Yesterday, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), along with Reps. John Larson (D-Conn.) and Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) introduced the Fair Elections Now Act into the 112th Congress. They were joined at the press conference by Alec Baldwin, who supports the legislation. The bill introduction was covered in multiple media outlets.

Here's a rundown of the initial coverage:

CNN.com covered the press conference, quoting Baldwin:

Today the Fair Election Now Act was re-introduced into the 112th Congress. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) was joined by Reps. John B. Larson and Chellie Pingree, as well as actor Alec Baldwin, in a press conference announcing the legislation.

Given all the attention that Budget Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) is receiving for his budget proposal, it’s probably a good idea to remind everyone that he is the among the top recipients of campaign cash from the billionaire Koch brothers and their company’s political action committee.

According to our analysis of data coded by the Center for Responsive Politics, Ryan’s campaign and his leadership PAC have received $98,000 from Koch’s PAC and $2,500 from David Koch.

A story in Politico today illustrates perfectly how Washington, D.C. works. With the need to raise huge sums of campaign cash for the next election well underway, the very large freshman class of Republican lawmakers are taking direction from old DC hats and teaming up to raise money by forming joint fundraising committees.

The House Financial Service Committee is holding a hearing today on the findings of the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission. Here are short fundraising profiles of three key committee members, based on new research released today by Public Campaign Action Fund:
 

The Washington Post has a story today on how corporate donations to the new Republican leaders in he House has soared since last November's elections. The surge in corporate campaign dollars comes as the new leadership is working to repeal or scale back legislation that Wall Street and Health Care interests fought hard against in the last Congress.

The Washington Post reports that Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) has filed an ethics complaint against the two lawmakers who missed their swearing-in for the 112th Congress while attending a fundraiser, contending, among other things, that the two congressmen violated federal law and House rules by holding a fundraiser in the Capitol.

Public Campaign Action Fund released a report today detailing the campaign contributions winning Tea Party candidates received from Wall Street interests in the 2010 election cycle. These 52 candidates, identified by ABC News as “Tea Party Winners, received at least $11.1 million from the finance, insurance, and real estate sector in the 2010 cycle. 

Public Campaign Action Fund issued a press release today on how the newly-elected majority in the House is fully embracing the big money special interest culture in the Capitol. Politico reported this morning on the controversal decision by incoming Rep. Jeff Denham (R-Calif.) to hold a $2500-a-plate fundraiser at the posh W Hotel with singer LeAnn Rimes.

Dana Milbank of the Washington Post reports that despite running against the Washington, D.C. establishment, newly-elected Tea Party favorites are already filling their staff's with lobbyists and cashing special interest campaign checks.