Sunlight Foundation

Washington Post — The Sunlight Foundation's Lobbying Tracker in Capital Business:

Washington Post — The Sunlight Foundation's Lobbying Tracker in Capital Business:

Washington Post — The pattern underscores the growing influence of corporations and wealthy individuals in the wake of a Supreme Court decision that made it easier to spend unlimited money on elections. The numbers also suggest that many well-off donors are increasingly opting for the confidentiality of nonprofits rather than allowing the public scrutiny that comes from giving to super PACs or candidates. “I think there is a potential to see a tremendous amount of money flowing through these nonprofit groups,” said Bill Allison, editorial director at the Sunlight Foundation, which advocates greater disclosure for political organizations and candidates. “For an awful lot of donors, it’s a very attractive way to give without leaving any kind of footprint.”

USA Today — Holden outspent his rival 2-to-1, but the contest was targeted by several special-interest groups, most of which aimed to defeat him. According to the Sunlight Foundation, a government watchdog group, the race was the top recipient of outside money for a House race so far this cycle. More than $572,000 was spent mostly in anti-Holden attacks. He was targeted by the League of Conservation Voters as well the Campaign for Primary Accountability, an anti-incumbent super PAC that targets long-serving Republicans and Democrats.

Roll Call — Despite its market size, Walmart has ranked only 50th so far in this election cycle on a Sunlight Foundation ranking of top campaign donors. The company has given out $1.5 million, 67 percent of which went to Republicans, according to the Sunlight Foundation. Walmart spent $5.4 million on lobbying since the beginning of last year, down from $13.5 million spent on lobbying in the 2010 cycle.

Los Angeles Times — Despite a so-called week of action, in which groups such as the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the ACLU, the Sunlight Foundation, Reporters Without Borders and more sought to raise awareness of their concerns about the bill, the number of co-sponsors for CISPA in Congress has increased to 113.

Washington Post — The Sunlight Foundation's Lobbying Tracker in Capital Business:

Washington Post — The Sunlight Foundation's Lobbying Tracker in Capital Business:

Washington Post — “That’s certainly not a grass-roots movement,” said Bill Allison, editorial director of the Sunlight Foundation, which advocates for transparency in government and politics.“These donors can have a very disproportionate effect on politics, and the fact that we don’t know who they are and what kind of favors they will ask for is very troubling.” Allison suggested that the big donors to Crossroads GPS could include large public corporations, which for the most part have not donated to super PACs or other groups that disclose donors.

Washington Post — The Sunlight Foundation's Lobbying Tracker in Capital Business:

The Vindicator — But as one of the long-time proponents of the bill, the non-partisan Sunlight Foundation points out, the STOCK Act isn’t perfect. It doesn’t address the possible abuse of the system by political intelligence firms, it could have provided provisions that made it easier to pursue prosecution of corrupt officials and it exempted the sale and purchase of real estate.

USA Today — House spending data prepared for USA TODAY by the Sunlight Foundation shows that 45 House members spent more than 95% of their 2011 budgets as of Dec. 31, exceeding what they can spend this year. Of those, 38 were Democrats.

The Desert Sun — The Sunlight Foundation, a nonpartisan organization that lobbies for transparency in government, pushed for the bill. Its policy director, John Wonderlich, praised the passage even though he was disappointed in some details. The bill calls for information to be destroyed after six years, which he called “a ridiculous, wasteful requirement.” We agree. But we also agree with Wonderlich that the bill is a step in the right direction.