Sunlight Foundation

What am I reading today?

The Project on Government Oversight (POGO) reviewed all 50 state formulas for disclosing stimulus contracts and found that New Hampshire gets it right. "A POGO review of the procurement websites from all 50 states (plus DC) found that one state—New Hampshire—has been posting original scanned Recovery Act contracts. This provides taxpayers with unprecedented access to important details regarding government spending."

Michael Scherer at the Time blog Swampland writes about Howard Dean's public disclosures about his non-lobbyist consulting work when he appears on television in contrast to the non-disclosure by Tom Daschle, who appears on Sunday shows to discuss health care without revealing that he holds UnitedHealth Corp. in his portfolio at the law firm Alston & Bird.

Sunlight's Bill Allison uses the newly minted FARA database to explore lobbying by the Cayman Islands to keep their tax safe haven safe.

At Open Congress, Donny Shaw notes a comment left on the bill page for H.R. 1207 , the audit the Federal Reserve bill, that suggests the recommended GAO audit be released to the public. The bill only requires the GAO to release the audit to members of Congress.

Turkey Sandwiches, Ron Paul, and Internet Democracy

In July 2003 Vice President Dick Cheney was in Columbia, South Carolina for a fancy sit-down lunch with 150 big-money donors willing to kick in the maximum $2,000 to the reelection campaign of Cheney and President George W. Bush. Dick Cheney was to raise $250,000 from this exclusive group of black-tie diners in one afternoon. This would be an ordinary event for any campaign and lost in the pages of history, but this fundraiser is remembered for another reason. And that reason can best be symbolized in the form of a turkey sandwich.

Prior to the Cheney fundraiser, supporters of Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean were gathered online at the Dean’s Blog for America trying to figure out ways that the campaign could continue its small donor driven campaign fundraising success. One idea floated about was for the campaign to try and match the Cheney fundraiser dollar-for-dollar in online donations. The day of Cheney’s fundraiser the campaign posted a picture of Dean, eating a turkey sandwich while blogging, on their site asking supporters to chip in what they could to match the black-tie Cheney event. By 12:30 the next day the campaign had raised over $500,000, or twice as much as the Cheney event netted.

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