Sunlight Foundation

Press Articles & Mentions Archives

April 2009

• Roll Call - Electronic Archiving So Far Is One Tough Slog

  Back in December 2006, the National Archives and Records Administration held little more than 1.4 gigabytes of Congressional electronic records - information that would fit on the smallest iPod, with room to spare.

• Government Computer News - Remixing government data

  Last year, before he took on the role of federal chief information officer, Vivek Kundra came up with a new twist on the idea of government by the people: Let the people build some public-facing online government applications.

• The Washington Post - Google Unveils New Tool To Dig for Public Data

  Google launched a new search tool yesterday designed to help Web users find public data that is often buried in hard-to-navigate government Web sites.

• Washington Examiner - Obama’s transparency is clear as mud

  Other than the blinding speed with which he abandoned the moderate image so crucial to his winning the White House, President Obama has done little since Jan. 20 to surprise anybody who listened closely to what he said on the 2008 campaign trail.

• Fortune - The Business Guide to Congress

  They are not your friends, but you can still make your case. To help navigate this tricky terrain, we offer a business leader's guide to the new Capitol Hill.

• Washington Times - Hot Button

  Not so transparent

• National Journal - New Media Experts Polled By NationalJournal.com See Room For Improvement In The Administration's Web Efforts

  Barack Obama's presidential campaign was an online juggernaut, and the new administration has proposed to use that technological wizardry to make government more transparent. But while new media observers give the team's two most ambitious Web sites -- the overhaul of WhiteHouse.gov and the stimulus-tracking Recovery.gov -- an "A" for effort, the consensus is that Obama's online efforts have a long way to go in the next 100 days.

• Agence France-Presse - Obama's e-government off to good start

  Campaigning for president, Barack Obama pledged to bring greater transparency and openness to the White House and to use technology to reboot government.

• Politico - Online voting records user unfriendly

  In January 1995, then-House Speaker Newt Gingrich cut the virtual ribbon on the first-ever online congressional clearinghouse — a moment hailed as a breakthrough in government transparency.

• The News & Observer - House budget writers are at your mercy Tuesday

  Delegation's favorite words

• Federal News Radio - Redesigning government

  The administration plans to launch Data.gov later this year. The site will be dedicated to making government data available to the American people, but one group is not waiting for the site to launch in order to make suggestions. Sunlight Labs has created a mock up of the site as they would like to see it. Clay Johnson is the director of Sunlight Labs.

• Star-Banner - Ammo scarce after many stock up

  In 1976, Southern rock legend Lynyrd Skynyrd scored a hit with the rollicking tune "Gimme Back My Bullets."

• Government Computer News - Sunlight Foundation reveals winners in its Apps for America contest

  The Sunlight Foundation has announced the winners of a recent contest for mashup-styled applications that reuse legislative data in ways that can better inform the public.

• National Public Radio - 21st Century Crowbars Help Pry Open Government

  The Obama administration is trying to usher in a new era of transparency in government — call it Government 2.0.

• Politico - Low-tech Senate slow rolls disclosure

  You can learn instantly via Twitter that Claire McCaskill needs an iPhone repair or that Chuck Grassley burned his leg on his Iowa farm.

• Commonwealth Journal - Rogers defends ‘earmark’ requests

  Somerset — It’s clear to see that the thumbprint of U.S. Rep. Harold “Hal” Rogers is all over Pulaski County. The question is whether or not that’s a good thing.

• Associated Press - Dodd taps Wall Street money for re-election

  WASHINGTON (AP) — Wealthy Wall Street executives may be outcasts to some Americans, but not to Democratic Sen. Chris Dodd.

• Corpus Christi Caller-Times - Ortiz seeks $661M in earmarks

  CORPUS CHRISTI — U.S. Rep. Solomon Ortiz, D-Corpus Christi, has requested $661 million in congressional earmarks for 2010, much of it for the three military bases and two ports in his district.

• The Chronicle of Philanthropy - Nonprofit Lobbyists Protest Restrictions Imposed by Obama Administration

  People who hear about President Obama's efforts to curb the influence of lobbyists on government might conjure up the image of someone like Jack Abramoff, the high-profile lobbyist who was convicted of corruption in 2006.

• Arizona Daily Star - AZ congressional talk is, in a word, revealing

  Politicians would like us to take them at their word.

• Salt Lake Tribune - Chaffetz loves to say 'country,' not 'cot'

  We were a little surprised that Rep. Jason Chaffetz's favorite word to say on the House floor wasn't "cot." After all, the freshman Utah Republican loves to talk about how he sleeps on a folding bed in his office to save himself cash.

• Lexington (Ky.) Herald Leader - New rules provide early look at Rogers' $466 million in earmarks

  WASHINGTON — For nearly 30 years, U.S. Rep. Hal Rogers has used his sway on powerful committees to steer billions in federal funds into his Eastern Kentucky district.

• Chattanoga Times Free Press' - Tennessee congressmen line up for earmarks

  WASHINGTON — Three East Tennessee lawmakers in the U.S. House are asking the federal government to spend more than $358 million in taxpayer money next year on projects in their districts.

