The Supreme Court did a good thing yesterday--it decided against hearing a challenge to the ban on direct corporate contributions to candidates. The Campaign Legal Center: "“Today’s decision does nothing to mitigate the court’s disturbing decision last week to revisit the aggregate contribution limits passed in the wake of the Watergate scandals, which if overturned would enable individuals to make contributions of one- two- or even three-million dollars to buy influence in Washington.” Roll Call, AP, Politico, ThinkProgress, Bloomberg, CNN, Reuters, Rick Hasen.

And a follow-up in The Hill on the McCutcheon case on lobbyists worrying about a "shakedown" if limits are removed. One lobbyist: “The ceiling is helpful to fend off entreaties from candidates who need more money. If the limits were invalidated, it could create a real problem.”

Campaign Finance/Fair Elections
Public Campaign: A quarterly democracy? Al Gore blasts reliance on big money
Our Kurt Walters on Al Gore's new book which blasts our "functionally corrupted" democracy.

ThinkProgress: FEC blocks enforcement against GOP donor
"The Federal Election Commission deadlocked along party lines on whether to hold accountable a Republican contractor who blatantly circumvented campaign finance limits."

WaPo: President Obama doesn't (really) care about campaign finance reform
Cillizza: "President Obama has done little to, you know, actually bring about those reforms. And, it can be argued relatively convincingly that Obama has actually done plenty to exacerbate the influence of money in politics."

Boston Globe: Two rulings that benefit a powerful few
A Globe column on Ed Markey, Dred Scott, and Citizens United: "The clumsiness of the comparison overshadowed his broader argument: The Supreme Court sometimes issues rulings that subvert democracy, and when that happens, we can’t let them stand."

Battlecreek Enquirer: Congress should end anonymous gifts
Editorial in Michigan on the need for transparency: "While we share concerns about the influence of money in electoral politics, we continue to maintain that the greater threat is the lack of transparency that allows organizations to keep their donors secret."

TPM: Overturning the Voting Rights Act would be seminal moment For conservative legal movement
On Section 5: "The case carries important implications, not merely for voting rights in the mostly southern regions targeted by Section 5 but also for the conservative legal movement’s longstanding efforts to limit the scope of federal power."

Congress/Admin
The Nation: To beat austerity, Obama must campaign for democracy
John Nichols on Fix the Debt, austerity, and the White House's response on a constitutional amendment petition: "President Obama should, in the style and tradition of FDR, declare that he is against austerity and against the broken politics that keeps buying a place in the debate for 'Fix the Debt' fantasies that the American people have repeatedly and soundly rejected. And he can do that by going beyond mere agreement with reformers to a full and muscular embrace of the reform agenda that shifts the defining power in our discourse away from corporations and toward citizens."

HuffPost: Obama donors aren't getting special access for checks To Organizing For Action: White House
Jay Carney spent some time answering questions about OFA yesterday: "The White House is pushing back on suggestions that it is participating in a pay-for-access scheme, in which big-dollar donors to a pro-Obama PAC get a quarterly audience with the president."

Sunlight: Pro-gun interests hire new lobbyists
"Three pro-gun interests have hired lobbyists, according to registration statements filed with the Senate Monday and last week, in the face of a push by Congress to introduce new gun control measures in the wake of the December massacre in Newtown, Connecticut."

Mother Jones: Citi's odd bonus payment to Jack Lew
David Corn on this odd provision in Lew's Citi contract: "The terms of Mr. Lew's original employment contract with Citi included a bonus guarantee if he left the bank for a 'high level position with the United States government or regulatory body.'"

Journal Star: U.S. Representative Paul Ryan set to headline fundraiser for Aaron Schock
"Former GOP vice presidential candidate and current U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan will headline a fundraiser March 21 for U.S. Rep. Aaron Schock."

Public Citizen: Suspicious timing: Inaugural contribution linked to $3.8 billion loan guarantee
The head of Southern Company is "newly optimistic" about a federal loan guarantee not long after the company gave $100k to Obama's inaugural.

CPI: Al Jazeera adds more lobbying heft
"Qatar-based news network Al Jazeera, in the midst of a rapid U.S. expansion, has hired another lobbying firm to represent itself before government officials, new Senate records indicate."

Other/States
AJC: House adopts ethics reform
"The Georgia House on Monday overwhelmingly approved a historic package of ethics reforms that would forever change how legislators and lobbyist interact and return power to the state ethics commission."

AP: Campaign contribution limits bill passes key vote
Montana: "A measure that would increase campaign contribution limits for state elections passed a key House floor vote Monday."

Independent Record: House passes campaign finance bill
Montana: "The House, on a mostly party line vote Monday, approved a major Republican bill to overhaul Montana campaign-finance laws by increasing the amount of allowable contributions made directly to candidates."

Legislative Gazette: Campaign contributors take advantage of state tax loopholes, says government watchdog group
In New York: "Because of the influence of money on our politics and our policy making, New Yorkers lose billions on tax revenues that could be used to fund education, health care and other services that working families rely on."