The RP’s Weekly Web Gems – The Politics of the States

Florida finds itself in hot water with the US Justice Department yet again after purging some 100,000 names from its voting rolls. Although states re allowed to remove ineligible voters from the roll, DoJ has said that Florida did not comply with legal standards, citing “critical imperfections, which lead to errors that harm and confuse eligible voters.” Moreover, some are arguing that the purge targeted minorities and other Democratic-leaning voters ahead of what is sure to be a very tight presidential race in Florida this November. [CNN]

It’s not just Wisconsin. California is entertaining the possibility of a regulation that would ban corporations and labor unions from contributing directly to campaigns. Additionally, it would stop paycheck reductions from being used for political purposes. Unions, who use paycheck deductions to fund the majority of their political endeavors, would see their influence slashed dramatically, and all this on the heels of the Wisconsin recall vote that was seen by many as an affirmation of unions’ diminishing power. [Sacramento Bee]

Illinois politicians’ struggles with the law are well known. It is, after all, the state with not one but two former governors in jail. What is less well known is the bipartisan pair of State Representatives who have been sitting on ethics panels together. After presiding over the investigation into former governor Rod Blagojevich, Barbara Flynn Currie, a Chicago Democrat, and Jim Durkin, a Republican from suburban Cook County, will investigate ethics charges being brought against Derrick Smith, also a Chicago Democrat. [State Register-Journal]

Rick Perry may not even belong in Texas at this point. The governor and  former Presidential candidate was booed at the state convention last week after declaring his support for Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst, who is running for US Senate in a run-off with Tea Party favorite Ted Cruz. [CBS Houston]