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ACORN DEFUNCT: <\/b>The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now<\/a>, otherwise known as ACORN, will be defunct as of April 1, reports the New York Times<\/i><\/a>. The organization has attracted controversy and encountered money trouble ever since conservative activist James O’Keefe secretly videotaped an encounter between himself, posing as a pimp, getting unscrupulous advice from ACORN employees. The group spent a record $120,000 on lobbying the federal government in 2009.<\/p>\nFINANCIAL REFORM HEADS TO SENATE FLOOR:<\/b> Coming hot on the heels of the House’s passage of health reform<\/a>, the Senate Banking Committee<\/a> yesterday approved<\/a> Sen. Chris Dodd’s<\/a> (D-Conn.) financial regulatory reform bill on a party line vote, sending it to the full Senate for consideration. In a surprise move, Republicans on the committee decided to offer no amendments, deciding instead to try to amend the bill before the entire Senate. Dodd — who is retiring — has been working for months to get a bipartisan bill and will likely need a few Republican votes to get his last major piece of legislation passed. The House passed its reform bill last December<\/a>. According to a CRP analysis, finance, insurance and real estate companies have already contributed<\/a> more than $100 million at the federal level this campaign cycle. In the House of Representatives, the average Republican has received<\/a> about $6,300 more than the average Democrat, but in the Senate, the average Democrat has received<\/a> about $76,000 more than the average Republicans.<\/p>\n![\"historic-victory-health-obama.jpg\"](\"http:\/\/www.opensecrets.org\/news\/historic-victory-health-obama.jpg\")
<\/a>HEALTH CARE LOOMS OVER MIDTERMS:<\/b> Today, President Obama will sign
\n the comprehensive health care reform bill passed
\n by the House on Sunday<\/a>, and the Senate will began considering the
\nassociated reconciliation bill. With the main bill passed, many groups
\nhave now turned their attention to how it will affect the midterm
\nelections in November. Some Republicans have decided to run on a promise
\n of repealing the bill, while Democrats are trying to emphasize the
\nbenefits to the voters, according to the Washington
\n Post<\/a><\/i>. Outside groups are also focusing on the issue. Major
\nlabor unions have already made clear they will discontinue supporting
\nlawmakers who voted against the bill, and may even support primary
\nchallengers, The
\n Hill<\/a><\/i> reports. Labor
\nunions<\/a> contributed nearly $75 million to federal candidates and
\ncommittees during the 2008 election cycle, mostly to Democrats.
\nAccording to Politico<\/a><\/i>,
\n groups on both sides of the abortion debate also plan to support — or
\nstop supporting — candidates based on the health vote. Opponents<\/a>
\n and supporters<\/a>
\n of abortion rights contributed a combined $4.6 million during the 2008
\ncampaign, according to a Center for Responsive Politics tally. <\/p>\n