“State Dept. competition expands horizons of social networking” by Jared Serbu on Federal News Radio.

“5 Best Practices for Open Local Government” by Noelle Knell in Government Technology.

“Study: Social Media Has Mixed Impact on Elections” by John P. Mello, Jr. in PC World.

“Government Dashboards – Measuring Performance” by Vivienne Kamphaus on Govloop.

“What the Feds are Twittering Right Now” from Nextgov.

New York City, NY: “City to Install ‘Smart Screens’ in Some Public Phone Booths” by Matt Flegenheimer in The New York Times.

“White House abandons push for federal contractors to disclose political giving” by Mike Lillis in The Hill.

“F.C.C. Pushes for Web Site on TV Political Ad Spending” by Brian Stelter in The New York Times.

“Limits on Lobbyists as Hosts? Simply Unworkable, They Say” by Robert Pear in The New York Times.

“FEC Ruling Leaves Ad Uncertainty” by Eliza Newlin Carney in Roll Call.

Arkansas: “Campaign Finance Reform in Arkansas Enters a New Phase” by KARK 4 News.

Maryland: “Lobbyist scores a ‘scoop’ of sorts” by Michael Dresser in The Baltimore Sun.

Former Massachusetts Treasurer Timothy Cahill was indicted on charges that he used more than $1.6 million in publicly-funded state lottery advertising to promote his gubernatorial campaign in 2010.

According to Attorney General Martha Coakley as noted in the Boston Globe, “Cahill faces charges of violating state ethics laws, violating state procurement laws, and conspiracy charges in connection with both those alleged crimes. The procurement and ethics law violations each carry possible sentences of up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine.”

For full news coverage, be sure to read:“Timothy Cahill indicted on charges of using official funds for campaign-boosting ads” by Frank Phillips in the Boston Globe.

Here is Cahill’s response to the indictment: “Former state treasurer Timothy Cahill insists he acted to bolster the Massachusetts Lottery, vows to fight state corruption charges” in the Boston Globe.

Federal: “Lawmakers profit from positions in Congress” by Gary Martin in the San Antonio Express-News.

Federal: “Ethics committee: Sen. Vitter of Louisiana violated public trust in blocking Salazar salary” by The Associated Press in The Washington Post.

Florida: “Senate to decide punishment on Norman ethics violation” by Brittany Davis in the Miami Herald.

Idaho: “Idaho Senate approves series of new ethics rules” by Alex Morrell and Todd Dvorak (Associated Press) in the Idaho Statesman.

Mississippi: “Lawmaker appeals $346K ethics violation order” in The Clarion-Ledger.

New York:  “APNewsBreak: NY board won’t disclose hire record” by The Associated Press in The Wall Street Journal.

Ohio:  “Cleveland lawmaker requests legislative group’s financial records after recent bribery charge” by Joe Guillen in The Plain Dealer.

South Carolina: “Blame enough to go around for ethics rank” in the Orangeburg Times and Democrat.

Texas: “Two-thirds of Texas congressional delegation named in report on ethics lapses” by Gary Martin in the Houston Chronicle.

Federal: “Trade group CEOs enjoy hefty pay raises in a sluggish economy” by William McQuillen and Danielle Ivory in The Washington Post.

Federal: “GAO: Lobbyist disclosure compliance ‘similar’ compared to prior years” by Rachel Leven in The Hill.

Federal: “Calif. biotech firms spend $40 million on lobbying in 3 years” by Bernice Yeung on CaliforniaWatch.org.

Federal: “Tech companies new lobbying force in DC” by Garrett Sloane in the New York Post.

New Jersey: “Some of Christie’s biggest bills match model legislation from D.C. group called ALEC” by Salvador Rizzo in the Star-Ledger.

Utah: “Rolly: Lobbyist and legislator in one? Could happen” by Paul Rolly in the Salt Lake Tribune.

“Federal judge says Federal Election Commission went too far in shielding campaign ad donors” by The Associated Press in the Washington Post.

“US Joins Countries Not Enforcing Campaign-Finance Regulations” by Samuel Rubenfeld in the Wall Street Journal.

Connecticut: “Governor’s controversial campaign finance fix rejected” by Mark Pazniokas on CTMirror.com.

New York: “Albany to begin Act II of legislative session” by Jon Campbell in the Lower Hudson Journal News. Campaign finance will be on the agenda.

Back in September 2010, we highlighted a website called The Museum of the Moving Image: The Living Room Candidate. It featured a history of presidential campaign television commercials since the time of President Dwight Eisenhower.

In honor of the 2012 presidential race, I’ve found another great site with even more historical information about presidential campaigns. Our Highlighted Site of the Week is 4President.org.

According to their site: “Learn about each election by downloading a candidates issues brochure, reading campaign announcement and acceptance speeches, viewing campaign logos, and analyzing popular vote and electoral college data.”

Starting with the Kennedy/Nixon race in 1960, 4President.org offers speeches from the candidates announcing their candidacy for president and their acceptance speeches for their party’s nomination at the conventions. You can view the campaign buttons, bumper stickers, and even television advertisements. For the campaigns from 1996 forward, you can even see their old campaign websites!

Have fun with this site and have a beautiful weekend.

