DO ANY SENATORS VOLUNTARILY FILE ELECTRONICALLY?

—Sunlight: “Friday was the deadline for Senate candidates to file their campaign finance disclosure reports. Most did so. On paper. Lots of paper. Senators and Senate candidates delivered reams of paper to the Secretary of the Senate, who turned around and delivered them to the FEC. The FEC is in the process of making the contribution and expenditure information detailed in those reports available to the public online. But, as of this writing, the information is not available on the FEC’s website. Some information should be available in a few days, but not in a searchable format. It will take weeks before searchable, sortable data about who is paying for our elections is available. … A few intrepid Senators took a stand against delayed disclosure. They voluntarily filed their disclosure reports electronically with the FEC. Senators Tester and Cochran sent senators a dear colleague (below), reminding them that filing electronically would allow the public to see detailed campaign finance data immediately. … Unfortunately, most of their colleagues failed to follow their recommendations. In addition to Tester and Cochran, only Boxer, Cornyn, Feinstein, Leahy, Lugar, Sanders and chose to electronically file. All of them have done so previously. Which begs the question, what is stopping the others from allowing the public immediate access to their campaign finance data?”

APPROPS CHAIR’S NETWORK OF NONPROFIT UNDER SCRUTINY

—Politico: “Rep. Hal Rogers (R-Ky.), the new chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, has funneled more than $236 million in federal funds since 2000 to a web of nonprofit groups he created back home in the Bluegrass State, according to a new report by an ethics watchdog group. … Another group of private firms linked to Rogers and the nonprofit companies received another $227 million in federal loans, grants and contracts during the same period, a three-month investigation by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) found.”

HEDGING BETS

—WSJ: “Hedge-fund managers made a big bet on Barack Obama and other Democrats in 2008. Now, with the 2012 contest gearing up, some prominent fund managers have turned their backs on the party and are actively supporting Republicans. … Daniel Loeb, founder of Third Point LLC, was one of the biggest Obama fund-raisers in 2008, rounding up $200,000 for him, according to campaign-finance records. In the decade prior, Mr. Loeb and his wife donated $250,000 to Democrats and less than $10,000 to Republicans. … But since Mr. Obama’s inauguration, Mr. Loeb has given $468,000 to Republican candidates and the GOP, and just $8,000 to Democrats. Hedge-fund kings have feelings, too, and the president appears to have hurt them.”