Sunlight Foundation

Press Articles & Mentions Archives

Press Articles & Mentions for 2010

• Lahaina News - STOP SECRET ELECTION SPENDING

  The 2010 election cycle made clear the need for greater transparency of campaign spending. When the Supreme Court ruled earlier this year that corporations could spend unlimited amounts of money on political ads, it opened the door for groups to funnel huge sums from corporations and wealthy individuals to fund campaign ads without disclosing the identity of the donors. Because the people and corporations behind these groups remained in the shadows, voters had no way of knowing who was trying to sway their vote and to what end. According to the Sunlight Foundation, these secretive groups spent a whopping $126 million on federal elections this year.

• Politico Click - Top 10 Quirkiest Fundraisers

  The Sunlight Foundation's Party Time blog regularly chronicles the various fundraisers taking place around the country as part of its ongoing mission to increase transparency in the political process.

• Los Alamos Monitor - Elections 2010: An expensive slurry of repeated slams

  Campaigns would have been a lot less trashy without the flow of dough from outside groups, including national political party committees. In the 2nd Congressional District, $1.6 million (including $768,000 from the Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund) was spent to blast Steve Pearce, about $1 million (half from the National Republican Congressional Committee) to tar Harry Teague, according to the watchdog Sunlight Foundation. Supporting messages got spare change of $200,000. The 1st District race drew $3.8 million from outsiders, about two-thirds of it (including nearly $1 million from the American Action Network, $549,000 from the NRCC, and $417,000 from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce) to pound Democratic incumbent Martin Heinrich and the rest, nearly all from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, to bash Republican challenger John Barela. Just $400,000 went for support.

• The Advocate - Another try at openness

  We share the passion that Ellen Miller, director of the Sunlight Foundation, has for openness and transparency in government. So her “report card” on President Barack Obama’s efforts to improve the federal government’s record is of interest, and is even in some ways promising. Still, the bottom line: “Simply put, the president’s commitment to transparency is not yet living up to its full potential,” Miller said. The nonpartisan Sunlight Foundation pointed to some gains in access to government information during the first year of Obama’s Open Government Directive. It was a mixed report, as one might expect, because government agencies might have vastly different types of information, constituencies demanding that information and capabilities to get information out — willing or not. The Sunlight Foundation gave appropriate credit to Health and Human Services, the Labor Department and NASA. They “have led the way in releasing data, and the working groups created among key staff have brought about real cultural change within agencies.” A fuller assessment of the Obama initiative is available — approppriately enough — at http://sunlightfoundation.com/policy/documents/agenda. That site includes recommendations for improvements. In Miller’s assessments, two phrases stand out. One is culture change. In domestic agencies, openness can come more easily. For agencies dealing with national defense or homeland security, a culture of keeping information closer to the vest is almost always a given. While reformers can and should work to open more information to the public, the process of vetting what can be released and when is inherently more difficult — and often, made more difficult by officialdom. That is why there is Miller’s emphasis on working groups, the lower-level officials who can get things done in larger agencies. Miller also says: “More concentrated work is needed to move beyond the easy wins.”

• ExecutiveGov - Incoming House Republicans Propose Use of iPads in Chamber

  While cynics might see the proposed change as one more way for legislators to simply goof off on the job, according to techpresident, “there’s a chance that having digital access to the outside world might meaningful change the practice of democracy on the floor of the House of Representatives.” Daniel Schuman, with the open government advocacy group the Sunlight Foundation, agreed. “It could . . . become much easier, for representatives to see in real time how bills are being amended,” he told techpresident. “This will put more information at the hands of representatives at the crucial moment.”

• The Boston Phoenix - Infopocalypse: The cost of too much data

  "If you look at the early 20th century, the number of paper documents was growing exponentially as all of these huge government agencies were popping up," says John Wonderlich, policy director at the Sunlight Foundation in Washington. Advocates for institutional transparency, the Sunlight Foundation, among other functions, leans on government to make public records available. "Back then they didn't know what to throw out, what to standardize, or how to organize. The challenges we face with data are in similar scope — that's why it's so important that these issues are addressed head-on before it's too late." .... Adds Wonderlich of the Sunlight Foundation: "It's really unfortunate because when you have an IT staff of one or two, sometimes there's no winning. You can either try to do everything on your own, which is becoming more and more impossible, or you can hire an outside company, in which case there's a big risk that you'll get fleeced."

• Washington Post - In Congress, checks, votes often overlap

  "What this reveals is just how much this is general operating procedure on Capitol Hill, raising money around key legislative decisions," said Nancy Watzman, who oversees analysis of political fundraisers for the Sunlight Foundation, which advocates for government transparency. "This hits right to the core of how lawmakers get and keep their jobs. And they complain when you show the public how it works."

• Politico Playbook - Quiet victory: Administration uses Medicare regs. to revive end-of-life policy - JOSH GINSBERG ENGAGED UNDER TREE WHERE HIS FOLKS WERE MARRIED - Deepwater crew flummoxed at key moment -- Santa Schieff

  --WashPost 2-col. lead, “IN CONGRESS, CHECKS, VOTES OFTEN OVERLAP: TIMING PROMPTS ETHICS QUESTIONS -- Fundraisers go on during crucial legislative debate” (online headline: “Lawmakers seek cash during key votes”), by Carol D. Leonnig and T.W. Farnam: “Numerous times this year, members of Congress have held fundraisers and collected big checks while they are taking critical steps to write new laws, despite warnings that such actions could create ethics problems. The campaign donations often came from contributors with major stakes riding on the lawmakers' actions. … The Post analysis - using data from two nonprofit organizations, the Center for Responsive Politics and the Sunlight Foundation - scrutinized lawmakers involved in pushing key legislation and donations made to them by interested parties. … Members of Congress say that donations close to key votes are often coincidental. Some argue that because legislative action and fundraising happen all the time on Capitol Hill, it is impossible to know when the two are connected.” http://wapo.st/hPpBXy PLAYBOOK FACTS OF LIFE: This is a great idea for a story, and could have been a vehicle to illuminate the literal shakedowns that occur in the chaos of a congressional session. Alas, it’s executed in such a dull, shallow, paint-by-numbers way that it’ll sink without a trace. Someone else should do the story again -- with a vivid example that might get some traction, and fewer long, cut-and-paste quotes from outside groups yearning to quoted on their outrage. If it’s a grand slam, ya don’t need the Sunlight Foundation to cheer for you in your article!

• The Daily Caller - A new era for the People’s House

  Republicans will also implement the so-called 72-hour rule. Transparency advocates such as the Sunlight Foundation have sought the requirement to end the practice of rushing legislation to the House floor with little or no time to actually read it. Beginning in January, legislation will be available online for at least three calendar days.

• CBS News - Political Hotsheet - Incoming GOP Freshmen to Hold $2,500 "Swearing-In" Party

  The group hosting the party is a recently-formed joint fundraising committee called "America's New Majority," which, according to the event's invitation, is "authorized and composed of" 13 political campaign organizations. (According to the website "Political Party Time," a project of the nonpartisan government transparency group the Sunlight Foundation, Rep.-elect Jeff Denham, R-Calif., appears to have founded the committee.) About half of the participating members are associated with the Tea Party, Political Party Time reports.

• Politico - LeAnn Rimes to headline GOP freshman fund raiser

  The invitation, initially posted by the Sunlight Foundation, lists America's New Majority PAC as the host of the fundraiser. America's New Majority was formed by Congressman-elect Jeff Denham of California, also other newly elected GOP members, including: Scott Desjarlais (Tenn.), Robert Dold (Ill.), Jeff Landry (La.), Tom Marino (Pa.), Tom Reed (N.Y.), David Rivera (Fla.), Jon Runyan (N.J.), Steve Southerland (Fla.), Renee Ellmers (N.C.), Kevin Yoder (Kan.) and Marlin Stutzman (Ind.).

• CBS News - Political Hotsheet - GOP Keeps Independent Ethics Committee, Proposes New House Rules

  The Sunlight Foundation, a nonpartisan watchdog group that monitors transparency in government, praised the proposed rules and called the GOP's decision to keep the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) "fantastic news."

• Bloomberg BusinessWeek - In Stockpicking, Local Connections Give Politicians an Edge

  The study raises troubling questions about congressional investing, says Bill Allison, editorial director at the Sunlight Foundation, which advocates for more government transparency. He notes congressmen can help out local companies by influencing tax provisions, government contracts, appropriation earmarks, and other policies. "When you think about what members of Congress have the most power to influence, it is companies in their district," he says.

• Las Cruces Sun-News - Another reason for campaign finance reform

  Two candidates for the 2nd Congressional District of New Mexico combined for $4.3 million in campaign spending - a lot come from national groups - as Republican Steve Pearce regained his seat in the House from one-termer Harry Teague. And according to the watchdog group, the Sunlight Foundation, much of that came from national political party committees.

• Politico - Hill staff pay frozen in time

  “This 30-year tectonic shift likely diminished the House’s policymaking capabilities,” the Sunlight Foundation wrote in the report. Sunlight Foundation policy counsel Daniel Schuman warned that further cuts to Hill budgets could prevent staffers from getting raises and could result in a steady bleed to K Street. “Republicans have retaken the House with significant legislative and oversight agenda. But staff levels are already at a low level and cutting it further will not allow them to do what they want to do,” Schuman said. “For most of these folks, they’re not going to get pay raises, their lives will get more difficult and they may leave sooner rather than later.”

