set to have a $1,500 a head fundraiser at the Lady Gaga concert in February. Fingers crossed for a duet.
 
Roll Call: House Ethics Reviewed 96 Cases During 112th
“A biennial report on the committee’s activities filed earlier this week shows that the panel fielded at least 40,000 informal requests for guidance, issued more than 900 advisory opinions on House ethics rules, received more than 6,000 financial disclosure filings, interviewed 106 witnesses and reviewed nearly 500,000 pages of documents in its investigatory matters.”
 
Politico: Peter King: Halt donations to House GOP
Upset over the members of his caucus not scheduling a vote on Hurricane Sandy relief funds, Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.) urged the wealthy Republican donors of New York and New Jersey to withhold contributions to congressional Republicans. As David Donnelly, executive director of PCAF, noted, “Rep. Peter King knows exactly what makes many politicians change their minds: campaign money.”

Other/States
Billings Outpost: Dark money undoubtedly in Montana to stay
Roger Clawson sees a political future dominated by secret money: “The ads start nasty and grow nastier. They make scurrilous charges and the target is forced to react. While campaigns are still in the organizational stage, the attack PACs are setting the agenda. Urgent issues such as jobs, spending, education, infrastructure and Wall Street regulation take a back seat to hot button topics like guns, abortion, military spending.”
 
Star-Ledger: N.J. Democratic Party fined $42K for alleged campaign finance violations
Dems will be coughing up $42,000 because of allegedly illegal in-kind contributions to former Gov. Jon Corzine’s 2009 campaign. The party settle to avoid a larger fine, but denies wrongdoing.
 
Montreal Gazette: $100 lid on private political donations enacted
How different is campaign finance in Canada? In response to recent scandal, “Bill 2, passed by the National Assembly on Dec. 6, puts a $100 lid on private donations while increasing direct government funding to parties. The new rules also apply to independent candidates.”