"They might be rookies, but freshman Republicans are becoming Washington fundraising pros."

That’s the message a prominent Washington, D.C. lobbyist told the New York Times today when asked what he’s telling his clients about how to influence the members of the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, or “supercommittee.”

Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) was asked yesterday if he would join Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) in giving up fundraising for his own campaign while serving on the Joint Committee on Deficit Reduction, or “supercommittee.”

“He currently does not have plans to cease fundraising,” his office responded.

The Federal Election Commission (FEC) released the congressional fundraising numbers for the first half of this year, and not surprisingly, they are huge.

Here's a round-up of Public Campaign and Public Campaign Action Fund's work for the week of Aug 8-Aug 12, 2011.

Here's a round-up of Public Campaign and Public Campaign Action Fund's work for the week of Aug 1-Aug 5, 2011.

"12 really large checks"

That’s how a lobbyist was quoted in a news story describing how he was preparing for the 12-member congressional deficit committee that will be charged with finding further ways to reduce the deficit.

Members of Congress love Taylor Swift! Wait, that doesn't seem quite right. Let's try again. Members of Congress love FUNDRAISING at Taylor Swift concerts. Yes, that's it. Public Campaign Action Fund discovered this phenomenon last year, and it looks like even more Members are getting in on the act in 2011.

If there's one thing that Congress is good at, it's finding new ways to rake in campaign contributions. Politico reported today on how many members of Congress of both parties are using the debt limit crisis as a tool to raise campaign cash.

Here's a round-up of Public Campaign and Public Campaign Action Fund's work for the week of July 18-July 22, 2011.