Sunlight Foundation

Press Articles & Mentions Archives

October 2007

• Politico - Specter's pet project: Sexual abstinence

  A glance at the earmarks secured by Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) in recent years prompts the question: Does Pennsylvania have a problem with sex?

• The Lexington Herald-Leader - Senator blocking online disclosure

  Along with every other House and Senate candidate for office in 2008, Sen. Mitch McConnell's quarterly campaign finance records were due Oct. 15. He has reported that he raised about $1.5 million since July 1, but not a single person in Kentucky will be able to review those records online for months.

• The Washington DC Examiner - Senators earmark $70 million for their old schools

  Having a graduate in the U.S. Senate is not only a source of pride for colleges and universities, it can also mean wads of cash from the federal government.

• Washington Internet Daily - Online Government Information Not User-Friendly, Report Says

  Transparent government, 21st-century style, means making data easily accessible online -- a task at which U.S. agencies fail miserably, George Mason University Adjunct Law Professor Jerry Brito told us.

• The Christian Science Monitor - Army of average Joes culls through candidates' files, bios

  The cornucopia of contributors, surpassing what most news outlets could ever afford, cost virtually nothing. That's because the reporters are volunteers, including Ms. Fowler, a Californian, who at age 60 has embraced beat reporting on Barack Obama.

• Roll Call - Senate Hits Earmark Phone Calls

  The Senate on Tuesday backed a prohibition on federal agencies covered under the Commerce, Justice and science appropriations bill from using letters, phone calls or other communications from lawmakers in determining how to spend federal funds.

• Roll Call - Sen. Campbell Has the Floor?

  If a former Senator breaks the new ethics law and no one complains, is it illegal?

• Roll Call - Senate Hits Earmark Phone Calls

  The Senate on Tuesday backed a prohibition on federal agencies covered under the Commerce, Justice and science appropriations bill from using letters, phone calls or other communications from lawmakers in determining how to spend federal funds.

• Harris News Service - Earmarks Now More Visible, But is New Rule Full of Holes?

  The public now receives more information about congressional members' pet projects than ever before.

• The Washington Post - Earmarks Put Candidates On the Spot

  Just a few months before he joined the presidential race, Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) co-sponsored a little-noticed proposal to require the Pentagon to spend $2 million on brain trauma research for soldiers wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan.

• Townhall.com - Senate Earmark Reforms Quietly Gutted

  A three-word rule change quietly made to Congress’s newly-enacted lobby reform package was recently discovered that significantly reduces disclosure requirements for the earmarks each senator requests.

• The Christian Science Monitor - In first test, Congress narrows scope of ethics reform

  The drive for more transparency on earmarks, or congressionally directed spending, is sputtering on Capitol Hill.

• The Chronicle of Philanthropy - Charities Enlist Help to Review Legislation

  Government watchdog groups have joined forces on a project that asks citizens to help investigate Congressional earmarks.

• The Shreveport Times - Jindal misses votes while campaigning

  Rep. Bobby Jindal has largely abandoned his job on Capitol Hill as he stumps across the state seeking the governor’s office.

• Utne Reader - Short Takes: News from All Over

  Americans have a new tool at their disposal to track the how the government is spending their tax dollars.

• San Jose Mercury News - Put Senate donations online, bloggers say

  For the third time this year, Republicans are blocking Sen. Dianne Feinstein's effort to make senators do what presidential candidates, House members and political parties already do - file their campaign finance reports electronically.

• The (Washington, DC) Examiner - Long road ahead on earmark reform

  Remember the “Bridge to Nowhere” in Alaska, the proposed $398 million bridge connecting Gravina Island, population 50, with Ketchikan Island?

• Billings (Montana) Gazette - Horse sense: Lawmakers schedules welcome

  Why should Montana's elected officials make their daily appointment schedules public? A better question is this: why shouldn't they?
  

• American Public Media: Future Tense - Earmarkwatch.org tracks Congressional pork

  Two non-profit groups have launched a tool, EarmarkWatch.org, to help citizens track the expensive pet projects known as "earmarks" that get attached to appropriations bills.