Beyond the Network: August 12, 2011

Every couple of weeks, we take a look at some of the news coming out from beyond the Midwest and beyond our member organizations. Here we take a look at state credit ratings, proposed constitutional amendments, getting residents involved as government watchdogs, and the latest edition of a new partner’s newsletter.

• Stateline takes a look at the S&P credit ratings of individual states after the country’s downgrade late last week. Indiana and Minnesota have AAA ratings, while Ohio has AA+, Wisconsin has AA, and Michigan has AA-. Illinois has an A+ rating, higher than only California at A-.
• OMB Watch offers its FAQ on the debt ceiling deal (downloadble in PDF), explaining some of the bill’s jargon and looking at the year by year caps on spending.
• The National Conference on Citizenship will be hosting its 66^th (!) annual conference this September in Philadelphia and Arizona, where they have an impressive lineup of presenters and panels lined up. Even if you cannot make it out to the conference in person, I just received word that they will be streaming many of the sessions online, so you can join in on the conversation wherever you are.
• In the wake of a secret campaign contribution to Mitt Romney coming to light earlier this week, two more “phantom companies” have made large contributions to the candidate, only to be dissolved a short time after writing the check. Read more on this, and the Campaign Legal Center/Democracy 21 response at Talking Points Memo.
• SFGate has a story on the California Fair Political Practices Commission, which will, starting next year, begin posting the political donations to incumbent judges and judicial candidates on its website.
• Common Cause executive director Bob Edgar offers the possibility of a constitutional amendment to undo the Supreme Court ruling in Citizens United v. FEC. He also mentions that some states and localities (including voters in Madison, WI) have started building the momentum.
• Speaking of constitutional amendments, a blogger at The American Square questions the benefits of a “balanced budget amendment” to the US Constitution.
• The Sunlight Foundation offers some advice from their trip to Utah for the National Governors’ Association meeting, and how to empower citizens to become better watchdogs for transparency in state governments.
• The Sunlight Foundation also explains why the new Congressional Super Committee must be transparent and hold their meetings in public, but they also discuss why they might not.
• MDN has partnered with The Campaign for Stronger Democracy, which passed around its newsletter at the end of July. Check out the most recent edition here for more links.