• Charlotte Observer - Business PACs backing Burr

  WASHINGTON Political action committees representing business interests contributed nearly half of U.S. Sen. Richard Burr's $700,000 campaign take in the first three months of this year.

• KSL News Radio - Study shows congressional delegation's most-used words

  WASHINGTON, D.C. -- A new list shows the most common words spoken by Utah's senators and representatives. Capitolwords.org analyzes everything on the Congressional Record over the past year.

• Rapid City Journal - Editorial: Earmark rule opens the process

  Anything to make the mind-numbing Congressional budget process more transparent and understandable just has to be applauded.

• The Washington Post - Web Site Takes Politicians at Their Word

  Ever notice how often Roscoe Bartlett says "oil"? Neither had we! The western Maryland Republican used the word 1,914 times in the past two years, far more than any other member of Congress.

• Washington Independent - Campaign Contributions Up, Despite Economic Downturn

  As the nation’s economy mires in recession, most Americans are anticipating lower earnings by making do with less – but not those who call Capitol Hill home.

• Capital News Connection - Two San Diego Lawmakers Criticized Over Fundraisers

  Two San Diego congressmen are hosting big fundraisers over their spring break recess -- one in Florida... and one on Mission Bay. Some critics say these events shut out voters in favor of wealthy donors who are buying access to power. Matt Laslo has the story from Washington.

• McClatchy Newspapers - Earmark? Controversial term has vanished in Congress

  Recession? Bailout? Stimulus? Deficit?

• New York Post - Word'up to Pols Passions

  WASHINGTON -- For Rep. Charles Rangel, it's all about the "Caribbean."

• Federal Computer Week - Lawmakers lag in publishing schedules online

  Only four senators and six House members post their daily schedules on their official Web sites, but 22 senators and 58 representatives use Twitter to update constituents on their activities, according to the OpenCongress Web site.

• San Francisco Examiner - Stop the stalling and show America the bailout books

  Unwarranted secrecy regarding the largest disbursement of public funds in U.S. history continues in the executive branch. Congress should finally exercise its oversight authority and find out where every last bailout dollar has been spent.

• Associated Press - Nonprofit aims to broaden reach of campaign data

  A nonprofit group that specializes in databases tracking the influence of money in politics is making its information available to others.

• McClatchy Newspapers - Lawmakers post earmarks online, but good luck finding them

  Want to learn about the earmarks, the federally funded local projects that your member of Congress wants to stick in the federal budget?

• Rapid City Journal - Dakota Power motor design among many earmarks on Herseth Sandlin's list

  To the untrained eye, it looks like an odd assortment of welded iron, salvaged truck parts and homemade circuit panels hidden in the back of a nondescript machine shop.

• Newsday - Others should follow Gillibrand's sunlight lead

  The Internet has become a cyber eye on Washington that members of Congress should embrace and expand.

• Louisville Courier Journal - Earmark lists can be hard to find

  WASHINGTON — Kentucky and Southern Indiana members of the U.S. House are asking Congress to spend more than $1 billion in the next federal budget on local projects and programs — though you might be hard-pressed to learn the details on your own.

• Columbus Dispatch - Local lawmakers reveal earmark-money requests

  This was a deadline skirted by many lawmakers, but not central Ohio's five members of the U.S. House.

• The (Alliance, Ohio) Review - Boccieri hopes earmarks bring federal funds to Alliance, Stark County

  U.S. Rep John Boccieri, D-Alliance, requested almost $900,000 in funds for Alliance city projects, according to his list of recently revealed earmarks.

• Portland Press Herald - Pingree, Michaud disclose Maine earmark requests

  U.S. Reps. Chellie Pingree and Mike Michaud have filed 240 budget requests – so-called earmarks – for hundreds of millions of dollars to fund projects in Maine in the coming fiscal year, according to new data disclosed online.

• The New Mexican - U.S. Rep. Lujan seeks millions for N.M.

  Freshman U.S. Rep. Ben Ray Luján, D-N.M., is asking for nearly $67 million in "earmarks" for federal government spending.

• Watertown Daily Times - Sen. Gillibrand praised for online posting of daily schedule

  WASHINGTON — For constituents who just have to know what Sen. Kirsten E. Gillibrand is doing every day, the senator now posts her daily schedule online, continuing a practice she started in the House of Representatives.

• Associated Press - Study: Tax changes worth billions to businesses

  Lawrence — Three law professors at Kansas University have completed a study suggesting that large U.S. corporations won billions of dollars in tax savings by lobbying Congress to change the tax code four years ago.

• Computer Week - Obama's open data era 'coming soon'

  The U.S. may be close to making it easier for application developers to tear into government data as early as next month on its new Web site, data.gov.

• Federal Computer Week - Groups push for lobbying Web site

  Watchdog groups want President Barack Obama to take his lobbying disclosure goals a step further by creating a Web-based system to aggregate and track reports of meetings between lobbyists and federal agency executives.

