NEWS ROUNDUP:

• New York Governor, and assumed 2016 presidential candidate, Andrew Cuomo is planning a series of huge dollar fundraisers. He already has more than $22 million in his campaign account and no major challenger in his 2014 race for another term in the New York state house. (Politico)
• The leaders of Organizing for Action, the Obama campaign spin off that is looking to promote issues at federal and state levels, appear to be coordinating with just about everyone from Hollywood executives, to former members of the campaign's finance team, to the President himself as they plot their fundraising and action strategy. (Washington Post)
• Wireless company Qualcomm has agreed to ramp up disclosure of its political spending following a law suit filed by the New York State Common Retirement Fund. In exchange for the suit being dropped Qualcomm will post its political contributions and expenditures online. It will also disclose the money it spends to influence ballot measures. (The Hill)
• The White House released a memo directing federal agencies to create plans to provide free public access to the results of federally funded scientific research. The memo, which was released in response to a petition on the White House's We the People platform, is parallel to legislation that has been introduced in the House. (Politico)
• South Korea is one of the most technologically advanced countries in the world. Unfortunately, there is a strong culture of government censorship and little has been done to use technology to increase transparency. A nascent group of NGOs is trying to change that. (Tech President)
• A top energy adviser to Mitt Romney's 2012 campaign is taking a lobbying job with a major natural gas company. Rebecca Rosen, who also previously worked on the Senate's energy committee, will join Devon Energy Corp. as vice president of federal government affairs. (The Hill)

NEWS ROUNDUP:

• A bill being floated in the Kentucky Senate would prohibit lobbying during legislative sessions. If passed, lobbyists would face a $500 fine for each violation.(Lobby Comply)
• Photographer Misha Friedman was approached by the Institute of Modern Russia, a pro-democracy group, to shoot a series exploring corruption in Russia. The resulting photographs highlight the countries history, institutions, and ground-level realities. (Huffington Post)
• This week the Supreme Court heard arguments in McBurney v. Young, a case questioning whether states should be made to provide equal treatment to citizens and companies from other states with respect to public records laws. (Politico)
• Microsoft is looking to Washington for strategy, and personnel, in its battle against rival Google. They recently signed up Jonathan Collegio, who worked for conservative group American Crossroads during the last election. Indications are that he has been working to plant stories that are critical of Google. They also hired Mark Penn, a former Hillary Clinton strategist, to lead a $90 million negative ad attack against the company. (Politico $)
• Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA), the front-runner to replace John Kerry in the Senate, expressed his support for a constitutional amendment to reverse the Citizens United decision this week. (Washington Post)
• Los Angeles is one of the last major American cities to have its own mobile app, announced earlier this month, but city leaders are confident that it will be one of the best around. The release of the app will coincide with a major overhaul to LA's website. (Government Technology)
• Opinion: The revolving door between banks and the government agencies and legislators tasked with regulating and overseeing them is as strong as ever. Recent staff changes at the Securities and Exchange Commission, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and on the staff of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid illustrate the trend. (New York Times)

NEWS ROUNDUP:

• David Axelrod, former Obama chief campaign strategist and current NBC News talking head, went on a twitter rant against money in politics that implied he would support unlimited, disclosed donations to candidates if it meant the end of super PACs and other outside groups. (Politico)
• It seems that Newt Gingrich has joined the Tea Party's war against Karl Rove and other pragmatic Republicans. Gingrich attacked the idea of using super PACs and other unlimited spending groups to promote more moderate, electable candidates saying "we don't want to become a party in which a handful of...bosses gather up money from billionaires in order to destroy the candidates which they don't like." (Washington Post)
• As the Supreme Court prepares to consider another case that could continue to erode limits on campaign giving, National Journal explores the possible implications of a decision in favor of the RNC and donor Shaun McCutcheon.(National Journal)
• The Department of Justice and Securities and Exchange Commission have dropped a probe into allegations that Minessota-based 3M violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. The company had disclosed, and investigated, possible violations at a subsidiary in Tureky. (Wall Street Journal)
• Oakland, CA is doing its best to out due its neighbor San Francisco in the open government arena, even if San Fran does have better PR. Oakland has a growing and robust open government community and is getting buy in from the local government. (Govfresh)
• The race to replace disgraced Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., who plead guilty to campaign finance violations, has attracted almost $3 million in outside spending, most of it from New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg's super PAC. (Public Integrity)

NEWS ROUNDUP:

• The video game Minecraft is being combined with open data to allow citizens to "hack" their cities. Real-life locations can be created and edited within the game. (Tech President)
• The International Budget Partnership recently released the latest edition of their Open Budget Survey, tracking spending transparency around the world. 77 out of 100 countries failed to meet the survey's standards. (Huffington Post)
• The Supreme Court has agreed to consider a case challenging the limit on how much an individual can donate to political candidates or parties over the course of an election cycle. The Republican National Committee teamed up with a wealthy Alabama donor, Shaun McCutcheon, to bring the case. (Roll Call)
• It appears Rufus Gifford, who led President Obama's mammoth reelection fundraising efforts is going to rewarded for a job well done. Obama is rumored to be considering tapping the longtime fundraiser and gay rights advocate to serve as ambassador to Denmark. (Washington Post)
• Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington is suing the IRS, claiming that the agencies regulations for politically active nonprofit groups are currently out of line with tax law. (Roll Call)
• A number of government watchdogs are expressing their concern that the President's recent silence on campaign finance reform, combined with the creation of a group able to raise and spend unlimited funds from the remnants on his campaign apparatus, have resulted in a system over-ripe for corruption. (The Hill)