In papers filed with the Federal Election Commission, Stephen Colbert's SuperPAC reported raising $1,023,121.24 as of Jan. 30.

Shauna Polk, the treasurer of Americans for a Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow, wrote in a letter to the FEC, "Stephen Colbert, President of ABTT, has asked that I quote him as saying, 'Yeah! How you like me now, F.E.C? I'm rolling seven digits deep! I got 99 problems but a non-connected independent-expenditure only committee ain't one!'

"I would like it noted for the record that I advised Mr. Colbert against including that quote.'"

His SuperPAC also filed a summary of its finances as of the end of 2011. It showed that its contributions were largely small-dollar, although the largest single donor was Aubrey Ayash, president of the Federal Coal Co., who donated $3,000 in August. Other donors included bankers, software developers, a soldier, a prison guard and a physician. California Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom gave $500, and actor Bradley Whitford gave $250.

A big chunk of the SuperPAC's $151,521 in expenses went to pay legal fees and for media consulting. Less than $10,000 went to TV advertising in Iowa, where it spent money for ads supporting Rick Parry (with an "A") before the Iowa Straw Poll in the summer. The SuperPAC recently advertised in the South Carolina primary, but those figures were not included in the year-end report.

The SuperPAC had $673,954 cash on hand at the end of the year.

Colbert said in a statement, released by his SuperPAC, "Colbert Super PAC has brought in a staggering $1,023,121.24, which my accountant explains to me that is a number far above 'one,' 'two,' 'five,' or even 'many.' We raised it on my show and used it to materially influence the elections – in full accordance with the law. It's the way our founding fathers would have wanted it, if they had founded corporations instead of just a country."

The singer will be the musical headliner at a $100-per-person fundraiser/rally for President Obama in San Francisco, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

One of the members of the band Survivor has sued Newt Gingrich and his campaign for unauthorized use of the song "Eye of the Tiger" at campaign events.

The suit, first reported by TMZ, is only the latest litigation that musicians have taken against candidates, typically Republicans. During the last cycle, Jackson Browne sued the McCain campaign over the use of his music in a commercial spot, and Tom Petty's attorneys sent Michele Bachmann's campaign a cease and desist letter last year demanding that she stop using "American Girl."

This is also not the first time that Gingrich has been hit with legal threats: Last year, an attorney repping Steve Perry of Journey sent Gingrich's campaign a cease and desist letter to get them to stop playing "Don't Stop Believin."

Although campaigns typically argue fair use and that they have obtained a blanket ASCAP license, performers have also tried to pursue the argument of false endorsement.

President Obama this evening participated in a Google+ "hangout," as he sat in the Roosevelt Room and answered questions via video chat.

Not surprisingly, Obama was asked about the administration's stance on the Stop Online Piracy Act, which was sidelined after a storm of online protest that the legislation would alter the architecture of the Internet and jeopardize web freedom.

He called on both sides --- the bills put Hollywood and Silicon Valley at odds --- to come together to come up with a solution that makes sure "that intellectual property is protected" but also does not affect "the fundamental integrity of the Internet as an open system."

"When SOPA came up on the Hill, we expressed some concerns about the way that the legislation had been written, told folks let’s go back to the table and figure something out that works for everybody," Obama said.

Steve Grove, the moderator of the web chat, said that the most popular question submitted was this one: "Why are you personally supporting the extradition UK Citizen Richard O'Dwyer for solely linking to copyright infringing works using an Extradition Treaty designed to combat terrorism and to bring terrorists to judgment in the USA?"

The domain of O'Dwyer's site TVShack.net was seized by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials in June, and he was charged with conspiracy and criminal copyright infringement. The U.S. has been trying to extradite him, and earlier this month a UK judge ruled that the transfer of O'Dwyer to the U.S. to face the charges could go forward. His decision is here. O'Dwyer, a college student, argued that his site merely linked to other sites that hosted pirated content.

Obama, however, said that he "is not personally doing anything" about O'Dwyer's extradition.

"One of the ways our system works is the President doesn’t get involved in extradition decisions and prosecutions," he said.

