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Intel for investors: What’s going on behind closed doors in Washington

May 2, 2013
Washington Post

By Jerry Markon and Jia Lynn Yang, Published: May 2

The Washington-based firm Height Securities is a small player in a burgeoning financial field where companies seek to acquire valuable information about even the most minor of federal actions and provide it to investors.

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FBI looking into relationship between McDonnells, donor

April 29, 2013
Washington Post

Steve Helber/Associated Press - Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell speaks to the press at the Capitol in Richmond in this February file photo.
By Rosalind S. Helderman and Jerry Markon,

FBI agents are conducting interviews about the relationship between Virginia Gov. Robert F. McDonnell, his wife, Maureen, and a major campaign donor who paid for the food at the wedding of the governor’s daughter, according to four people familiar with the questioning.

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Does Stephen Colbert’s Endorsement of His Sister Violate Election Laws?

April 25, 2013
The Slate

Why Mark Sanford probably won’t get equal time on Comedy Central.

By Megan Wiegand

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Gay couples can’t make joint political donations from individual account, FEC rules

April 25, 2013
Washington Post

Posted by Juliet Eilperin

A gay couple married under state law cannot give a joint contribution to a federal candidate if they make it from an individual banking account, the Federal Election Commission voted unanimously Thursday.

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More questions about financing of McDonnell’s daughter’s wedding

April 9, 2013
Washington Post

By Rosalind S. Helderman

Virginia Gov. Robert F. McDonnell has said his daughter and her husband paid for their own wedding. So a $15,000 check from a major campaign donor to pay for the food at the affair was a gift to the bride and groom and not to him, and therefore did not have to be publicly disclosed under the law, the governor says.

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A New Era in Political Corruption

April 5, 2013
New York Times

By GAIL COLLINS

Have you ever noticed how high the bar is when it comes to getting arrested for political corruption? Really, you practically have to go around with a sign that says “Will Trade Influence for Cash.”

I have been thinking about this because New York is having awful corruption scandals. The charges involve politicians acting in such an insanely stupid way, it shatters our longstanding confidence that taking money was the one thing they know how to do well.

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Governors’ groups rely increasingly on 'dark money' affiliates

April 4, 2013
Center for Public Integrity

Shift to nonprofits obscures donors
By Paul Abowd

A handful of donors to the nonprofit Republican Governors Association Public Policy Committee got a rude surprise when the Internal Revenue Service mistakenly outed them by making available part of a tax form that is supposed to be kept private.

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Editorial: Election spending shows change is needed

April 1, 2013
Green Bay Press-Gazette

Every so often you hear a complaint about how the Citizens United decision has changed politics. It certainly feels more divisive since the 2010 Supreme Court decision.

But there’s one tangible result that’s particularly shocking. Campaign spending in the 2010 and 2012 election cycles tripled in Wisconsin compared to the previous two major elections.

Tripled.

A Wisconsin Democracy Campaign report shows that $392 million was spent on state and federal races in 2010 and 2012 compared to $124 million in 2006 and 2008.

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Bill to restore Maine Clean Election funding backed

March 24, 2013
Portland (ME) Press-Herald

The proposal is in stark contrast to Gov. Paul LePage's proposal to zero-fund the Clean Election program in 2014.

By Steve Mistler
State House Bureau

AUGUSTA — A bipartisan group of lawmakers is backing a proposal to restore Maine's public-financing elections law to its original strength.

The bill, sponsored by Sen. Edward Youngblood, R-Brewer, follows Clean Election funding cuts by the Legislature and a court ruling that led to repeal of a key provision of the Maine Clean Election Act.

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