Lobbying

Alexandra pointed out here last week that Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.), newly promoted to head the Senate Agriculture Committee, has been raking in the dollars from Big Ag this year, tallying at least $306,500 in the past eight months alone, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. That figure puts her well above anyone else [...]

Here’s their joint statement released following this morning’s Supreme Court argument in Citizens United v. FEC:
It is important to note that the case reargued today does not affect the core of the McCain-Feingold campaign finance law – the ban on large, unregulated donations to the political parties by corporations, unions and wealthy individuals. Nonetheless, at [...]

Here’s Scotusblog’s Lyle Denniston’s take on this morning’s argument in the campaign finance case Citizens United v. FEC:
If supporters of federal curbs on political campaign spending by corporations were hoping that Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr., and Justice Samuel A. Alito, Jr., would be hesitant to strike down such restrictions, they could take no [...]

Brenda Wright, Director of Democracy Program at Demos, has posted some insights at the American Constitution Society’s blog on the big campaign finance case, Citizens United v. Federal Elections Commission, to be argued before the Supreme Court tomorrow. Here’s her take:
Overruling those cases would mean that corporate political spending no longer needs to be funded [...]

Arn Pearson, vice president for programs at Common Cause and host of a live Web chat on the Supreme Court case being argued tomorrow, Citizens United v. FEC, just noted that the fact that the Supreme Court is even hearing the argument tomorrow is a bad sign for both campaign finance reform and anyone concerned [...]

The high court’s decision in a case about an anti-Hillary Clinton documentary could carry broad implications.

After the Justice Department dragged out four different lawsuits seeking public access to White House visitor records, the Obama administration finally agreed yesterday to settle the cases, brought by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), and committed to post visitor records online.
CREW Executive Director Melanie Sloan praised the White House, saying, “The Obama [...]

CQ Politics has a piece today that anyone actually interested in what the health care debate is (and isn’t) about ought to look at. It looks at the wildly exaggerated or even completely fabricated claims that have been made by various interest groups and advocacy organizations online and at town hall meetings — and how [...]

One watchdog says the strange giving patterns just shows “the financial industry isn’t sure what’s happening to itself.”

Politico’s John Bresnahan has a great piece of reporting today about the hypocrisy of Republican leaders calling for the end of earmarks, not to mention the naked conflicts of interest created by the revolving door between Capitol Hill and K Street.
The highlights: It appears that (1) a particularly vocal Republican critic of earmarks (Texas Rep. [...]