• New York Times - The Caucus - Report: House Staffers Could Make More on the Outside

  The study from the Sunlight Foundation, a nonpartisan outfit that aims to make government more transparent, also found that many employees in personal House offices have seen little change in their salaries over the last 20 years and that congressional offices have shifted more of their staff members away from Washington and into their home districts. The analysis comes not long after Mr. Boehner said in an interview with CBS’s “60 Minutes” that he would look to cut an array of House budgets by 5 percent in order to help reduce federal spending. “You’ve got to start somewhere,” the Ohio Republican said. “And we’re going to start there.” The Sunlight Foundation’s review did offer several caveats – for instance, in its comparison of salaries in the House and the private sector, the foundation said it was unable to consider committee salaries and that it only had approximate private sector parallels for some positions in Congress.

• Roll Call - House Staffers’ Salaries Remain Stagnant, Study Notes

  But while Members may not perceive a retention problem at the top, it’s there, said Daniel Schuman, the Sunlight Foundation’s policy counsel. Chiefs of staff have been on the job for an average of less than seven years, legislative directors for about five years and legislative aides more than three years, which is lower than the retention rates in private-sector jobs, he said. And the average age of a Washington, D.C.-based House staffer is 31 years, Schuman added, meaning people doing the policy and oversight work are inexperienced. “People no longer want to work the crazy hours, they no longer can afford to make less money and live in a group house in D.C.,” he said. “You see this ongoing brain drain and you see people working to protect the public trust now work to influence the people they used to work for.” Schuman’s study also found a dramatic decrease in staff levels over the last three decades; House personal office, committee and leadership staff numbers are at 87 percent of their 1979 levels, with committees taking the biggest hit, dropping from 2,027 staffers in 1979 to 1,272 in 2005.

• Federal Computer Week - Agencies innovate with augmented reality apps

  * According to officials quoted in a report in Army Times, the Army is evaluating smart phone applications for soldiers both in the classroom and on the battlefield. The smart phones could let soldiers view real-time intelligence and video from unmanned systems overhead, and track friends and enemies on a dynamic map, the officials said. * Sunlight Labs and Layar collaborated on a mashup of Layar’s augmented reality platform as a way of presenting Recovery.gov data on spending from the $780 billion economic stimulus law of 2009. * Sunlight Labs created the Congress augmented reality application for Android smart phones, which enables users to use the phone’s location to automatically identify a congressional district.

• Reuters - For some professors, disclosure is academic

  "If someone is presented as a disinterested expert, but they actually have a financial relationship with someone with an interest in what they are talking about, that leaves the members of the public in the dark and sometimes members of the committee as well," said Bill Allison, editorial director at the Sunlight Foundation.

• Detroit Free Press - Some get a shot to go hunting with Dingell

  At 84, the U.S. House's longest-ever-serving member is headed out in full camo and armed with a side-by-side shotgun. "Spending time outdoors, with friends, in a duck blind is one of Mr. Dingell's favorite pastimes and one of America's great traditions," said Dingell's spokeswoman, Betsy Barrett. It is also a chance to raise some money for his campaign committee. The price for those friends to join him is $2,000 a head. That covers overnight lodging in Cambridge, Md.; a Monday morning hunt with field guides and dogs, and a gourmet meal at the hunting lodge. (Thanks to the Sunlight Foundation's Party Time site, politicalpartytime.org, which tracks campaign events.)

• WSLS - NBC - Robert Hurt's campaign contributions and the House Financial Services Committee

  WSLS-NBC (Roanoke, VA) has a mention of Congressman-Elect Robert Hurt (R-Va.) and his appointment to the House Financial Services Committee that cites the Sunlight Foundation's analysis on the more than $127,000 in campaign contributions from the financial industry that the committee oversees.

• Washington Technology - Study: Many unaware of open government programs; State launches aid dashboard

  Open government is getting traction among the public and government employees, but there are still a few gaps. For example, 28 percent of government employees say open government is not funded and 65 percent of people surveyed are unaware of open government initiatives. Those are two of the findings of the massive Open Government Data Benchmark Study published online Dec. 15 by Socrata Inc. in collaboration with the Sunlight Foundation, the Personal Democracy Forum, GovLoop, Code for America and David Eaves.

• Huffington Post - Tracking the Progress of the White House Open Government Directive

  The Sunlight Foundation, one of the nation's leading transparency advocates, released the following statement on the one year anniversary of the open government directive: In its first year, the Open Government Directive made government transparency a priority and encouraged federal agencies to put important information online. While more government information is now available online, the Directive's limitations have also become clearer. Simply put, the president's commitment to transparency is not yet living up to its full potential. The Open Government Directive is a great starting point, but the hard work that is needed to create a truly open government is still ahead of us. Agencies such as the Department of Labor, Health and Human Services and NASA have led the way in releasing data, and the working groups created among key staff have brought about real cultural change within agencies. But all of these initiatives need a steady hand and a clear commitment from the White House to mature into permanent, reliable, effective policies that result in meaningful data online. More concentrated work is needed to move beyond the easy wins. The administration has to give stronger direction and urge the agencies to move forward if the promise of an open government is to be realized. Sunlight's recommendations for a more open government are available online at John Wonderlich of the Sunlight Foundation is also liveblogging.

• Chicago Public Radio - Fundraisers, lotteries and leases: Congressional freshmen prepare

  In less than three weeks, Illinois' newest members of Congress will be sworn in. Robert Dold, Randy Hultgren, Adam Kinzinger, Bobby Schilling and Joe Walsh have all been busy setting up their offices. They're each Republicans, and they're responsible for the Illinois congressional delegation shifting from majority blue to majority red. So, what have the "freshman five" have been up to since November?

• The Huffington Post - HuffPost Hill - Anti-Health Care Reform Judge Has Memoir

  INCOMING ENERGY AND COMMERCE CHAIR HOSTS INDUSTRY FUNDRAISER - We understand that "lawmaker in position of influence attends fundraiser hosted by organization with agenda at odds with the public interest" stories have an in-one-ear-out-the-other effect on you insider-y types. We get that these pieces have about as much impact on you as "don't give your kid that pancake/sausage corn dog" and "placing a laptop on your groin will render you impotent" ones do on the public at large. Still: "All but a couple of the 30 hosts listed on the invitation to Fred Upton's, R-Mich., "Friends of Fred Happy Hour" are lobbyists with interests before the committee. Five of the hosts (Gregg Hartley, Tim McKone, Charlie Black, Daniel Mattoon and Tim McGivern) lobby for AT&T; four lobby for Comcast (Jeff MacKinnon, Susan Hirschmann, Ken Duberstein and Sam Lancaster); and three more (former deputy energy secretary Kyle McSlarrow, MacKinnon and Hirschmann) count the National Communications and Telecommunications Association (NCTA) as a client. All of these groups are key players in the net neutrality debate." [Sunlight Foundation]

• San Diego Reader - Lobbyists Hired for Sam Zell's Otay-Tijuana Border Complex

  According to the website LegiStorm, Hunter was responsible for $17,164,500 in earmarks from 2008 through 2010. They included $2.4 million for a “Brownout Situational Awareness Sensor.” According to Hunter’s website, it is “a cockpit display system capable of providing the aircrew visibility through the blowing sand and dust.” It is being developed by San Diego’s Trex Enterprises, which has been a source of Hunter campaign funds. The congressman regularly taps the defense lobby for money. On September 30, according to the Sunlight Foundation’s Party Time website, he held a “Defense Industry Breakfast” at the Capitol Hill Club, collecting $2000 from each PAC and $1000 from individual hosts.

• New York Daily News - Mouth of the Potomac - Tea Party's Grimm Steeped in Wall St. $$

  An analysis by the Sunlight Foundation — which grabbed the attention of Democrats — shows that Staten Island’s soon-to-be GOP Rep. Michael Grimm was among the top recipients of Wall Street cash among the incoming freshmen.

• CSPAN - Floor Speech by Congressman Sander Levin on HR 6517

  Congressman Sander Levin (D-Mich.) gave a floor speech in the House of Representatives on H.R. 6517, a bill to extend trade adjustment assistance and certain trade preference programs to amend the harmonized tariff schedule of the United States to modify temporarily certain rules of duty and for other purposes, and quoted the Sunlight Foundation regarding the bill. Sander quoted the Sunlight Foundation as saying the Miscellaneous Tariff Bill (MTB) was "transparency done right."

• Huffington Post - HuffPost Hill - The Senate's $43 Million Typo

  PARANOID SELF-LOATHING GOP LOBBYIST - Happy holidays! Our favorite Paranoid Self-Loathing GOP Lobbyist, who only dashes through the snow to flee from IRS agents and to crush hippies with his snowmobile, continues his insane crusade against CREW's Melanie Sloan in the fifth instalment of PSLGOPL's New Year's Resolutions For Other People. On the fifth day of Christmas, PSLGOPLNYRFOP said to me: "Melanie Sloan should donate her Lanny Davis pay raise to the Sunlight Foundation under one condition. That the Sunlight Foundation actually abides by its founding principles and disclose its own contributors." And a partridge in a pair tree! Season's Greetings, PSLGOPL! PS: Here's the handy page where the Sunlight Foundation abides by its founding principles and discloses its own contributors. George Soros isn't on there, but that doesn't mean....HITLER [Sunlight Foundation]

• The New York Observer - Politicker NY - Open Gov't Group Knocks Grimm on Wall Street Cash

  But now the Sunlight Foundation, a group that advocates for openness and transparency in government, is out with a report knocking Grimm for taking the largest percentage of his campaign cash from the financial sector out of any newly appointment members of the committee. Grimm raised over $222,000 from Wall Street contributors, which amounted to 24 percent of his total money raised.

