Independent Groups
Journal Sentinel: Unnamed parties sue in state Supreme Court over John Doe campaign probe
By Patrick Marley, Jason Stein and Daniel Bice
Madison — The judge and prosecutor overseeing a secret investigation into recall campaign fundraising have again been sued — this time before the state Supreme Court.
In the latest lawsuit, two unnamed petitioners filed what is known as an original action before Wisconsin’s highest court.
In such matters, parties try to get their cases directly heard by the Supreme Court, rather than having them start in lower courts and move their way up through appeals. The Supreme Court rarely takes such cases.
The Hill: Vulnerable Dems want IRS to step up
By Alexander Bolton
Senate Democrats facing tough elections this year want the Internal Revenue Service to play a more aggressive role in regulating outside groups expected to spend millions of dollars on their races.
In the wake of the IRS targeting scandal, the Democrats are publicly prodding the agency instead of lobbying them directly. They are also careful to say the IRS should treat conservative and liberal groups equally, but they’re concerned about an impending tidal wave of attack ads funded by GOP-allied organizations. Much of the funding for those groups is secret, in contrast to the donations lawmakers collect, which must be reported publicly.
Watchdog.org: Labor unions benefit more from Citizens United than big conservative donors
By Eric Boehm
MINNEAPOLIS — The loosening of federal rules for political spending has done more to help Democrats than Republicans, according to two recent analyses of campaign contributions.
Those facts run counter to a well-established national media narrative — one often repeated by liberal groups and Democratic lawmakers who bemoan the influence of corporate cash in politics after the Supreme Court’s ruling in 2010 opened the flood gates to unlimited political spending — that says Republicans and their big business allies have been able to unduly influence elections with unfettered spending.
NY Times: The Line at the ‘Super PAC’ Trough
Editorial
If you need something out of Washington and want to give a satchel of cash to a political candidate, no need to give it directly to the candidate. Federal law limits those contributions to $2,600 anyway. The thing to do is to give the money to the candidate’s “super PAC,” where no limits apply, to pay for attack ads against the candidate’s opponent.
SCOTUS/Judiciary
More Soft Money Hard Law: Political Reform and Varieties of Libertarianism
By Bob Bauer
In the coming campaigns, in 2014 and beyond, political reform is certain to be a topic for discussion. The press will look for a clear statement of the candidate’s positions; the Supreme Court will decide at least one more case that will excite comment and lead to proposals; and certain other prominent issues, such as income inequality and government performance, lead naturally to arguments about campaign finance and lobbying reform. We can imagine, too, that the candidates in addressing these issues will sort out as they most always do—Democrats supporting reform that Republicans find objectionable, with the divide displayed sharply in competing depictions of the soundness and effects of Citizens United.
This time around the debate may be joined, again, by a candidate from the libertarian wing of the Republican party, Rand Paul, or another. It might be assumed that such a candidate will express unyielding opposition to government regulation of political activity. And while Richard Epstein has argued that not all those professing libertarian commitments think the same way, a skepticism about controls on, say, campaign finance, seems to unite them.
Candidates, Politicians, Campaigns, and Parties
WSJ: GOP Donors Responding to Christie
By HEATHER HADDON and DEREK KRAVITZ
Donations to the Republican Governors Association from New Jersey have grown sharply since 2009, a sign of Gov. Chris Christie’s efforts to recruit contributions for an influential group that could nurture a 2016 presidential run.
New Jersey donors gave more than $2.6 million to the RGA last year, the largest total in a decade, according to an analysis by The Wall Street Journal and the Center for Responsive Politics. The second-highest contributions total from New Jersey— about $2 million—came in 2009, the year Mr. Christie first ran for governor.
Politico: Last call for state parties?
Byron Tau
For many state parties, the party may soon be over.
State party officials across the country say the explosion of money into super PACs, nonprofit groups and presidential campaigns has made fundraising more difficult. And some of those outside groups are starting to take over the traditional local roles state parties play, spending big on voter contact and outreach operations.
Time Swampland: Republican Group Tweaks Spoof Websites
By Denver Nicks
The campaign arm for House Republicans has made a small but significant change to a line of spoof political websites that raised questions about whether they misled donors in a way that could run afoul of campaign finance rules.
Washington Post: Obama ambassador nominees prompt an uproar with bungled answers, lack of ties
By Juliet Eilperin
A century-old debate over whether presidents should reward political donors and allies by making them ambassadors has flared again after a string of embarrassing gaffes by President Obama’s picks.
The nominee for ambassador to Norway, for example, prompted outrage in Oslo by characterizing one of the nation’s ruling parties as extremist. A soap- opera producer slated for Hungary appeared to have little knowledge of the country she would be living in. A prominent Obama bundler nominated to be ambassador to Argentina acknowledged that he had never set foot in the country and isn’t fluent in Spanish.