According to the UK court, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton must confirm the order for extradition, after which O'Dwyer can appeal in Great Britain.

Obama's answers to both questions are below.

It's been two decades since Ben Jones served in Congress, but this past week he's had a comeback of sorts.

Jones, who played Cooter on "Dukes of Hazzard," has the distinction of having run against Gingrich in 1994 in an effort to return to Congress. Of course, Jones lost in the GOP tidal wave, but he did something that set the stage for the incoming speaker's fate: He filed ethics charges.

Gingrich "is the most ambitious person I ever met," Jones told Buzzfeed. "He would probably like to be emperor of the planet if there was such a position."

Jones is a Democrat, but compared to the GOP party elders who are weighing in on Gingrich, along with the every-hour-on-the=hour stream of Romney campaign press releases trying to stop Newt, what he's been saying as actually kind of tame.

As expected, the Mitt Romney is defending its use of NBC News footage in a Florida ad as "fair use," and today the candidate went on the network to explain why it was used.

Via Huffington Post, Romney told Matt Lauer of "Today," "I think the reason that it was so effective as an ad was that this was not something which Speaker Gingrich could say had been distorted or Romney was telling things that were not accurate. This was the news from the night the speaker was sanctioned and reprimanded by his own members. People heard the news, they didn't hear it filtered, it was just straight on, no heavy music that suggested some kind of sinister background. Instead just Tom Brokaw, a very credible and respected journalist, reporting the news. I think it was pretty devastating. It pointed out that what Speaker Gingrich has been trying to hide is now out in the open."

NBC News and Tom Brokaw objected to the spot, as it is not merely a short bit but the entire opener to a report on Gingrich's ethics violations.

It will be interesting to see if NBC takes legal action, but again, the advantage to the Romney campaign is the publicity generated for a 30-second spot.

 Romney also said that his campaign would soon be meeting with reps from NBC.

NBC News is asking that the campaign of Mitt Romney stop using 1997 footage of a news broadcast for a campaign ad blasting Newt Gingrich.

The Romney campaign ad was unveiled today and essentially lifts then-anchor Tom Brokaw's report on Gingrich's ethics violations. The 30-second spot is airing in Florida and is called "History Lesson."

Brokaw himself issued a statement, via Politico: "I am extremely uncomfortable with the extended use of my personal image in this political ad.  I do no want my role as a journalist compromised for political gain by any campaign."

Campaigns have from time to time featured news footage in political spots, almost always arguing that it is a fair use of material. But where it skirts the line is when entire passages are lifted from a broadcast. Perhaps the most egregious example during the midterms was when the Senate campaign of Robin Carnahan ran Fox News footage of her opponent in Missouri, Roy Blunt, that showed him in an unfavorable light. Fox News sued, claiming copyright infringement but also arguing that the spots left the impression that the channel was endorsing Carnahan. The suit was eventually settled, with Carnahan's campaign pulling the spots.

The Romney spot may be pressing the limit even further, as its ads feature nothing other than the Brokaw report and, at the end, the typical disclaimer, "I'm Mitt Romney and I approved this message." The courts have generally applied a four-factor test to fair use: the purpose and character of the use, the nature of the copyrighted work, the amount of the material taken and the effect of the use on the potential market. What the courts have not decided is just how much footage constitutes fair use and how much is genuine infringement.

Even if the Romney campaign takes down the spot, they have achieved their purpose: Drawing attention to Gingrich's ethics violations.

We'll see a lot more of these throughout the year, but the latest Mitt Romney impersonator is Justin Long, who did a spot for progressive org MoveOn called "Mitt's Office," which targets the GOP candidate and his record at Bain Capital.

The Sunshine State's primary on Tuesday offers a glimpse of the general election battle to come, but it's easy to misread the electorate and Florida's shifting demographic trends. Join us on our latest Wilshire and Washington on the Radio, with our guest Adam Smith, political editor of the Tampa Bay Times. You can listen to our latest show here, or on the link below.