• Columbus Dispatch - Daily Briefing - Financial services industry backed Stivers, other new panel members

  Stivers is a former state senator and former lobbyist for Bank One, now owned by JPMorgan Chase, received more than $294,000 from the finance sector, making that his top industry contributor, according to the nonpartisan Sunlight Foundation, which used campaign contribution figures compiled by the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics. But Stivers was far from the only Republican joining the financial services committee next year who counted the finance sector as his or her top contributing industry, the Sunlight Foundation found. Eight of twelve new committee members, with Republicans assuming more seats on the committee since they will be in the majority, counted the finance, insurance and real estate sector as their top contributor, all of them Republicans, the foundation found. Rep.-elect Robert Dold of Illinois received the most from the finance sector, among the newly appointed members to the committee - about $554,000, according to the foundation.

• The Daily Progress - Hurt took $127,000 from industry he'll oversee

  The nonpartisan Sunlight Foundation reported this week that the committee’s 12 new members, including Hurt, have all benefited greatly from the largesse of financial, insurance and real estate companies. The industry is Hurt’s No. 3 largest campaign contributor, the organization pointed out.

• New York Daily News - The Daily Politics - End Game

  "The Sunlight Foundation, a group that advocates for openness and transparency in government, is out with a report knocking [Michael] Grimm for taking the largest percentage of his campaign cash from the financial sector out of any newly appointment members of the [House Finance Services] committee," says the NYO.

• CNET News - WikiLeaks' Assange granted bail in London

  The Sunlight Foundation's Ellen Miller and Mike Klein, the group's co-founders, denounced calls for the "persecution of Julian Assange" but stopped short of an outright endorsement of WikiLeaks' approach. "Some secrets about ongoing military operations and security activities should not be revealed to the public," they wrote. "Some debates over public policy can and should be done behind closed doors to allow for confidential negotiations, as long as there is public review."

• The Courier-Journal - Karl Rove political committee attacks Rep. Ben Chandler

  Collegio said American Crossroads and Crossroads GPS have raised more than $71 million. According to the Sunlight Foundation, which tracks political expenditures, the groups spent $38.2 million in the weeks leading up to the November election.

• Bucks County Courier-Times - Banking money top sector for Fitzpatrick

  That sector was the top contributor to the 8th District Republican, which fits in with seven of the other 11 new members to the House Financial Services Committee, the Sunlight Foundation is reporting today. The Financial Services Committee, according to Sunlight, has always been a coveted spot for lawmakers facing tough reelection races in expensive districts.

• USA Today - 7 incoming GOP leaders rode wave of PAC gifts into power

  "Money migrates to those who are in power," Ellen Miller of the Sunlight Foundation watchdog group. "It raises the question of who is really represented most effectively in Congress — the big-money contributors or the average constituent?"

• The Washington Post - Lawyers win exemption from identity theft rules

  LOBBYING, REMIXED It didn't take long for the watchdog group Sunlight Foundation to poke fun at the American League of Lobbyists' new public relations campaign. Less than a week after the league posted "Lobbying: Your Constitutional Right" on the Internet, the foundation posted a "Public Service Remix" that shows statistics about the number of registered lobbyists and the amount of their compensation during narration from the league's original video. The two have received a comparable number of views on YouTube.

• Nashville Public Radio - Washington Fundraisers Already Underway for Freshman-elect

  “When new members come to DC, they start on the fund raising circuit. This class is not necessarily different from doing it.” Nancy Watzman keeps track of fundraisers for the Sunlight Foundation. She says Republicans and Democrats often participate in dozens of fundraisers a week. “You have to raise your money from somewhere. And the folks who want to give you money the most, are the people who have an interest in the issues they are going to have power over.” Watzman says constituents should be vigilant about where their lawmakers’ money comes from.

• The Washington Times - No Sunlight on Black Panthers

  Mr. Obama and Mr. Holder repeatedly have promised what the president called "an unmatched level of transparency, participation and accountability across the entire administration." Mr. Holder likewise advertised "a presumption of disclosure to all FOIA requests." That Holder quote is from March 15. The next day, Associated Press ran a story that the liberal Huffington Post headlined "Obama's broken promise: Federal agencies not more transparent under Obama administration." By August, the left-leaning Sunlight Foundation headlined a report saying the White House "Abandons commitment to transparency." On Dec. 8, Sunlight Executive Director Ellen S. Miller concluded, "Simply put, the president's commitment to transparency is not yet living up to its full potential."

• KRQE - Heinrich tops NM congressional spending

  National political party committees and other groups poured nearly $2.8 million into the 2nd District race, according to the Sunlight Foundation, a Washington, D.C.-based watchdog group that tracks campaign finance.

• Nashville Post - Post Politics - Getting up to speed

  Another newly-elected Tennessee Republican – Scott DesJarlais – was scheduled to be at a meet and greet luncheon at a K Street lobbying firm. The invitation provided to the Sunlight Foundation makes no mention of money. Incumbent Memphis Democrat Steve Cohen also had a fundraiser scheduled last week.

• The Huffington Post - What is Lobbying? A Public Service Remix by Sunlight Foundation

  Hey, the Sunlight Foundation just did this very good very brief about the damage lobbying does to our country. Some lobbying is really good, like public interest work, and when a small business defends itself. Howevever a lot of lobbyists really hurt our country.

• Federal News Radio - Dorobek Insider - Sunlight Foundation on successes, setbacks of open gov initiative

  The White House's Open Government Directive is one year old. The DorobekINSIDER examins what's worked and what hasn't.

• The Lompo Record - Dispiriting omens for 2011

  While pundits and partisans keep political score, and politicians plot their 2012 presidential election strategy, the nation and its silent majority who hunger for reasonableness and straight talk, are already losers in the game. Except, of course, it’s not a game.

• Detroit Free Press - Gary Peters gets love and disses

  U.S. Rep. Gary Peters, a Bloomfield Township Democrat, was one of President Barack Obama's best friends last week because he was one of the few Democrats openly supporting extending the Bush-era tax cuts for everybody, not just people who make less than $250,000 a year.

• The Sunday Mail - Don't shoot messenger

  ANY suggestion that legal action should be taken against WikiLeaks should be resisted. IT IS a well-worn truism that the natural inclination of all governments is to do their business in secret, more so when it's to cover up embarrassing errors, human failings and basic mistakes.

• Paradise Post - Where is the outcry on death panels?

  'DEATH PANELS' are what the Tea Party incorrectly labeled them as part of "Obamacare." Nevertheless, the Tea Party is silent regarding real death panels actually taking place in Arizona.

• Star News - McIntyre, Pantano spent $3M in state's most expensive House race

  Mike McIntyre and Ilario Pantano combined to spend nearly $3.1 million in the race to represent Southeastern North Carolina in Congress, according to documents filed with the Federal Election Commission.

• Federal Computer Week - Government data sharing gets past the warm-up

  The government’s open-data venture took some serious strides forward this year, but many thorny issues about how and what to share publicly remain.

• St. Louis Post-Dispatch - Political Fix - Blunt topped Carnahan in money chase but ended in debt

  Roy Blunt's victorious Senate campaign outspent Robin Carnahan $11.5 million to $10.2 million -- but ended with debts of $431,000, new campaign finance reports show.

• Kansas City Star - Anonymous donors pour millions into politics

  Some of the nation’s top campaign-finance experts are deploring the new “wild, wild west” era of Capitol Hill political spending that increasingly revolves around anonymous donors and six-figure campaign donations.

• CNN - Bachus' Bucks

  CNN's Anderson Cooper 360 has a segment on incoming House Financial Services Chairman Rep. Spencer Bachus and his reliance on outside spending during his campaign but history of outspokenness against it as a House member that cites campaign finance data from the Sunlight Foundation.

• Politico - John Boehner adds lobbyist to staff

  House Speaker-elect John Boehner announced Thursday that he hired the medical device industry’s chief lobbyist as his policy director, adding to a growing number of Republican lawmakers who have recruited top aides from K Street.

• Capitol News Connection - Already "Going Washington?"

  Many newly elected lawmakers built their campaigns around running “against” Washington. But already some are getting comfortable with an inside-the-Beltway ritual. Manuel Quinones reports from Capitol Hill.

• ABC News - Alabama Lawmakers Meet To Weigh Reform Of 'Outrageous' Lobbying Laws

  The Alabama state legislature begins meeting today to consider replacing ethics laws for state legislators that critics say are among the loosest in the country with strict limits that may be among the toughest.

• Politico - Morning Tech - Morning Tech - December 8th, 2010

  ALL EYES ON COPPS – FCC Commissioner Michael Copps may be the wild card in the Dec. 21 Net neutrality vote. A favorable vote from Copps, a Democrat and longtime Net neutrality advocate, could clench a victory for Genachowski’s proposal.

