Thursday’s political law links

IRS MOVE ON (C)(4)S PART OF A TREND? Michael Barone discusses recent news on (c)(4) donations here. “Punishing enemies and rewarding friends — politics Chicago style — seems to be the unifying principle that helps explain the Obamacare waivers, the NLRB action against Boeing and the IRS’ gift-tax assault on 501(c)(4) donors.” Huffington Post features this issue here in a post by Dan Froomkin.

GIFT TAX ALERT. Patton Boggs issued a tax policy alert on donations to (c)(4)’s and it’s online here.

(C)(4) FUNDING NOTED. The Post.

MEMBERS TRADING. Members’ stock-trading prowess is the topic of this Washington Times report. “A study published in the journal Business and Politics Wednesday found that members of the House of Representatives outperform the average investor when it comes to buying and selling stocks by 55 basis points per month, or six percent annually.”

EDWARDS FACING CHARGES. The Times. “The Justice Department is planning to charge Mr. Edwards with violating campaign finance laws; prosecutors say he used money that should have been reported as campaign donations to cover up the affair, which produced a child, wrecked his marriage and ended his political career.”

“OBSOLETE” EAC IN THE TARGETS. A House Administration Committee press release describes recent legislation to eliminate the Election Assistance Commission.

40 STAR LOBBYISTS UNDER 40. Washingtonian.

TIFFANY’S DEBT ISSUE. Felix Salmon has a post about it here.

CONGRESS AND THE DRAFT EO. The House approved an amendment to a defense appropriation bill. Per Thomas, H.Amdt. 310 is “[a]n amendment numbered 27 printed in House Report 112-88 to preclude an executive agency from requiring an entity submitting an offer for a Federal contract to disclose political contributions as a condition of participation.”

FACEBOOK AND THE R’S. Roll Call. “Facebook is adding new lobbyists with Republican credentials to its Washington, D.C., operation as the company deals with Congressional and executive branch concerns about online privacy and security.” The Hill has the story here.

NEW SUPERPAC EDITORIAL. The Times.

ELECTIONLAWBLOG.ORG STATUS. Rick Hasen explains here that he’s changing servers for his site so it might be unavailable for a short time. I join all Election Law Blog afficinados in sending along my best wishes for a smooth move (from someone who’s own site has had its share downtime and other technical problems) and renewed appreciation for the hard work it takes to keep his site timely and lively.

GOIN’ MOBILE. My new iPod gives me some mobile capability, including photos and video. Look forward to more political law audiovisual content this summer…

HAVE A GREAT DAY.

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