The Daily Top Five: January 30, 2007

1. This is good news for bloggers who use anonymous sources in their reporting. They will be accorded the same rights as traditional media reports, at least according to a Santa Clara County (CA) Judge. The case involved Appleinsider.com and Apple Computers. The Instapundit says to bloggers though--don't get cocky.

2. The longer I stay in the campaign finance business the more I come to believe that most reporters don't have a clue what they are talking about. This particular article from The Wall Street Journal, a paper I usually respect, just confirms that.

Federal law limits how much money individuals can give to presidential candidates — $2,300 per election. But what about Compuware Inc. founder Peter Karmanos? Last year, he gave $250,000 to presidential aspirant and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. Since 2004, 15 other Romney backers have sunk at least $100,000 each into the Republican’s coffers, sometimes with a series of checks issued on a single day.

Because he doesn’t hold federal office, Romney became subject to the federal rules only after he set up a presidential exploratory committee earlier this month. Until then, his team took advantage of a little-noticed gap between federal and state law. While most states limit political donations, about a dozen don’t. Romney’s political team set up fund-raising committees in three of those: Michigan, Iowa and Alabama. During that time, his political action committees raised $7 million.

What this tells me is that Romney took the advice of some very smart lawyers. The article seems to indicate that Romney somehow cheated in the rules. But lets take a quick look at something else. Hilary Clinton ended her Senate bid in New York with a massive bank account, which she just transferred to her presidential committee. That is legal but not that is not discussed as getting around the rules. Romney was just plain smart, taking advantage a gap may be a cry for changing the rules, but not for castigating Romney.

3. I like this post from James Joyner. All too true.

4. The always astute Eugene Volokh has this post about speech restrictions from the right. Both sides of the political spectrum are just as guilty about wanting to restrict various types of speech. When you hear someone talk about wanting to limit speech, think hypocrite, because they are acting hypocritically.

5. Is smaller better for high schools? It seems to be in New York City. Joanne Jacobs has the story.