• ABC News - The Note - House GOP Leader Eric Cantor To Hold ‘Festivus’-Themed Fundraiser, Liberal Group Airs Grievances

  Feats of strength, the airing of grievances -- they are rituals well known to “Seinfeld” fans familiar with “Festivus,” a fictional holiday made popular by the television show. And tonight, House Majority Leader-Elect Eric Cantor, R-Va., and his supporters plan to embrace those traditions with a Festivus-themed fundraiser.

• The Washington Post - New Republican lawmakers are hiring lobbyists, despite campaign rhetoric

  During his campaign to represent Wisconsin in the U.S. Senate, GOP nominee Ron Johnson accused Democratic incumbent Russell Feingold (D) of being "on the side of special interests and lobbyists."

• San Francisco Chronicle - Not-so-transparent Obama administration

  While the world is raging over the secrets exposed by the WikiLeaks -- too much revealed, too little too late, an illegal act, a needed act -- there is agreement that the Obama administration has fallen short on its promise of transparency.

• Huffington Post - HuffPost Hill - Reid Puts Off DADT Vote

  While the White House spent the day circulating desperate statements in support of its tax framework (it's not just the president, it's also a member!), Congress briefly shifted its attention to other urgent matters demanding immediate acquiescence. Susan Collins signaled that she needs more time to mull over DADT, because the last 17 years haven't been enough. Rand Paul and Chuck Grassley couldn't have been nicer about the president and his agenda. And Tom Coburn passed the hours by comparing federal spending with waterboarding and stuffing his bearded face with peanuts. This is HUFFPOST HILL for Wednesday, December 8th, 2010:

• Roll Call - Foreign Governments Look for Support on K Street

  It was hardly a client lunch at the Palm.

• WTOP2-DC - Open Government Directive Resources

  You can find a whole bunch of resources like there on our websites, we have a link to that White House open government directive itself, the Sunlight Foundation their take on open government one year in this conversation. In fact we'll talk a little bit more about what the whole Wikileaks and leaks means for open government and transparency and Patrice McDermott, and you can find out our website FederalNewsRadio.com/DorobekInsider or you can just go to DorobekInsider.com and resources.

• Arkansas News - Some Ark congressional campaigns finish in the red

  Arkansas Rep.-elect Tim Griffin held a Capitol Hill fundraiser Tuesday at the Capitol Hill Club aimed at erasing nearly $240,000 in debts that piled up during his election campaign.

• The Sun Journal - Paying off their campaign debts now top priority

  We’re not going to call it “business as usual,” mainly because a whole group of new congressmen just won election running against that.

• Bennington Banner - Where our money really goes

  Congress is considering banning earmark appropriations. It is typical of Congressional leaders that they focus on small items in the federal budget (like the three-tenths of a percent for earmarks) rather than addressing the larger policies that set expenditures for large items like the military or Social Security.

• Politifact - Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee labels Rep.-elect Jim Renacci a hypocrite over PAC contributions

  Winning his bid for Congress has put Wadsworth Republican Jim Renacci in the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s crosshairs for the foreseeable future.

• Politico Click - Eric Cantor Hosts Festivus Fundraiser

  Politicians never fail to come up with creative ways to host fundraisers, and Rep. Eric Cantor is no exception.

• Washington Post - House rookies meet 'new day' the old way

  After Francisco "Quico" Canseco beat Rep. Ciro Rodriguez (D-Tex.) as part of the Republican wave on Nov. 2, the tea party favorite declared: "It's going to be a new day in Washington."

• Mass High Tech: The Journal of New England Technology - MuckRock automates government records requests

  While WikiLeaks' Julian Assange is facing heavy criticism for his role in releasing 250,000 secret government documents, a Somerville-based startup is helping citizens acquire government documents the old-fashioned way: legally.

• New York Times - Freshman Party

  Adam Kinzinger of Illinois is one of the new Republican lawmakers swept into office last month on a promise to change the ways of Washington. “If we look like we’re doing business as usual,” the congressman-elect told a reporter last month, “then obviously the American people will say, ‘Well, what was that all about?’ ”

• The Danville Register & Bee - Hurt, Perriello combined spent more than $6M

  As U.S. Rep.-elect Robert Hurt prepares to take over from outgoing Rep. Tom Perriello, D-5th District next month, final financial reports from the heated election show the two spent more than $6 million on the nationally watched race.

• National Journal's The Hotline - The Money Helps Before And After

  "The newly created independent political groups known as super PACs" spent $83.7M in '10. Campaign Legal Center's Meredith McGehee: "Super PACs provide a means for the super wealthy to have even more influence and an even greater influence in the political process."

• The Argus Leader - Outside groups backed Noem 3-1

  Democratic Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin and Republican challenger Kristi Noem each spent about the same amount - $2.1 million - in the hotly contested race for South Dakota's lone House seat, but Noem received a much bigger boost from outside groups, campaign records show.

• The Capital News Service - Harris, Kratovil ended campaign with spending blitz

  The candidates spent almost $2.5 million in the last month of the hotly contested congressional race in which state Sen. Andy Harris unseated freshman Democratic Rep. Frank Kratovil, according to Federal Election Commission reports filed Thursday.

• Herald de Paris - Small Nations Spend Big on Lobbying in Washington, D.C.

  Tiny countries have used big-time Washington lobbyists to plead their cases in the United States, a new database of federal records shows.

• The Associated Press - Johnson, Feingold spending hit $27 million

  New campaign filings show the U.S. Senate race between Russ Feingold and Ron Johnson blew away all previous records for federal campaigns in Wisconsin with the two candidates together spending about $27 million in 2010.

• WITI-MILW - Wisconsin Campaign Spending citing the Sunlight Foundation

  Fox News Milwaukee has a short piece on campaign spending in the 2010 Wisconsin race between Senator Russ Feingold and Ron Johnson citing outside spending data from the Sunlight Foundation.

• The American Prospect - Tapped - Lightning Round: Live by the Movement, Die by the Movement.

  - In light of the latest news about our Vibrant and Growing Economy, it's worth looking at the composition of all this idle labor that's been sitting around for the past few years. Via Matt Yglesias, the biggest losses were in manufacturing and construction, which isn't surprising, but the policy response has been. I realize the political difficulty of getting a large and well-targeted stimulus out of Congress the Senate, but would it have been impossible to get a decent bill whereby the federal government hired people to build and fix stuff? I know, arguing the past, but it's not like the 112th Congress is going to get anything worthwhile done.

• The Huffington Post - HuffPost's Jason Linkins & Eliot Nelson Start A PAC!

  In politics, cash rules everything around you. And more and more, that cash is getting passed from anonymous plutocrats and concentrated into the hands of vague-sounding political action committees. Those PACs then fund candidates, and those candidates come to Washington to do whatever it was the plutocrats wanted done in the first place. Typically, this is: take my investment in your campaign, double the money, make a stack, and hand deliver it to my mountain compound in the Alps.

• The Washington Examiner - The Obama Revolving Door: Peter Orszag to Citi?

  Remember that Barack Obama has bragged about "closing the revolving door between K Street and the executive branch."

• Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel - Spending in Wisconsin Senate race sets record

  The Senate race between Russ Feingold and Ron Johnson obliterated all spending records for federal campaigns in Wisconsin, with the two combining to spend roughly $27 million in 2010, according to new campaign filings.

• New York Times - Bucks Blog - The Political Impact of Your Consumer Spending

  If you’re curious how your political beliefs line up with those of the businesses you shop at, a new online tool can help you.

• Roll Call - Donnelly’s Win Could Lead to Statewide Bid

  Indiana Rep. Joe Donnelly’s unlikely victory on Nov. 2 stands in stark contrast to what happened in the rest of the country and the rest of the Hoosier State, and a new memo from Donnelly’s campaign spells out exactly how lucky he was.

• NPR - It's All Politics - Name Your PAC, Courtesy Of Watchdog Group

  The Sunlight Foundation, a Washington, D.C.-based watchdog group, decided to have a little fun while making a serious point, that the massive flow of money into political campaigns and astroturf lobbying efforts has created a dizzying proliferation of groups whose motherhood-and-apple-pie names often don't come close to telling the whole story of what they're actually about.

• Mother Jones - What Would You Call Your PAC?

  Coming up with names for political action committees is among the odder dark arts practiced in Washington, DC.

• The Washington Post - Ezra Klein - Citizens for All That Is Good About America

  Americans for America. The New Century Foundation for Progress. A Bright Future for Children and Families. PAC names are a genre unto themselves.

• Congress.org - The politics of holiday shopping

  What party are you buying for this holiday season?

• The Washington Post - Ombudsman Blog - Data analysis and the furture of journalism

  Sunday’s column on numerical errors in Post stories also noted that proficiency with numbers will increasingly be important for journalists. It said that, “in the digital age, with a growing amount of raw data available online from the government and other sources, numerical literacy has never been more important to journalism.”

• CNN Money - President Obama meets with Wal-Mart CEO

  President Obama was meeting Monday with Mike Duke, the chief executive of Wal-Mart, a White House official said.

