…The Washington Post offers this front-page report….

…The National Journal offers this interesting article ($), which begins: “Now that a reluctant President Bush has finally signed new lobbying and ethics rules into law, most K Street professionals are preoccupied with nuts-and-bolts questions: What will the disclosure forms look like? Will breakfast bagels violate the ban on providing meals to lawmakers and their aides? Which types of political contributions will lobbyists have to report?”…

…The signing statement is here. BNA called ($) the president’s statement “unenthusiastic” and noted he waited until the last minute to sign the legislation….

…So says ($) BNA Money and Politics Report….

…ry.”…

…The NY Times offers this report. A snippet: “Now senators are considering bringing the secret hold into the open by requiring those who use it to disclose their identity and their rationale in The Congressional Record. The proposed rule, virtually revolutionary in the staid realm of the Senate, is part of the ethics and lobbying overhaul headed for a final vote this week.”…

…report ($), which begins: “As they try to break the impasse holding up the lobbying and ethics overhaul, House and Senate leaders are planning to rewrite one of the most controversial portions of the measure. The two chambers approved different versions of the key provision– requiring for the first time that lobbyists report campaign checks they bundle for candidates — when they passed reform packages earlier this year. But now, Senate Democratic…

…ibition is unconstitutional as applied to three anti-filibuster grassroots lobbying ads that WRTL wanted to run in 2004, the Court also set down some strict guidelines on the conduct of such cases in the future to assure that they are not burdensome. WRTL argued to the district court that allowing Sen. McCain and others to intervene was inconsistent with WRTL II’s guidelines. WRTL also argued that the Supreme Court’s holding that WRTL’s ads were c…

…rs this report, which begins: “House Democratic leaders pushing a promised lobbying overhaul are facing resistance from balky lawmakers and fending off accusations that a prominent member is flouting new ethics rules. The Democratic leaders were forced to scrap a promise to double the current one-year lobbying ban after lawmakers leave office. Now, they are struggling to pass legislation requiring lobbyists to disclose the campaign contributions t…

…mittee yesterday stripped from the lobbying reform bill a proposal to limit the lobbying activity of congressional officials once they enter the private sector and soundly defeated two other top priorities of government watchdog groups. The broad bipartisan votes against lobbying limits for lawmakers and staff, against disclosure rules for lobbying firms conducting communications campaigns, and against limits on lavish parties at national conventi…

…being considered by Congress. Eliza Newlin Carney takes a more charitable view of the legislation. Roll Call gives this legislative update ($), which begins: “As House Democrats finally return their attention this week to making good on their lobbying reform promises, the fate of a make-or-break provision remains uncertain. The measure — requiring lobbyists to disclose the campaign checks that they solicit — is not expected to be included in a lo…

…ncing as a priority “send Feingold packing.” From the beginning WRTL litigated this case as one about whether its ads constitute “genuine issue advocacy” or “grassroots lobbying.” It was never an attack seeking to overturn McConnell. I don’t expect the Court to view it as one now….

…Eliza Newlin Carney has written A Two-Front War Over Lobbying, [link corrected] her most recent “Rules of the Game” column for National Journal….

…NPR offers this audio report….

…This release is quite interesting, marking perhaps the first time that the Center (which has been closely aligned with Sen. McCain) has criticized Sen. McCain….

…Roll Call offers this report ($), which begins: “Senate Democratic leaders have agreed to fend off attempts to attach electronic disclosure provisions and other campaign finance matters to any ethics and lobbying overhaul bills that emerge from the chamber.”…

…Thomas Susman has written “Lobbying in the 21st Century–Reciprocity and the Need for Reform,” 58 Admin. L. J. 737 (2006)….

…The NY Times offers this report, which begins: “House Democrats are seriously exploring the creation of an independent ethics arm to enforce new rules on travel, lobbying, gifts and other issues that Democrats intend to put in place on taking power next month.”…

…ns. John McCain (R-Ariz.), Russ Feingold (D-Wis.), Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Joe Lieberman (D-Conn.) were joined by Reps. Christopher Shays (R-Conn.) and Marty Meehan (D-Mass.), all highlighting the role of congressional corruption in last month’s midterm turnabout and vowing to pass lobbying and ethics reform in the early days of the 110th Congress. ‘Waves of reform sweep the political beaches, and this wave was coming,’ McCain said. He and Fei…

…The Washington Post offers this report, which begins: “The House voted yesterday to shed more light on narrow-interest tax and spending legislation called earmarks, an incremental step toward openness that ended the prospect for a more sweeping overhaul of federal lobbying laws this year.”…

…Roll Call offers this report (paid subscription required), which begins: “With lobbying reform legislation all but shelved for the rest of this Congress, Reps. Christopher Shays (R-Conn.) and Marty Meehan (D-Mass.) are expected to file legal papers today in another attempt to force the Federal Election Commission to act on curbing 527 groups.”…

…FEC this morning is considering this proposal for a so-called “grassroots lobbying” exemption to BCRA’s electioneering communciations provisions, as proposed by Commissioner Von Spakovsky. Late word is that the General Counsel has circulated this alternative, which would put the issue off for now (as I’ve advocated). The fact that this alternative is circulated makes me think that Commissioner Von Spakovsky’s measure will not pass today. Meanwhil…

…The NY Times offers this editorial opposing the “grassroots lobbying” exemption before the FEC at its Aug. 29 meeting. Bob Bauer mocks….

…trict Court Judge Rejects First Amendment and Vagueness Arguments in AIPAC Lobbying Case. Today, the Washington Post offers Ruling Raises Bar in Lobbyist Case, which begins: “The federal judge who last week refused to throw out charges of conspiring to violate the 1917 Espionage Act against two former pro-Israel lobbyists simultaneously made it much more difficult for the government to prove its case against them, attorneys for the defendants and…

…unions, other nonprofits and business corporations to finance ‘grass-roots lobbying’ ads in the period before November elections. Without this rule, any such ad, on any policy issue, within 60 days of the general election would be prohibited if it referred to elected officials who happened also to be candidates. The proposed rule tightly would condition this exemption on the content of the ads, strictly disallowing any electoral messages in suppor…