• Stars and Stripes - Gates' plan for acquisitions is seen as a start

  ARLINGTON, Va. — The foundations of the defense industry rumbled on Monday when Secretary of Defense Robert Gates proposed expanding the department’s own acquisition workforce by 39,000 jobs through a combination of hiring 9,000 new workers and converting 30,000 more from private defense contractor employees into civil servants.

• The Kansas City Star - KU professors found companies realized big tax savings by spending for lobbyists

  A 22,000 percent return on investment?

• Atlantic City Press - LoBiondo, Adler disclose 'earmark' funding requests

  Southern New Jersey’s congressional delegation met a federal deadline for publicly posting their funding requests, revealing for the first time how much money they are seeking for various projects.

• Cleveland Plain Dealer - Democratic Rep. Marcia Fudge doesn't reveal earmarks she is seeking

  WASHINGTON -- Want to know what local projects your member of Congress wants taxpayer dollars to pay for next year? It takes patience and time, even with newly instituted congressional rules designed to shed light on how members of Congress use "earmarks" to steer money to pet projects

• Allentown Morning Call - Online earmarks bring some budget transparency

  U.S. Rep. Tim Holden is seeking hundreds of thousands of federal dollars to promote Pennsylvania wines. U.S. Rep. Jim Gerlach is asking for money to add a winter jaguar exhibit at Elmwood Park Zoo in Norristown. And U.S. Rep. Charlie Dent wants $500,000 to renovate the Souderton train station.

• Washington Examiner - OpEd: Congress plays hide-and-seek with earmarks

  On his official House Web site, Rep. Harold Rogers, R-Ky., writes about economic development and job creation.

• The Hartford (Conn.) Courant - Caucus: If Money Grew On Tree

  After revealing its willingness to pay for bridges to nowhere, Congress agreed this year to better inform taxpayers about earmarks — those often furtive efforts by members to slip vast sums into the federal budget for pet projects.

• Bloomberg News - Obama’s Spending Spurs Former U.S. Lawmakers to Join Lobbyists

  Lobbying, scorned during the 2008 campaign, is an occupation of choice among former members of Congress looking for jobs.

• Sun Newspapers - Paulsen's first 100 tweets: Measuring stick for members of congress may have changed for good

  Pundits and the media tend to make a big deal about an elected official's "first 100 days" in office, but is that really the best indicator of the value of that official's governance?

• CQ Politics - House's Earmark Disclosures Create a Few Headaches

  A new requirement for members of Congress to post their requests for earmarks online has yielded a bonanza of information for citizens, taxpayer advocates and others with an interest in the process.

• Detroit News - Watchdog group blasts Michigan earmark lists

  Washington -- Michigan's House delegation did a poor job of posting earmarks on their Web pages in an easy-to-find way, a good-government group said Tuesday, potentially frustrating taxpayers who want to see how their tax dollars are being spent.

• Bellingham News - U.S. Rep. Larsen releases earmark request list, Whatcom County could get more than $13M

  TV show host Stephen Colbert probably would be pretty displeased with U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen's earmark requests. Why? For its support of bears, of course.

• Mississippi - Earmark requests now public

  WASHINGTON U.S. Rep. Jo Bonner's wish list runs for seven standard-sized pages and seeks money for everything from an elevated water tank in Atmore to a new federal courthouse in Mobile.

• Washington Examiner - Here's something that should blow your mind .... if you care about liberty and the republic, that is

  Can you imagine having a software tool in your laptop that requires a few clicks to reveal the key relationships between a Member of Congress, companies getting federal contracts and political groups supporting or opposing that senator or congressman?

• Roll Call - Earmark Requests Detailed in Database

  In an effort to make it easier to find Members’ earmark requests, the nonpartisan Sunlight Foundation unveiled a database today listing every Representative and providing, when available, a link to their requests.

• Fort Collins (Colo.) Coloradoan - Markey seeks $19.5 million in earmarks

  Rep. Betsy Markey is seeking $19.5 million in federal earmarks for her district, with most of the money going to research programs at CSU.

• Quad City Times - Hare, Braley seek $545 million in earmarks

  The Quad-Cities’ two congressmen have requested $545 million in earmarks for the 2010 fiscal year, according to disclosures on their Web sites.

• Washington Times - Obama's stimulus spending website short on details

  Concerns are piling up that www.recovery.gov, the Obama Administration's online clearinghouse for stimulus spending information, isn't producing the kind of transparency it promised.

• Detroit Free Press - Footnote could cost taxpayers billions

  Read any good footnotes lately?

• Web2Expo - Conversation with Ellen Miller

  Tim O'Reilly sits down with Sunlight's Executive Director Ellen Miller to discuss the ins and out of goverment transparency:

• Wall Street Journal - A Tweak to Bailout Deal Makes Bank Stock Pricier

  WASHINGTON -- A tweak by the Treasury Department to its contracts with banks could cost taxpayers billions of dollars if the government exercises its right to purchase common stock in the firms.

• Roll Call - K Street Signups High in First Quarter

  The economy may be in the tank, but the influence business isn’t going anywhere.