Two nights ago, in his The Word segment, Steven Colbert actually used his show to do some investigative work into the money-in-politics connections that might have motivated to turn Rep. Luis Gutierrez' position on pay-day loans from oppose to support slight (read: non-existent) restrictions. Watch it:

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
The Word - Have Your Cake And Eat It, Too
colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor NASA Name Contest

Of course, I can't help but remind readers that the Center for Responsive Politics recently opened up their data--20 years worth--to be mashed, mixed, and visualized. Already we are seeing visualization pop up. Check out these from the University of Michigan.

Also, Sunlight's Chief Evangelist Greg Elin penned a guest column over at ProgrammableWeb about the release of this mountain of data. It's well worth the read.