• Fast Company - How an Army of Techies Is Taking on City Hall

  Ben Berkowitz had a problem. His block of State Street, an expanse of charming storefronts and wood-frame houses that stretches from the border of Yale's campus into New Haven's grittier East Rock neighborhood, kept getting hit with graffiti. The 31-year-old did everything a good citizen was supposed to do: He called the city. He left multiple voice mails. He urged his neighbor to speak up. Eventually, he founded the Upper State Street Association to foster neighborhood pride. But still, the spray paint lingered. "I was feeling that helplessness when you've left three messages, you don't know what the resolution is going to be, and you don't have a way to hold anyone accountable," he says.

• Morgan Hill Times - What's needed is earmark transparency

  Sure, voters sent a message in November to stop reckless spending. Yet the earmarking system that perpetuates the power of incumbency, fosters a culture of dependency on government and produced the infamous "Bridge to Nowhere" and influence-peddling scandals that sent some to prison, still exists. Washington keeps borrowing and spending money we don't have on things we don't need.

• The Hill - GOP lawmakers to hit Miami for the weekend

  It’s never too early to raise money for the next cycle, and four Republican congressmen are planning to do it in sunny style this weekend.

• The Washington Times - Obama's transparency record not so clear

  With President Obama blaming his party's midterm losses, at least in part, on his failure to change the way Washington works, transparency advocates say now is the time for him to follow through on a slew of unfulfilled pledges he made during the 2008 campaign.

• The Huffington Post - What Wikileaks and Cablegate Mean for Open Government

  Aeschylus wrote nearly 2,500 years ago that in war, truth is the first casualty." His words are no doubt known to another wise man, whose strategic "maneuvers within a changing information environment" would not be an utterly foreign concept to the Greeks in the Peloponnesian War. Aeschylus and Thucydides would no doubt wonder at the capacity of the Information Age to spread truth and disinformation alike. In November 2010, it's clear that legitimate concerns about national security must to be balanced with the spirit of open government expressed by the Obama administration.

• CSPAN - Gov2.0 Summit Interview with the Omidyar Network

  CSPAN interviewed Omidyar Network Investment Director Stacey Donohue about their interest in open government, mentioning the Sunlight Foundation as one of Omidyar's core grantees due to its commitment to open data technology and advocacy.

• The Washington Times - Transporting ourselves to fantasyland

  At a time of soaring deficits and taxpayer fury about govern- ment waste and intervention in the economy, Congress must change its attitude toward spending taxpayer money; here's a good area to start the change: transportation policy reform.

• The Poughkeepsie Journal - Demand details of campaign ads

  Say what you want about the results of the November elections, but there is no arguing billions of dollars were put into these campaigns — and the lack of transparency about where all the money came from was astonishing.

• National Journal - Jury Convicts Tom DeLay in Money Laundering Trial

  Former U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay — once one of the most powerful and feared Republicans in Congress — was convicted Wednesday on charges he illegally funneled corporate money to Texas candidates in 2002.

• The San Diego Reader - Party Time for Darrell Issa

  The nonpartisan Sunlight Foundation’s “Party Time” website, which tracks fund-raising celebrations by members of Congress and their sponsors, is out with a list of invitations to events held by House Republicans vying for the power chairmanships that will come open next year when the GOP takes over Congress.

• Fast Company - How Blue State Digital Co-Founder Plans to Hack D.C.

  Clay Johnson is used to upending the way Washington works. He was the lead programmer for Howard Dean in 2004, a breakthrough campaign when it came to using the Internet. He co-founded Blue State Digital, a consultancy that put online tools in the hands of hundreds of other campaigns in 2008 (and earned a title as one of Fast Company’s “Fast 50”). Now Johnson is launching an incubator to help other startups “disrupt the business of Washington.”

• Gannett - $2.2 Million in Outside Spending Helped Mick Mulvaney Defeat Rep. John Spratt

  The dean of South Carolina's congressional delegation was swept from office by a tidal wave of cash from outside the Palmetto State, federal records show.

• The New York Times - Congressional Ethics

  To the Editor: “Ethics in the New House” (editorial, Nov. 15) doesn’t mention the real reason the Office of Congressional Ethics is in peril — lawmakers are threatened by this independent institution. This reality proves the O.C.E.’s value and is the primary reason its budget should be doubled. The O.C.E. demonstrates the importance of public Congressional disclosures, and it cannot quietly fade away.

• WNAC-PVD - Tech Update featuring Poligraft

  WNAC-PVD's The Rhode Show in Rhode Island included Poligraft in their Tech Update segment, using it to help get more out of reading online news.

• Global Post - In India, anti-corruption all the rage

  A man in Pune, in western India, hates himself for forking over $3 to the policeman who accused him of bad parking.

• The American Prospect - What We Don't Know Can Hurt Us

  What We Don't Know: Who is funding outside spending

• The Columbus Dispatch - Death by 1,000 cuts

  Banning earmarks in federal spending won't do much to eliminate annual deficits of more than $1 trillion, but the apparent momentum in Congress for an earmark moratorium still is good news, for one simple reason: If Congress can't rein in this practice, what hope is there of real budget reform?

• McClatchy - Sen. Cantwell unlikely to face big challenge in 2012 election

  Just when you thought you'd seen the last of the ceaseless television attack ads, there are faint stirrings about the 2012 Washington state Senate race and whether Democratic Sen. Maria Cantwell, with only $312,000 in the bank, is vulnerable.

• Democrat & Chroncile - RocNow - Citizen access to public salaries difficult

  A tiny California community learned earlier this year that elected officials were paying themselves hundreds of thousands of dollars with no public oversight.

• Rapid City Journal - Congressional earmarks ban may cost South Dakota millions

  Funding for some large South Dakota projects could be in question after a reform in Congress that defenders say will help clean up government.

• The Philadelphia Inquirer - Cleaning up earmarks

  The renewed push in Congress to ban earmarks is encouraging, but lawmakers should also adopt other reforms to suppress their appetite for pork.

• Wilmington Star News - Money from anonymous groups has grip on elections

  Money may not directly buy elections, but it buys the kind of access to the political process that most ordinary Americans don’t enjoy. And a few wealthy individuals bought more than their share of “access” in this past election – among them Wilmington’s Fred Eshelman.

• The Hill's Ballot Box - New lawmakers must raise cash for 2012 while paying off debt

  Several newly-elected lawmakers are facing double the fundraising pressure – preparing for the 2012 election and paying off the 2010 campaign debt.

• The Washington Post - Giving is personal. Make it political.

  I come not to praise charity. I come to politicize it. Or at least make it more aware of the political world around it.

• The Atlanta Journal Constitution - Nancy Pelosi’s high ethical standards

  I didn’t see this coming: The House ethics panel has recommended a tough punishment for Charlie Rangel, the 80-year-old former chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee. Despite his tearful plea for mercy, the panel recommended censure, which is the second toughest punishment at their disposal. There are a couple of obvious ironies here. The first is this: Rangel might have avoided this embarrassing public spectacle and received a lesser punishment if he had taken the plea deal the ethics committee offered him over the summer. But he rejected it. As a former prosecutor, Rangel should have understood the risk of rejecting the plea.

• InformationWeek - White House Unwraps Open Data Community

  The White House has launched an online community on its Data.gov site inviting people to share ideas for how the federal government can provide more open access to data.

• MSNBC - Ethics Rollback

  Countdown with Keith Olbermann has a piece on the incoming Republican plans to disband or defund the Office of Congressional Ethics that quotes the Sunlight Foundation.

• The Huffington Post - 5 Questions For Pierre Omidyar & Matt Bannick Of The Omidyar Network

  During the Clinton Global Initiative in late September, the Omidyar Network announced its commitment to invest $55 million in Internet and mobile technologies to advance government transparency and economic empowerment. The philanthropic investment firm, started by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar and his wife Pam, has dedicated $30 million to provide information and tools to help citizens participate with in the governing process domestically and abroad, and $25 million to progress mobile technology in emerging markets.

• New York Law Journal - Members of the Schneiderman Transition Committee

  TRANSITION COMMITTEE FOR ATTORNEY GENERAL-ELECT ERIC SCHNEIDERMAN

• The American Independent - A leery Senate contemplates life after earmarks

  In the lead-up to Tuesday’s vote by Senate Republicans to self-impose a two-year moratorium on earmark requests, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) released a statement indicating his avowed, albeit somewhat conflicted, support for the idea.

• The Huffington Post - Exclusive Interview With Populist Caucus Chairman Bruce Braley

  Representative Bruce Braley, from Iowa's First District, returned to the House of Representatives this week, after surviving a very brutal reelection campaign in which millions of dollars of outside money from anonymous right-wing donors were spent against him. His campaign was an interesting one, because rather than try to distance himself from his own party or from what Democrats have accomplished in the past few years, Braley instead embraced his own record, and proudly defended it to his voters.

• The Huffington Post - New Lawmakers Hit Fundraising Circuit 'Before They Even Find The Bathrooms'

  Well before they cast their first votes, attend their first committee hearings or settle into their new offices, the newly-elected members of Congress are doing what lawmakers have learned to do best: raising money.

• New York Times-Union - Capitol Connection - Schneiderman’s transition team

  Sen. Eric Schneiderman has announced his transition team, composed of a broad range of lawyers and officials, some of whom endorsed Schneiderman in his successful run for attorney general.

