Byron Williams, an Oakland-based pastor and writer contributes this column to The Huffington Post on the Fair Elections Now Act. Williams voiced his support for FENA in an April column on HuffPo, and he's not shy about putting the ball in the voters' court when it comes to pressing for this kind of change.

Ari Berman at The Nation, who writes frequently about money in politics issues and Clean Elections, covers the Senate Rules Committee hearing on the Fair Elections Now Act yesterday.

Berman isn't much impressed with the arguments presented against public financing, dismissing many as misunderstandings of the bills contents or efforts at incumbent protection. He assesses the bill's chances down the road:

James Parks of the AFL-CIO writes on their blog about their support for the Fair Elections Now Act, linking to the full letter they sent to Senators Diane Feinstein (D-CA) and Bob Bennett (R-UT) of the Senate Rules Committee, which conducted the first committee hearing of the bill yesterday.

Sen. Arlen Specter's (R-PA) testimony at the Senate Rules Committee hearing on the Fair Elections Now Act of which he is a lead sponsor gets a shout-out in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. The Article mentions in particular Specter's warning about rising campaign costs for which he cites the difference in costs for when he initally sought his seat in 1980, and when he last ran in 2004.

More coverage of the hearing on the Fair Elections Now Act: Peter Overby did a short piece on it this morning on NPR, featuring Arlen Specter, which you can listen to here, Paul Silver at The Moderate Voice mentioned the hearing and offered his support, election law expert Adam Bonin posted in favor of the bill on Daily Kos and posted a po

I just got back from the Senate Rules Committee hearing on the Fair Elections Now Act and I'd say it was a positive opening for the bill as well as an opportunity to explain the reasoning behind it and dispel some myths about what public financing would mean for Congressional races. We'll have the video up shortly and Nick Nyhart, our President, will chime in later with his thoughts on offering testimony. Read on for a summary of the hearing.

Tomorrow's an exciting day! The Senate Rules Committee is set to hold the first hearing on the Fair Elections Now Act (FENA) to bring full public financing to congressional elections. Set to testify at the hearing are Sens. Richard Durbin and Arlen Specter who are the lead co-sponsors of FENA, our President and CEO Nick Nyhart, and other notable reformers, election law experts, and prominent political figures.

Politicians like to kiss babies, shake hands, and horn in on your breakfast at local diners. These days, though, candidates are spending a majority of their time locked up in a room with a telephone and a spreadsheet asking for money.

A stable of freshman Representatives who ousted incumbents tied to fundraising scandals have put their muscle behind proposals to overhaul the way candidates for Congress finance their campaigns, including public financing. This article in Roll Call (subscription req.) looks at who is lining up behind public financing.

Well it seems the initial wind has gone out the sails of the lobbying reforms Democratic leaders in Congress pledged to pass after the mid-term elections. Different versions of the bills in the House and Senate to regulate lobbying activity and promote greater transparency have yet to be reconciled and at the center of the debate is that sneaky arrow in the quiver of big money: bundling.