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If Michigan lawmakers are in the mood to offer reforms that could appease parts of the Occupy Wall St. movement — though there’s no indication that they are — beefing up the the state’s rules for campaign finance disclosure might make a good start. Michigan is notorious for the huge role that secret cash plays in elections, and the top item on the list of grievances and demands produced by Occupy Detroit is controlling money in politics

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) said today that Iowa has been fortunate that emergency funding for highways is soon to arrive, while additional funds for

One man’s short take after watching the Inauguration through the trees at the southern edge of the WWII Memorial: There were few surprises through the

Some big names in Florida’s social conservative circles are planning to appear at Americans United for Life’s 40th Anniversary gala in November. Among those listed to attend the event in Washington, D.C., are Sen. Marco Rubio and Reps

Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Sarasota (Pic via Facebook) On Monday, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee will unveil its latest in a series of ads targeting House Republicans — one of whom is Florida’s own Vern Buchanan, R-Sarasota.

My pal Marc Lynch helped advise the Obama campaign on foreign policy as part of the oft-mocked Gang of 300. (The campaign had a lot of advisers. Get it?) Alas,

Colorado U.S. Senator Mark Udall, a member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, has been a champion in the post-9/11 era of the need to balance tough national security measures against concerns for civil liberties and privacy protections

In some corners, the anger over the AIG bonuses has turned into mindless populism that serves no purpose. That’s the viewpoint of The Washington Post, which

At least 200 people — men and women, young and old, white, black, Latino, married couples and singles — met in downtown Fort Lauderdale on Saturday evening in the first Occupy Fort Lauderdale general assembly , to voice their ideas and hopes as well as frustration and anger with corporate greed and the two-party system. Occupy Fort Lauderdale followed a very simple format: In order to have people meet and socialize, they were asked to come up front and tell their story. One meeting coordinator said, “You have grievances with the system right now; we want to hear from as many people as possible so we can make a decision on how to move forward.” Then he read the “Declaration of the Occupation of New York City.” “The big thing that we can focus on are issues of economic class,” Evan Rowe, another meeting coordinator, said

The Wall Street Journal’s Matthew Rosenberg (with aid from Yochi Dreazen) has a piece that I can’t recommend strongly enough: a profile of Gul Agha Shirzai, the

Public protections against fraud hang in the balance over the upcoming SEC budget battle.

Ben Smith has the not-so-shocking news that FreedomWorks, the chief organizer of a large September 12 anti-tax, anti-spending march on Washington, has been

An increase of U.S. troop levels in Afghanistan seemed like a certainty during a Pentagon press conference held Thursday afternoon by Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Adm. Michael Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, though both men insisted no decision had yet been made.

Marco Rubio, the conservative underdog in the 2010 GOP primary for Florida’s U.S. Senate seat, tells CNN that Gov. Charlie Crist (R-Fla.) made a disappointing

Starting next fall, illegal immigrants will be banned from certain state colleges and universities in Georgia after a vote today by the state board of regents.