• National Journal - House Ethics Tightrope

  On the surface, presumptive House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, makes a convincing case that change is coming to Washington.

• The American Spectator - McConnell Fails Natcher's Earmark Test

  Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell obviously isn't one to "dance with the one that brung him." When it comes to the Tea Party activists and other conservatives whose electoral work vastly increased his power, he kicks them in the shins and tells them to sit with the wallflowers.

• PBS Newshour - The Rundown - Rangel's Ethics Trial, Lame Duck Begin

  As dozens of newly-elected members of Congress arrive this week for freshmen orientation, one veteran lawmaker begins his fight to save his job.

• The Washington Independent - Long-awaited Charlie Rangel trial is now underway

  The House Ethics Committee is kicking off its long-awaited trial of Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-N.Y.) this morning. Rangel, who has served his Harlem district for 20 terms, faces 13 counts of violating congressional ethics rules that range from failure to disclose and pay taxes on personal assets to use of official stationery to raise money for a nonprofit center that bears his name.

• New York Daily News - The Daily Politics - Document Drop: Rangel's Response

  Rangel himself didn't stick around for the hearing, claiming he was too broke to hire a lawyer, report our McAuliff, Sisk and Siemaszko:

• St. Louis Beacon - Analysis: Challenging the conventional wisdom on 2010 campaign spending

  If you followed the coverage of the 2010 congressional election, you probably got the idea that Republicans greatly outspent Democrats, that campaign money had a lot to do with the Republican landslide and that a January decision of the U.S. Supreme Court -- Citizens United -- opened the floodgate to the huge, secret corporate contributions.

• The Denver Post - Election hasn't likely ended flow of outside-funded advertisements

  If you grew to detest the 2010 TV ads sponsored anonymously by outside political money, get ready for worse: the noxious campaigns are on the verge of becoming perpetual and infinitely more expensive.

• United Press International - Under the U.S. Supreme Court: 'Dark' money clouds the political waters

  After a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in January opened the floodgates for unrestricted corporate and union spending on political campaigns, what started out as a mere trickle grew into a deluge of outside money by the time midterm elections arrived with a crash Nov. 2.

• The Huffington Post - Sunlight Foundation: real transparency from Congress

  Hey, maybe we get more fixed in Washington.

• Wilmington Star News - Eshelman was a major financial player on Election Day

  This year, few individuals across the United States spent more money trying to influence election outcomes than Fred Eshelman, executive chairman of the Wilmington-based Pharmaceutical Product Development, or PPD.

• The Denver Post - Buck says Colorado GOP outmatched by Dems' tactics

  Ken Buck believes Colorado Republicans still have a ways to go in replicating the Democratic network of interest groups, attack ads and candidate trackers.

• American Free Press - Elections Put Pro-Israel Neo-Cons Back on Top

  The Republican Party’s takeover of the House of Representatives in the recent election also ushers in a consolidation of pro-Israeli political influence over Congress unlike ever before. Then, too—not coincidentally—it heralds a new era in which secret campaign contributions by big-money interests are now holding sway in an unprecedented way.

• The Times-Union - The Observation Deck - Citizens United ruling leaves mark

  Examining the fallout of the 2010 elections in Governing, Paul Blumenthal concludes that, “We do know one thing: The Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling allowed this election to be the costliest and least transparent midterm in recent history.”

• Mother Jones - The Party of No Earmarks?

  If this week's intra-party squabbling is any indication, the ascendant Republicans could spend as much time battling each other as they do fighting to rollback the Democrats' legislative accomplishments of the past two years.

• The Marietta Times - People need to question source of money for ads

  West Virginia voters saw through the negative "rubber stamp" ads and voted for the best senatorial candidate for this state! Unfortunately for Mike Oliverio the Republican spending blitz was too much for him to overcome.

• The Guardian - The murky business of electioneering

  The Wizard of Oz enjoined us in the 1939 classic, "Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain." I thought of the wizard on election day, as I read David Brooks's piece "Don't Follow the Money", while watching Wisconsin's Democratic Senator Russ Feingold go down to defeat.

• Politics Daily - New GOP Leaders: Will They Really Open Up the House?

  The chairman of the GOP House transition team, Rep. Greg Walden (R-Ore.), on Wednesday laid down the operating philosophy for the incoming leaders when it comes to making House business more transparent: "How do we open it up? How do we make it more accessible? How do we bring the public in?"

• The Nation - The Money & Media Election Complex

  Like the wizard telling the people of Oz to "Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain," Karl Rove used media appearances at the close of the 2010 midterm campaign to dismiss President Obama's complaints that Republican consultants, led by the former White House political czar, were distorting Senate and House races across the country with a flood of money—hundreds of millions of dollars—from multinational corporations and billionaire conservatives into Senate and House races. "Obama looks weirdly disconnected—and slightly obsessive—when he talks so much about the Chamber of Commerce, Ed Gillespie and me," Rove mused. "The president has already wasted one-quarter of the campaign's final four weeks on this sideshow."

• The Atlantic - Transparency Recommendations for the New Congress

  The Sunlight Foundation, which arduously tracks campaign spending, lobbying rules, and all things of and pertaining to political transparency, has issued some recommendations for the Republicans who will control the House of Representatives starting in January.

• The Hill's Hillicon Valley - Sunlight to GOP: Improve transparency with Internet

  As Republicans huddle this week to consider rules reforms for the House, the Sunlight Foundation has sent along a number of recommendations on how they could use the Internet to build transparency into the legislative process.

• Fox News Chicago - Dark Money interviewing Paul Blumenthal

  Fox News Chicago has a television segment that includes an interview with the Sunlight Foundation's senior writer Paul Blumenthal and uses Sunlight data on outside spending in Illinois.

• Roll Call - Michael Bennet Looks to Erase Debt

  Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet is seeking help to pay off his campaign debt after an expensive and successful fight for election to a full term.

• Columbia Missourian - Deep-pocketed groups spend millions in Missouri Senate race

  "C00487363."

• Seattle Times - Murray bucked trend to gain re-election

  Veteran senator ‘won re-election on her merits’

• The Hill's Ballot Box - Strategists second-guess Dem spending strategy after losses in House

  Democrats spent more than $65 million on television, radio and direct-mail advertising in 77 congressional districts, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, and then lost two-thirds of those races.

• PBS Mediashift - Inside the NewsHour's Multi-Platform Election Night Bedlam

  Elections test how much information a news organization can process and then quickly and accurately share it with an audience. They're also a good time for news organizations to take stock of how far they've come since the last one, and to try the latest journalistic tools (or gimmicks).

• The Press Democrat - PD Editorial: Cash box

  You can once again retrieve the mail without a wheelbarrow and Nomex gloves. The airwaves have been returned to purveyors of new automobiles, cell phones and sex enhancement drugs.

• Mother Jones - Outside Spending: The Final Tally

  By the time voters went to the polls last week, outside groups had spent more than $454 million to influence campaigns. But there's little evidence that all that spending benefited Republicans much more than Democrats, as the final tallies on spending were actually pretty close.

• The Huffington Post - Melissa Bean Floated As CFPB Head

  The first head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau could be Wall Street-friendly Rep. Melissa Bean, Politico's Morning Money reports, citing "buzz."

• New Mexico Independent - Heinrich/Barela race ranked high for independent expenditures

  The race between incumbent Democrat Martin Heinrich and Republican Jon Barela was one of the highest rates of independent spending of any U.S. House race in the nation, ranking 12th. Of the slightly more than $3.8 million in independent expenditures in the race, nearly $2.4 million was spent in opposition to Heinrich according to the Sunlight Foundation’s analysis of FEC filings. This was the 14th most spent against any House candidate in the country.

• The Everett Daily Herald - Shine light on political cash

  When the U.S. Supreme Court ruled last year that corporations and unions can’t be limited in how much they spend to influence federal elections, critics predicted an unprecedented flood of cash would flow into the 2010 midterm campaigns.

• The Times Tribune - Elections need transparency

  The degree to which the Supreme Court's errant decision has increased the power of heavily monied interests is apparent in the wake of the midterm elections. Infusions of unlimited money, much of it from anonymous donors, fueled one of the most aggressively negative campaign seasons in modern times.

• The Canton Repository - More than $10 million spent on 16th District race

  Ralph Regula held the job of Ohio’s 16th District congressman for 36 years. Before Regula, Frank T. Bow had the job for 20 years.

• San Francisco Chronicle - Election outcomes influenced by outside spending

  Republican Meg Whitman's spending of $160 million on her losing run for California governor has become the forehead-slapping, post-election question: How could she spend all that money and lose?

• Aljazeera - Media Influence in Midterm Elections using data from Sunlight Foundation

  Aljazeera TV recently aired a segment about media influence and campaign spending in the midterm elections that cites data from the Sunlight Foundation.

• The Orlando Sentinel - Our take on: Secret money tide & Bagging hunger

  Secret money tide Groups representing political parties, corporations, labor unions and other special interests poured more than $454 million into this year's congressional campaigns, according to the nonpartisan Sunlight Foundation. More than a quarter of that total — $126 million — came from groups that didn't disclose their contributors.

