Campaign Finance

• Super PAC backlash? Endangered Senator Claire McCaskill (D-MO) is fighting immense super PAC spending against her by arguing that she is being targeted by out-of-state special interests. She is betting that voters in Missouri are sick of the flood of outside ad spending this election year. (Washington Post)
• Big money ads online: President Obama’s campaign spent almost $7 million on online ads in March alone. The number is only slightly less than the Obama campaign spent on digital ads throughout the entire 2008 campaign. (Politico)

Lobbying

• Congress does little, big business lobbies less… Many of America’s most olitically powerful corporations scaled back their lobbying spending in the first quarter of 2012 as Congress failed to address major issues. (Politico)
• …Chamber of Commerce picks up the slack: On the other hand, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce nearly doubled its lobbying expenditures over the 1st quarter of 2011. (Roll Call $)
• Share what you watch: Netflix added lobbying firm Greenberg Traurig to its Washington roster to lobby for an amended video privacy law. Netflix wants to allow users to opt to have their viewing habits automatically shared on social networks. (The Hill)

Government

• Health and Human Hiring: Planned Parenthood’s former media director, Tait Sye, joined the Department of Health and Human Services as deputy assistant secretary for public affairs. (Politico)
• What does open government mean to you? 58 attendees at last week’s Open Government Partnership conference in Brazil were asked to answer that question in under 30 seconds. There answers were compiled in a video playlist. (GovFresh)

• “Angry Townspeople,” the Internet, and the Market of Ideas: Vectors of Change in the Russian Public Sphere. Wilson Center. Mon. 4/23. 12:00 – 1:00 pm. 1300 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington, DC 20004. 
• Jeff Ghannam: The Arab Social Media Vortex. Georgetown SFS. Tues. 4/24. 12:30-2:00 pm. 37th Street NW and O Street NW, Washington, DC.
• Collaboration between Social Networking and Education. Brookings. Tues. 4/24. 2:00-3:30 pm. 1775 Massachusetts Ave NW, Washington, DC 20036.
• Mapping & Data For Journalists. National Press Club. Wed. 4/25. 12:00 pm. 529 14th Street NW, 13th Floor, Zenger Room, Washington, DC 20045.
• 37th Annual AAAS Forum on Science and Technology Policy. AAAS. Thurs. 4/26. 7:45 am. Ronald Reagan Building, 1300 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington, DC.
• The Open Government Partnership: A Progress Report. SAIS. Thurs. 4/26. 4:30-6:00 pm. 1740 Massachusetts Ave NW, Washington, DC 20036.
• TransparencyCamp 2012. Sunlight Foundation. Sat 4/28-Sun 4/29. 9:00 am. 3351 Fairfax Drive, Arlington, Virginia 22201.