William Pound, the President of the National Conference of State Legislatures, wrote a letter to the editor in The New York Times. It is a response to a recent editorial “The States Get a Poor Report Card,” which disparages the ethics oversight of the states and their ability to perform other vital government functions. The editorial comes after the Center for Public Integrity gave many states a poor or failing grade in the area of ethics.

Pound responds: “In the tradition of our founding fathers, most state lawmakers are citizen-legislators. You cite a study that graded states poorly on ethics issues, yet you did not acknowledge that the overwhelming majority of the 7,382 state legislators are honorable public servants.”

Pound also compares the record of ethics agencies in state governments with the public’s current lack of trust regarding the performance of the U.S. Congress. Be sure to read the full letter here.

Thank you to Elizabeth Bartz for bringing this article to our attention.

“President Obama adds Pinterest to his social networks” by Dara Kerr in C|Net.

“The Fastest Downloads in America — Big Cities Ranked” from Government Technology.

“NASA Wins Third Shorty Award” by Ross Gianfortune on NextGov.

“NASA’s Twitter Wins Shorty Award for Social Media” on LiveScience.com.

“Report: Republicans Outpace Democrats in Twitterverse” by Emma Dumain in Roll Call.

“White House to petitioners: We ARE listening” by Joseph Marks in Nextgov.

Campaign Finance

“McCain predicts ‘huge’ U.S. campaign finance scandals” by Alina Selyukh (Reuters) in the Chicago Tribune.

“McCain Calls SCOTUS Decision on Campaign Spending ‘Stupid’” by Rebekah Metzler in the Chicago Tribune.

“Beware of the super-PAC: More lawmakers are fearing an ad ambush” by Joe Picard in The Hill.

Montana: “Conservative groups challenging campaign finance law formally seek Supreme Court intervention” by The Associated Press in The Republic.

Lobbying

“Lobbyists reaping $220M bonanza” by Rich Karlin in the Albany Times Union.

“Memo details oil, gas industry lobbying expenditures” by The Associated Press in the News Tribune.

“Review of lobbyist spending prompts House ethics meeting” by Jason Clayworth in the Des Moines Register.

Alaska: “Alaska Redistricting Board says it has adopted new election districts” by Matt Buxton in the Fairbanks Daily News Miner.

Arizona: “Brewer signs bill to keep Arizona redistricting commission going while new maps are pending” by The Associated Press in The Republic.

Florida: “Redrawn Senate map passes House, scramble for seats begin” by Mary Ellen Klas in the Tampa Bay Times.

Florida: “Legislature ends redistricting session, new Senate map approved” by Mary Ellen Klas in The Miami Herald.

Idaho: “Redistricting will shake up Idaho Legislature” by Sean Ellis in the Capital Press.

Kansas: “Kan. House to debate congressional remap bill” by The Associated Press in the Salina Journal.

Maryland: “Group seeks referendum on new Md. congressional map” by Annie Linskey in The Baltimore Sun.

Missouri: “Missouri Supreme Court upholds House districts” by Elizabeth Crisp in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

West Virginia: “W.Va. lawmakers seek OK of congressional districts” by Eric Eyre in the Charleston Gazette.

Wisconsin: “Judges: Collaboration needed on Wis. voting maps” by The Associated Press on Madison.com.

Wisconsin: Opinion piece “Redistricting decision offers important lesson” by Christine Neumann-Ortiz in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.

National: Ethics-violations-as-campaign-tool in “Ethics Talking Points Take Campaign Stage” by Amanda Becker in Roll Call.

Illinois: “No law stops indicted IL politico from seeking re-election” by Andrew Thomason in the Illinois Statehouse News.

Louisiana: “Watchdog group hopes to shine up Louisiana ethics laws” by Jeff Adelson in the New Orleans Times-Picayune.

Here is my personal favorite today: They have taken a poll in New Jersey and found that people there are tired of the cursing and name calling among their politicians. Take a look at “Jerks, snobs and …? N.J. voters are fed up with the nasty names” by Matt Friedman in The Star-Ledger. Here is another article offering good coverage – “NJ voters want less name-calling from politicians” by Michael Symons in the Asbury Park Press.

Federal: “Two SEC Commissioners Could Dramatically Change Campaign Finance” by George Zornick in The Nation. ↬via Eric Brown’s Political Activity Law blog.

California: “State political watchdog ramps up enforcement” by Brian Joseph in the Orange County Register.

Connecticut: “Connecticut legislators set focus on campaign finance reform; look to increase transparency” by Jordan Fenster in The Register Citizen.

District of Columbia: “Campaign money orders to cease?” by Jim McElhatton and Luke Rosiak in the Washington Times.

District of Columbia: “D.C. ethics law overhaul hampered by hiring difficulties, enforcement duties” by Mike DeBonis in The Washington Post.

“FEC fines Charlie Rangel $23K for apartment misuse” by Darius Dixon in Politico.

“Rangel agrees to pay $23,000 FEC fine over use of rent-controlled apartment” by Justin Sink in The Hill.

“Jefferson loses bribery appeal” by Mackenzie Weinger in Politico. (Jefferson, if you recall, hid $90,000 in his freezer.)

“Edwards lawyers seek leeway in questioning Young” by Michael Biesecker (Associated Press) on WOODTV.com.

“House opens hearings into Chicago lawmaker’s bribery charge” by Ray Long in The Chicago Tribune.