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Presidents’ Day political law links – I’ve got a few

ENSIGN AND K STREET. Roll Call reports on lobbyists’ sentiments here. “In addition to a Senate ethics probe and lagging poll numbers, a once-reliable base of support — D.C. lobbyists — has quietly started pushing party leaders to get the Senator to exit the race altogether.”

SEN. BROWN’S BOOK. An advisory opinion provided to Sen. Brown’s campaign is the topic of this Roll Call report. The opinion is also the first time, I believe, Facebook and Twitter have been specifically identified in a Federal Election Commission advisory opinion. Footnotes 2 and 3 helpfully define those services and even define “tweet.” The campaign proposed to promote Sen. Brown’s book using those services and LinkedIn. On the social media issue, the opinion concluded that the campaign could “post a de minimis amount of material on its otherwise substantial website and social media sites.”

FEDERAL PAC FOR CHRISTIE? That’s what this Politico story theorizes.

GOOGLE’S INTERNATIONAL ANTITRUST EXPOSURE. The Times reports. “But with investigations by the U.S. antitrust authorities piling up — including questions about Google’s proposed acquisition of ITA Software, a flight information company — and with complaints growing louder on other issues ranging from privacy to copyright, the last thing Google wanted was to get bogged down in a lengthy antitrust battle in Brussels.”

JUSTICES AND JUNKETS. The Post editorializes. “Justices should not be forced to live cloistered lives devoid of meaningful exchanges with individuals and outside groups – even those with strongly held beliefs. But they should be careful not to put themselves in situations where their impartiality is cast in doubt or allow themselves to be seen as on one side. The legitimacy and independence of the high court are at stake.”

PALIN NEWS. A “leaked” manuscript is making news. The Post.

CLINTON DONORS. Eggen examines the cases against some donors to Hillary Clinton’s presidential efforts. “A number of major donors to Clinton, now secretary of state, have faced criminal allegations in connection with fundraising scandals since she dropped out of the race for the White House in 2008. Federal prosecutors have mounted four major cases involving six defendants, who together helped raise more than $1.1 million for Clinton’s presidential and senatorial campaigns, records show.”

THE COLE AMENDMENT. The Cole amendment to the FY 11 funding measure passed the House. A Democracy21 release is here. A news report is here. The amendment would “prohibit the use of funds used to carry out chapter 95 or chapter 96 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.” Those are the sections that deal with public financing of presidential campaigns for those candidates who enter the voluntary program. These sections also involve audits, repayments, and enforcement in the pubic financing system.

HAVE A GOOD DAY.

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