Well, here's one way to keep the Washington, DC housing market booming: lobbyists are buying up Capitol Hill townhouses left and right to maintain quick and easy access to Congress and, most importantly, host nightly fundraisers.

Writes Jeff Birnbaum at the Washington Post:

whoever's in power?

Roll Call reports today on the unsurprising fact that industries that had given most of their donations to Republicans are starting to switch sides and cozy up with the Democrats. Donations are how these folks buy access and influence and they can do that best with the party in power.

With the most expensive Presidential race in history underway and second quarter fundraising numbers being reported, the Washington Post writes up a seminar on fundraising tactics to offer a peek at the blueprint for victory in a race that is, when it comes down to it, largely about the money.

All that money flowing into Washington, DC to finance the campaigns of elected officials is throwing a definite golden pall across the Capitol dome: Washington political operators are getting richer as campaign and lobbying spending increases and power and money are braiding together as never before.

An Illinois pension scandal that touched Barack Obama via a political supporter of his may also touch Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign as this AP story reveals. The article quotes Public Campaign's David Donnelly on the liability candidates face by having to recruit big donors who may have backgrounds that can cast aspersion on the campaign.

So, what happens when a guy who's made his reputation in the Senate in part by pushing for stronger campaign finance regulations and speaking out against the influence of certain core constituencies of campaign donors tries to run for President...and needs campaign cash from the usual suspects? This New York Times assessment of Sen. John McCain's fundraising efforts indicates that the handicap is significant.

Rep. Joe Courtney (D-CT) is serving his first term in the House after narrowly beating incumbent Rob Simmons in last year's midterms. This profile in the Washington Post shows him adjusting to life on the Hill, learning the ins and outs of fighting for his constituents, and, of course fundraising. And more fundraising. And did we mention the fundraising?

Pennsylvania's Citizens Voice notes that June is a month fraught with conflict for state lawmakers who must vote on a series of controversial issues even as they enter a heavy fundraising period where interested parties will be laying down thousand-dollar checks to bend lawmakers ears on their issue of choice.

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.

The National Republican Congressional Committee is looking to raise big bucks at its annual President's Dinner, and the Washington Post has the scoop on what big donors get in exchange for giving big, and bringing their friends.