Outside groups, public financing, video apologies and a few other political law links today

$200 MILLION PLAN FOR OUTSIDE GROUP. The Post. “The effort — spearheaded by a small group of longtime congressional and White House aides — represents Democrats’ response to the electoral drubbing of 2010, when a coterie of conservative and business groups did a far better job than their opponents of adapting to a new campaign finance landscape.”

PUBLIC FINANCING HEARING. Yesterday’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the Fair Elections Now Act is available for viewing here.

LOBBYISTS AND THE BUDGET DEAL. The Times. “At a quarter till midnight last Friday, with a deal to avert a government shutdown barely an hour old, Senator Harry Reid phoned a fellow Democratic senator, Ron Wyden, at home and startled him with some bad news. “You lost free-choice vouchers,” Mr. Wyden recalls Mr. Reid telling him.”

VIDEO APOLOGY IN CAMPAIGN COPYRIGHT MATTER. Politico reports. “As if the former Florida governor needed more humbling after his last election, he appeared Tuesday on YouTube for the world to see, his permanently tanned skin glowing as radiantly as ever, intoning the words with a politician’s practiced seriousness: ‘I sincerely apologize to David Byrne.’” And Copyrights & Campaigns is on hiatus…

DNC BAN AND NEW CHIEF. Politico explains. “Incoming Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz may continue to accept contributions from political action committees into her personal campaign and leadership PAC, despite a DNC ban on the practice, a two senior Democrats told POLITICO.”

THE REELECT AND TRAVEL. Story here. “During election season, presidents who run for a second term must balance the public view that they are using their office for political reasons with carrying out their official duties.”

SURPRISE, YOU HAVE A LOBBYIST LAWSUIT. News here. “Surprise’s former federal lobbyist has filed a lawsuit against the city, alleging that a department director and two City Council members conspired to have his contract wrongfully terminated.”

REID RESPONDS IN NV. News here. “In Nevada, a single contributor can donate up to $10,000 to a candidate for state office but larger donations to PACs are allowed. [Rory] Reid’s setup allowed for contributors’ larger PAC donations to flow through the other PACs and into the campaign account. Under Reid’s system the candidate raised more than $900,000 for an organization called the Economic Leadership PAC.”

HAVE A GOOD DAY.

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