NEW DEM SUPER PAC

—Politico: “Democrats with ties to the Obama White House on Friday are launching a two-pronged fundraising effort aimed at countering deep-pocketed GOP groups in 2012 — and adopting some of the same policies on unlimited, secret donations that President Barack Obama himself has long opposed, the organizers tell POLITICO. … The two groups, Priorities USA and Priorities USA Action, aim to raise $100 million to defend Obama’s re-election from an expected onslaught of attack ads from similar Republican outside money organizations activated in the 2010 midterms, organizers say. … The Priorities companion committees will have one that discloses donors — and one that doesn’t, a practice Obama hammered during last year’s election cycle as undermining the democratic process.”

BIG BIZ BACKS DEBT LIMIT INCREASE

—Roll Call: “More than two dozen trade associations are preparing to give the White House public support for raising the debt ceiling. … The ad hoc coalition — which includes the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Financial Services Forum and the National Association of Manufacturers — has been circulating a letter downtown that will be sent as early as next week to Senate and House leaders urging Congress to act on Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner’s request to raise the federal debt limit. … A draft of the letter obtained by Roll Call warns, “We strongly agree with Secretary Geithner that the failure of Congress to increase the statutory debt limit in a timely fashion could have a significant and long-lasting negative impact on the U.S. economy.”

FIGHTING CORRUPTION: THERE’S AN APP FOR THAT

—FastCompany.com: “One crusading Philadelphia politician is using iPhones to fight corruption and fraud. City Controller Alan Butkovitz announced the launch of Philly Watchdog, an anti-corruption iPhone application, on April 19. The app allows users to notify the city government of municipal activities that they believe are wasting taxpayer money; it is the city of Philadelphia’s first foray into smartphone applications. Philly Watchdog is the first application created to monitor municipal fraud in the United States, and it allows city residents to send photo and video evidence of wrongdoing to the Controller’s office.”