• The Macon Telegraph - Macon’s ‘Robespierre’ cuts away

  Macon City Councilman Erick Erickson this week announced he was resigning as the head of Peach Pundit, a Georgia-focused political blog.

• Telluride Daily News - Salazar loses 3rd District by 4 points

  After six years of representing a large swath of western and south central Colorado in Congress, Democrat John Salazar is hanging up his Washington hat and heading back to the ranch after losing to Scott Tipton in Tuesday’s election.

• The Journal Star - Editorial, 11/5: Shed light on the money trail

  There's an old saying that to truly understand politics a person should "follow the money."

• MSNBC - Spending blitz by outside groups helped secure big GOP wins

  A tightly coordinated effort by outside Republican groups, spearheaded by Karl Rove and fueled by tens of millions of dollars in contributions from Wall Street hedge fund moguls and other wealthy donors, helped secure big GOP midterm victories Tuesday, according to campaign spending figures and Republican fundraising insiders.

• The Associated Press - Patty Murray Expands Lead in Washington Senate Race

  Democratic incumbent Patty Murray and Republican challenger Dino Rossi headed into a third day of vote tallies Thursday with no clear winner in Washington state's U.S. Senate race.

• Chicago Tribune - Washington Bureau - Outside groups made the difference for some Republicans

  In a number of key races around the country, aggressive and meticulously targeted spending by independent conservative groups appears to have helped produce dramatic results for Republicans.

• WNYC - Follow the (Campaign) Money

  Paul Blumenthal, senior writer for the Sunlight Foundation, offers a post-election look at campaign funding during this election and addresses PACs, the most expensive races, and last-minute money.

• Colorado Public Radio - U.S. Senate Race Tops Nation in Outside Money

  Outside groups spent almost a half-billion dollars on campaigns across the country this year. Colorado led the country in the amount of outside money spent on a U.S. Senate race. Nancy Watzman is a Colorado-based consultant for the non-profit, non-partisan Sunlight Foundation. That group works for transparency in government.

• The Oakland Press - Voice of the People, Nov. 5

  Congress is a job where service to nation is the reward — not the careerCongress is a job where service to nation is the reward — not the career

• New York Times - Campaign Money to Burn

  After Tuesday’s vote, there is no limit to the ambitions of stealth political groups bankrolled by anonymous check writers. Two of the flushest pro-Republican operations, American Crossroads and Crossroads GPS, plan to extend their campaigning into the lame-duck session of Congress with waves of misinformation about tax and immigration issues.

• Reuters - Navigating Treasury’s dreadful website

  Bloomberg’s news reporters still haven’t worked out how to link to external websites, even the US Treasury: they say that “Geithner’s appointments calendar, updated through August on Treasury’s website,” shows an off-the-record meeting with Jon Stewart, but they don’t link to it.

• The Wall Street Journal - Paul's Victory Signals Tea Party's Strength

  Political newcomer Rand Paul won a U.S. Senate seat Tuesday night in a victory that signaled the political strength of grass-roots groups eager to curtail federal spending.

• Christian Science Monitor - Washington, Colorado, Alaska Senate races: When will we know who won?

  As Tuesday night drew on toward Wednesday morning, three US Senate races – Colorado, Washington State, and Alaska – remained way too close to call.

• The Associated Press - Colorado Senate race still too close to call

  Colorado's Senate candidates are preparing for a possible recount in a neck-and-neck contest, with neither contender declaring victory by early Wednesday.

• The Associated Press - Murray, Rossi senate race too early to call

  Democratic U.S. Sen. Patty Murray took a slim lead over Republican challenger Dino Rossi in Tuesday's early vote returns, raising the possibility of an extended vote count in Washington's vote-by-mail election.

• Lexington Herald-Leader - Rand Paul wins U.S. Senate race in Kentucky

  Republican Rand Paul, little known in state politics before joining with the charged-up Tea Party movement in his bid for the U.S. Senate, defeated Democrat Jack Conway on Tuesday by about 150,000 votes.

• USA Today - Colorado: Senate race still undecided

  When Republican Senate candidate Ken Buck made a joke in his primary race against Jane Norton that voters should choose him because, "I do not wear high heels," it didn't sit well with Kay McDowell.

• San Francisco Chronicle - Barbara Boxer defeats Carly Fiorina in Senate race

  In a race Republicans needed to win to take over the U.S. Senate, Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer fought off a fierce challenge from former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina and defeated the Republican first-time office-seeker.

• The Olympian - Herrera looking like winner over Heck in 3rd District

  Republican Jaime Herrera defeated Democrat Denny Heck by more than 10,000 votes in early returns Tuesday in a nationally watched 3rd Congressional District matchup that drew close to $7 million in spending.

• The Plain Dealer - Five Ohio Democratic representatives toppled; John Boehner looks to take job as House speake

  Republicans were poised to take control of the U.S. House of Representatives last night and transform Ohio GOP congressman John Boehner into Speaker of the House as five Democratic incumbents in Ohio lost their races, and dozens more fell throughout the country.

• The Quad-City Times - Lange concedes; Braley wins third term

  Republican Ben Lange conceded the 1st Congressional District race to U.S. Rep. Bruce Braley, D-Iowa, this morning.

• The Battle Creek Enquirer - Walberg ousts Schauer after 1 term

  Republican Tim Walberg won his former seat back in the 7th Congressional District contest Tuesday night, ousting incumbent Democrat Mark Schauer.

• CBS News - Counting Continues in 3 Ultra-Close Senate Races

  The nail-biting isn't over. Most of Tuesday's election results may be in the history books, but Senate candidates and political observers in three states were still counting votes Wednesday with the outcomes uncertain.

• Salon - A silver lining for conservatives in Barney Frank victory

  Leaders of conservative campaign committees will find a silver lining in the victory of Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., Tuesday: They have retained a powerful fundraising tool.

• Detroit Free Press - 3 seats held by Dems still in contention

  Three of Michigan's congressional seats currently filled by Democrats remained very much in play as election results came in Tuesday night.

• San Diego City Beat - Darrell does digital

  As Vista-based Congressmember Darrell Issa prepares to ascend to the chairmanship of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, media outlets across the country—including this one—have predicted an ugly battle of committee interrogations and subpoena bombardments as Issa systematically wages war on the White House.

• The Hill - GOP likely to urge Obama officials not to shred documents

  Republicans are likely to urge the Obama administration not to shred documents as they transition to the House majority. 



• KKZZ - Paul Blumenthal Of The Sunlight Foundation Examines Campaign Spending

  Paul Blumenthal is the senior writer at the Sunlight Foundation. The Sunlight Foundation is a non-profit, nonpartisan organization that uses the power of the Internet make government transparent and accountable. We looked at campaign spending on the mid-term elections and we’ll ask the question, “Did contributors get their money’s worth?”

• TBD - Highlights from Wednesday's 'Capital Insider'

  Senior writer at the Sunlight Foundation Paul Blumenthal talks about his work to make outside spending in the midterm election campaigns more transparent.

• Seattle Times - Murray a top national target for secret donors' millions

  If U.S. Sen. Patty Murray ends up winning a fourth term, the Washington Democrat will have eked out a victory despite being one of the nation's biggest targets of attack ads funded by anonymous donors.

• The Durango Herald - Tipton defeats Salazar as GOP tide washes over U.S. House

  Republican Scott Tipton defeated incumbent U.S. Rep. John Salazar in Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District race, riding a national wave that saw Republicans take over the U.S. House by a healthy margin.

• TBD - It's the end of the world as we know it (and I feel fine)

  Yesterday, I wore my "I voted" sticker around proudly, like it was a gold medal. My mom always told me, "If you're not a part of the process, you're a part of the problem."

• Fox News - Ken Buck Concedes Colorado Senate Seat

  Republican Ken Buck conceded the Colorado Senate race to Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet Wednesday, hours after Bennet declared victory in the race.

• Politics Daily - Indiana Political Landscape Turning Red After Democrats' Midterm Losses

  Republican midterm victories in Indiana represent an almost complete about-face from recent Democratic gains and foreshadow a vastly different political landscape in the Hoosier state.

• The Huffington Post - Unprecedented Outside Spending Boosted Candidates To Victory

  Tuesday's election will be remembered not only for the historic losses by the Democratic Party in the House, but also the unprecedented amount of outside spending that poured into races, thanks to the Supreme Court's landmark Citizen United decision. Indeed, Democratic Congressional Committee Chairman Chris Van Hollen attributed the GOP wave in part to the "record amount of secret money spent by right-wing outside groups turned this political storm into a category 3 political hurricane."

• Federal Computer Week - The midterm election's effect on open gov

  “Will the midterm election close down open government?” That was the question my GovLoop colleague Stephen Peteritas asked a couple of weeks ago.

• KPFK - Daily Briefing Interview with Paul Blumenthal

  Interview with the Sunlight Foundation's Paul Blumenthal

• Bloomberg - Expensive Election using data from Sunlight Foundation

  Bloomberg TV recently aired a segment about the spending in the midterm elections that cites data from the Sunlight Foundation.

• Public News Service - Election Watch Parties to Follow Money & Winners

  DENVER - A new kind of Election Night watch party is taking place across the country tonight. With billions spent in blowout campaign contributions, substantially more than the last presidential election, plenty of pundits and analysts will be following the money, as well as the winners. And one organization is focusing their coverage almost entirely on it. Gabriela Schneider is communications director for the Sunlight Foundation, which is hosting "Sunlight Live" tonight on its website.

