Washington Post – Mystery donor gives $10 million to Crossroads GPS group to run ads against Obama and Democrats – An anonymous donor gave $10 million late last year to run ads attacking President Obama and Democratic policies, escalating the money race that is defining the 2012 presidential campaign. And in the new, free-wheeling environment of independent political giving, the identity of this donor, like many others, is likely to remain a permanent mystery. The donation went to Crossroads GPS, the conservative nonprofit group founded with the support of political strategist Karl Rove. Another donor gave $10 million in the 2010 midterm elections, according to draft tax returns that provide the first detailed look at its finances. Crossroads GPS would not identify the donors, who could be individuals, corporations or other interest groups, and under tax and campaign laws, it is not required to disclose them. It is possible that both $10 million donations come from the same source. READ MORE
The New York Times – White House opens door to big donors, and lobbyists slip in – Although Mr. Obama has made a point of not accepting contributions from registered lobbyists, a review of campaign donations and White House visitor logs shows that special interests have had little trouble making themselves heard. Many of the president’s biggest donors, while not lobbyists, took lobbyists with them to the White House, while others performed essentially the same function on their visits. More broadly, the review showed that those who donated the most to Mr. Obama and the Democratic Party since he started running for president were far more likely to visit the White House than others. Among donors who gave $30,000 or less, about 20 percent visited the White House, according to a New York Times analysis that matched names in the visitor logs with donor records. But among those who donated $100,000 or more, the figure rises to about 75 percent. Approximately two-thirds of the president’s top fund-raisers in the 2008 campaign visited the White House at least once, some of them numerous times. READ MORE
Washington Post/Opinion – Five myths about super PACs – The Supreme Court’s ruling in Citizens United allowed them. Political candidates rely on them. And Stephen Colbert parodies them. But as a former chair of the Federal Election Commission and the lawyer behind Colbert’s super PAC — Americans for a Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow — I find that most people don’t understand the role that these largely unaccountable organizations play in American politics. As the GOP primary race draws to a close, let’s take a look at some common misconceptions about groups powerful enough to evade traditional limits with a single bound. READ MORE
Politico – Courting the White House: Don’t call it lobbying – Want to get a meeting with the White House? Just don’t call it lobbying. President Barack Obama promised early in 2009 that he would usher in new limits on special-interest influence peddling on his watch, enacting tough disclosure rules that created an anti-lobbyist climate in town. But some Washington insiders have figured out how to work the new system. Case in point: A nonprofit called Business Forward can boast of setting up an average of three meetings a week between top White House officials and business leaders, and member companies like Microsoft, Visa and Hilton. The strategy: The meetings, with top officials like Cass Sunstein and Jack Lew, are billed as “dialogues.” It’s an approach that plays well with former academics in the administration who prefer a discussion with a special interest groups to a meeting with a hired gun. READ MORE
The New Republic – A surprisingly effective new path to neutralizing the political influence of big business – Every four or five years, it seems, progressives and the media discover ALEC, the American Legislative Exchange Council, anew…In the past, progressives have responded by trying to create a “counter-ALEC,” a network of progressive and moderate state legislators, though they’ve never quite reached the necessary scale…This time, progressives tried a new tactic, encouraging a boycott of the mainstream corporations that fund ALEC. And it seems to have worked: Coca-Cola, Kraft, Wendy’s, and several other large corporations on ALEC’s “Private Enterprise Board” announced they would drop their support of the organization…But what’s actually been remarkable about the corporate reaction is how little meanness and acrimony there has been. And therein lies an important lesson about corporate money in politics. READ MORE
The New York Times/Editorial – Albany can kick the money habit – While New York waits for Gov. Andrew Cuomo to keep his promise to reform its election system, some powerful New Yorkers are stepping into the vacuum. A coalition that includes Barry Diller; Chris Hughes, a founding member of Facebook; the banker David Rockefeller Sr.; and the restaurateur Danny Meyer plans to push Albany into fixing the lax rules for financing political campaigns. READ MORE
BuzzFeed – Exclusive: Romney sells inauguration access, nine months early – Former Governor Mitt Romney is already offering top donors access to a special "Presidential Inaugural retreat," planned on the assumption that he will be elected president this November. The offer, in a fundraising email circulated by a top Georgia supporter to fellow Republicans and obtained by BuzzFeed, is one of several goodies offered to those who contribute more than $50,000 to the joint fundraising committee known as "Romney Victory," a program whose outlines were first reported by POLITICO. Those donors will be named "Founding Members" of Romney Victory and invited to a California retreat with Romney and offered "yet to be determined access at the Republican National Convention in Tampa in August." They will also "have preferred status at the first Presidential Inaugural retreat," the email says. READ MORE
Marketplace – Presidential candidates likely to pass on public money – Kai Ryssdal: Picked up my taxes from my accountant this morning, checked that little box that says yes, I want $3 to go to the Presidential Election Campaign Fund -- even though I do know it won't lower my taxes at all. But here's the thing. Ain't nobody gonna use that money this time 'round. Every candidate from Watergate up to but not including then-Senator Obama in 2008 did. But now, nobody wants the limits on spending that come with it. READ MORE