The NetCoalition, the org of Internet companies like Google, Yahoo and eBay that was instrumental in turning back anti-piracy legislation in Congress, is disavowing a handout that went out under its name and reprinted a story from Andrew Breitbart's BigGovernment blog referring to industry unions as "thugs."

The harsh rhetoric was part of a post that warned that even though the legislation was sidelined, it is not dead, and that the MPAA, the RIAA and a "host of union thugs" would be persistent. Studios, record labels and almost all of the industry's guilds and unions backed the legislation, as well as the AFL-CIO and the Chamber of Commerce.

Markham Erickson, the executive director the NetCoalition, issued a statement on Thursday in which he said that the coalition "neither wrote nor approved the blog post." But he said that one of its media consultants, Black Rock Group, prepared the handout "in connection with an appearance before a conservative organization."

"This should never have happened and we are stunned and deeply sorry that it did," Erickson said. "Throughout our efforts on piracy legislation, we have kept our objections focused on policy rather than politics. We remain committed to achieving consensus on legislation to address the issue of online piracy. We recognize that consensus is achievable only when all the parties are treated with respect. The events of yesterday have no place in that effort and we again sincerely apologize for them."

A copy of the handout is here.

The blog post all but leaves the impression that the legislation was a Democratic-motivated effort to please the donor base in Hollywood, when anti-piracy legislation traditionally has drawn bipartisan support and, in the most recent case, has also incited bipartisan opposition. Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas) introduced the Stop Online Piracy Act in the House and Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) was its chief backer in the Senate, while opponents ranged from Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) to Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.)

Invites have gone out for President Obama's next visit to Los Angeles: As I reported earlier this week, he'll be doing a pair of fund-raisers on Feb. 15 at the Beverly Hills home of Colleen and Bradley Bell, part of the family responsible for some of TV's most popular soap operas.

Obama will attend a late-afternoon low-dollar (tickets start at $250) event at the Bells featuring a live musical performance, followed by a $35,800-per-person dinner.

Among the co-hosts of the dinner are Will Ferrell and his wife Viveca, along with Noah Mamet, Nicole Avant and Ted Sarandos, Kimberly Marteau and John Emerson and Ken and Lissa Solomon.

This will Obama's first visit to Hollywood circles since the flare up over anti-piracy legislation in Congress. MPAA chairman Chris Dodd and some studio moguls have been public about their unhappiness with the White House's position, and have hinted that they may withhold their support. But Hollywood traditionally is not on the same page when it comes to political giving, as a host of other non-industry issues tend to be the motivations for industry donors when they are writing checks to candidates.

The headline on Drudge today blares out: "Insider: Gingrich Repeatedly Insulted Reagan."

It's a tradition for GOP candidates to invoke Ronald Reagan, and now allies of Mitt Romney and a lot of conservative media are using him as a weapon as the face the possibility of Gingrich winning the Florida primary.

During debates, Gingrich has been among the greatest of all Gipper name-droppers, so the flurry of opposition research showing that the former House speaker wasn't all ga-ga for Reagan when he was president turns the approach on its head.

Politico has a story of how conservative media, led by Drudge, is fearful enough of a Gingrich win that they are going all out to stop him. One word that keeps popping up over and over again in attacks is "erratic," almost as if to doom his chances not just during the primary season, but in November.

“There’s just so much risk on so many levels,” one conservative media figure tells Politico. “Everyone’s thinking, ‘It could really happen.’ He could win the presidency if there’s a way to win with 45 percent — a second recession or a third-party candidate. The immediate worry is him winning the nomination and losing the election, tanking candidates down-ballot. In a worst-case scenario, you could see unified Democratic governance, and we’d be back where we were in ’09 and ’10. It’s insane.”

President Obama's State of the Union address drew 37.8 million viewers, about 5 million fewer than watched in 2011.

Nielsen said that the speech got a combined household share of 38 of the audience across 14 networks.

Obama's first speech to a joint session of Congress in February, 2009 drew 52 million.

Here's his full remarks, as prepared for delivery:

Mr. Speaker, Mr. Vice President, members of Congress, distinguished guests, and fellow Americans:

Last month, I went to Andrews Air Force Base and welcomed home some of our last troops to serve in Iraq.  Together, we offered a final, proud salute to the colors under which more than a million of our fellow citizens fought – and several thousand gave their lives.

We gather tonight knowing that this generation of heroes has made the United States safer and more respected around the world.  For the first time in nine years, there are no Americans fighting in Iraq.  For the first time in two decades, Osama bin Laden is not a threat to this country.  Most of al Qaeda’s top lieutenants have been defeated.  The Taliban’s momentum has been broken, and some troops in Afghanistan have begun to come home.

These achievements are a testament to the courage, selflessness, and teamwork of America’s Armed Forces.  At a time when too many of our institutions have let us down, they exceed all expectations.  They’re not consumed with personal ambition.  They don’t obsess over their differences.  They focus on the mission at hand.  They work together.

Imagine what we could accomplish if we followed their example.  Think about the America within our reach:  A country that leads the world in educating its people.  An America that attracts a new generation of high-tech manufacturing and high-paying jobs.  A future where we’re in control of our own energy, and our security and prosperity aren’t so tied to unstable parts of the world.  An economy built to last, where hard work pays off, and responsibility is rewarded.

We can do this.  I know we can, because we’ve done it before.  At the end of World War II, when another generation of heroes returned home from combat, they built the strongest economy and middle class the world has ever known.  My grandfather, a veteran of Patton’s Army, got the chance to go to college on the GI Bill.  My grandmother, who worked on a bomber assembly line, was part of a workforce that turned out the best products on Earth.

The two of them shared the optimism of a Nation that had triumphed over a depression and fascism.  They understood they were part of something larger; that they were contributing to a story of success that every American had a chance to share – the basic American promise that if you worked hard, you could do well enough to raise a family, own a home, send your kids to college, and put a little away for retirement.

The defining issue of our time is how to keep that promise alive.  No challenge is more urgent.  No debate is more important.  We can either settle for a country where a shrinking number of people do really well, while a growing number of Americans barely get by.  Or we can restore an economy where everyone gets a fair shot, everyone does their fair share, and everyone plays by the same set of rules.  What’s at stake are not Democratic values or Republican values, but American values.  We have to reclaim them.

Let’s remember how we got here.  Long before the recession, jobs and manufacturing began leaving our shores.   Technology made businesses more efficient, but also made some jobs obsolete.  Folks at the top saw their incomes rise like never before, but most hardworking Americans struggled with costs that were growing, paychecks that weren’t, and personal debt that kept piling up.

In 2008, the house of cards collapsed.  We learned that mortgages had been sold to people who couldn’t afford or understand them.  Banks had made huge bets and bonuses with other people’s money.  Regulators had looked the other way, or didn’t have the authority to stop the bad behavior.

It was wrong.  It was irresponsible.  And it plunged our economy into a crisis that put millions out of work, saddled us with more debt, and left innocent, hard-working Americans holding the bag.  In the six months before I took office, we lost nearly four million jobs.  And we lost another four million before our policies were in full effect.

In tonight's State of the Union address, President Obama announced the creation of a "trade enforcement unit" that will be tasked with investigating "unfair trade practices" in other countries, including China.

Saying "it's not right when another country lets our movies, music and software be pirated," Obama told a joint session of Congress that the unit will be tasked with inspections "to prevent counterfeit or unsafe goods from crossing our borders."

Obama's reference to the problem of piracy is also a nod to Hollywood. Last week, studio executives were openly critical of the administration after it criticized long-in-the-works anti-piracy legislation pending in Congress. The bills stalled out last week in the face of widespread protest online, with activists charging that the legislation was an overreach.

It was unclear the extent to which the trade enforcement unit would target piracy --- or how it will differ from existing initiatives launched by customs officials.

Congressional opponents of the Stop Online Piracy Act in the House and the PROTECT IP Act in the Senate have proposed an alternative that targets "rogue" sites via the International Trade Commission by choking off monetary support from ad networks and payment processors.