• The Anniston Star - Taking fun out of fundraising (And the accountability, as well)

  Three U.S. presidents loom over today’s election.

• The Washington Post - High campaign spending during midterm elections could affect 2012 race

  If you think the 2010 elections were expensive, just wait until 2012.

• The Associated Press - Campaigns wrap up; now the vote

  Candidates made last-ditch appeals to voters Monday as Election Day loomed, but more than 200,000 New Mexicans already have cast ballots.

• The Associated Press - Election Day: Big Races Mean Big Changes In Kan., Mo.

  Voters on both sides of the state line will take to the polls Tuesday in a record-setting midterm election cycle and there is plenty on the line for both parties statewide and some significant local races up for grabs.

• Summit Daily News - A busy ballot for voters today in Summit County

  Voting is easy — show up, fill out a ballot and go home. But there are some important things to keep in mind when casting your vote today, according to County Clerk and Recorder Kathy Neel.

• South Bend Tribune - 2nd District seen as a bellwether for whole nation

  The eyes of political observers across the nation will be on Indiana and the state's 2nd Congressional District tonight.

• CNN Political Ticker - Colorado Senate race down to the wire

  In one of the tightest Senate races in the country, incumbent Democratic Senator Michael Bennet is working down to the wire to get voters to the polls. He spent part of the day in Boulder, where he encouraged college students to vote. He's ending his day in Denver.

• NPR's It's All Politics - Outsider Campaign Cash Finds Loopholes Aplenty

  NPR congressional correspondent Andrea Seabrook and I have watched this fall, as outside money groups, unattached to any party or candidate, ranged across the landscape of the midterm elections, firing off attack ads as they went. Now we're starting to see just how wide a swath they cut.

• The Everett Daily Herald - Koster leads Larsen for seat in U.S. House

  Republican John Koster edged in front of Democratic Congressman Rick Larsen Tuesday night as both candidates watch to see if a national wave of support for GOP candidates will wash across this part of the Pacific Northwest.

• The Everett Daily Herald - The Petri Dish - Here's a breakdown of outside spending in the Senate race

  While election workers prepare to count the votes, those at the Sunlight Foundation have been busy tabulating the spending by outside groups in all the federal races.

• Broadcast & Cable - Sunlight to Shine on Money-Trail Winners

  While others are wrapping up their coverage of the campaign trail Tuesday evening, the Sunlight Foundation will be keeping its eye on the money trail, or what the group calls the "shadow campaign" behind the election.

• Detroit Free Press - Democrat Schauer concedes; Republican Walberg reclaims seat

  Two years after losing his seat in Congress it appeared former Rep. Tim Walberg was poised to reclaim it.

• PBS - Mediashift - Live 2010 Election Day Chat on Social Media + Politics

  I will be joined by an all-star lineup of new media experts, comedians, and social media gurus to look at how online coverage of Election Day is going -- with pointers to the most innovative mashups, maps, video blogs and more. The plan is to chat today from 10 am to 1 pm Pacific Time, and then again from 5 pm to 8 pm Pacific Time. Be sure to join us and add your comment or question to the mix.

• Columbia Journalism Review - Election Day Tools, Maps, and Graphics

  Election Day is an occasion for high drama on the Internet: data coming in all day and night, polls, pundits, analysis, voting booth mishap stories, Twitterers typing away until the dreaded “over capacity” whale appears. It’s also the perfect occasion for news sites to stretch their legs and experiment with new interactive tools and graphics.

• Mother Jones - Free Speech TV and Democracy Now Team Up for Election Coverage

  Josh Harkinson is skyping in to discuss the election results on Free Speech TV and Democracy Now's special 6-hour live election night program hosted by Amy Goodman, Laura Flanders, and Juan Gonzalez. Watch the show here and don't forget to check out the Sunlight Foundation's live-streaming coverage over on MoJo's special election night page.

• PBS Newshour - Interview on Washington Senate Race Citing Outside Spending Data from the Sunlight Foundation

  PBS Newshour has an interview with Enrique Cerna about the Washington Senate race between Senator Patty Murray and Dino Rossi that mentions outside spending data on campaign ads from the Sunlight Foundation.

• MSNBC - Independent Expenditures in Colorado Senate Race

  MSNBC's Jansing and Co. show cited data from the Sunlight Foundation when discussing the independent expenditures in the Colorado Senate race.

• MSNBC - Democrats blast GOP 'front groups,' but use them too

  While President Obama and other Democrats have excoriated Republican "front groups" for using secret money to pay for attack ads, Democratic political committees have begun doing something similar: collecting cash from outside nonprofit groups that don't disclose their contributors and using the money to pay for negative campaign commercials, campaign records show.

• The Wall Street Journal - Candidates Hustle to Get Out Nevada's Vote

  Hundreds of Democratic congressional aides, operatives and lobbyists have descended here seeking to help Sen. Harry Reid pull off an 11th-hour win in a race key to his party's efforts to retain control of the Senate.

• Mother Jones - Outside Groups Make the Final Push

  The Sunlight Foundation is keeping close tabs on independent expenditures this election, and those figures offer a good sense of where outside groups are placing their attention—and money—in the final hours before Americans head to the polls.

• USA Today - On election night, how you can follow the money trail

  Who will you be watching on election night this Nov. 2? If you're interested in knowing just how much influence this year's reported $443 million in outside spending may have had on the night's winners and losers, then you may want to check out Sunlight Foundation's election night coverage.

• Federal News Radio - Sunlight apps increase public access to gov info

  How can the public access government information? The Sunlight Foundation hopes to build apps for that.

• Christian Science Monitor - Outside spending fuels negative ads in tight Colorado Senate race

  At $32 million in spending and counting, Colorado’s US Senate race between appointed Sen. Michael Bennet (D) and tea party-backed challenger Ken Buck (R) has attracted more aggressive spending by outside groups than any race in the nation.

• Colorado Springs Gazette - Won't we miss those attack ads?

  You can breath a huge sigh of relief later today. The bombardment of ads for candidates and causes will grind to a halt at 7 p.m.

• CBS News - Political Hotsheet - One Day to Go: GOP Poised for House Takeover, but Senate Control Less Likely

  On the eve of Election Day, a fresh batch of polls are crystallizing predictions that House Republicans will cruise to victory on Tuesday night, due to stronger GOP turnout. The enthusiasm gap may not be enough, however, for the GOP to overtake the Senate.

• The Denver Post - Markey, Gardner scour 4th Congressional District for possible votes

  A flushed and cold Rep. Betsy Markey walked into a small gathering of supporters at the Johnstown Town Hall after knocking on doors in the tiny community during the last week of campaigning.

• The Courier-Post - Spending on 3rd District race tops $1M

  The closest U.S. House race in New Jersey has attracted more than $1 million worth of spending by groups unaffiliated with either candidate.

• Sonoma Index-Tribune - Other Voices: Group to trace election money

  Tonight, on Election Night, the Sunlight Foundation will cover the nationwide results using its award-winning "Sunlight Live" real-time, investigative reporting platform to follow the money trail for all midterm congressional seats as races are called.

• Fox News - Buck Opens Narrow Lead in Tight Colorado Senate Race

  In one of the tightest Senate races in the country, Republican challenger Ken Buck has opened a small lead in the polls over incumbent Democratic Senator Michael Bennet. A Fox News Poll conducted Oct. 30 by Pulse Opinion Research shows Buck with 50% compared to 46% for Bennet, with a 3% margin of error.

• Colorado Springs Gazette - Relief from political ads is on the way

  You can breath a huge sigh of relief later Tuesday. The bombardment of ads for candidates and causes will grind to a halt at 7 p.m.

• Governing - Is AFSCME or the Chamber the Top Political Spender?

  This post was written by Bill Allison, editorial director at the Sunlight Foundation. This post has been updated to reflect spending figures reported by the Sunlight Foundation.

• Christian Science Monitor - Outside groups dominate 2010 campaign spending

  A snarling dog rushes the front door, but GOP House challenger Ryan Frazier, campaigning house to house, is more concerned about defusing attack ads flooding the zone in the last hours of the 2010 race.

• The News Tribune - Mud flying in election ads in Washington state

  At least the ads will end Tuesday.

• Lexington Herald-Leader - Campaign ads full of 'stench of secrecy'

  If the airwaves seem fuller than ever of political attack ads this campaign season, thank the U.S. Supreme Court.

• The Philadelphia Inquirer - Expecting a Shift

  They are always waves, tsunamis, earthquakes, landslides. Or hurricanes. Whenever U.S. voters move en masse toward either party in an election, it's time for a metaphor alert.

• The Associated Press - WA Senate: Murray, Rossi race through final days

  Democratic Sen. Patty Murray and Republican challenger Dino Rossi roared across Washington state in the final weekend of their closely watched contest, urging supporters to mark their mail-in ballots ahead of Tuesday's deadline.

• The Associated Press - Outside groups pour money into Kentucky Senate race

  Millions of dollars in donations from wealthy, conservative and, in some cases, anonymous out-of-state donors have financed some of the most blistering campaign ads this season against Democratic U.S. Senate candidate and state Attorney General Jack Conway.

• The St. Petersburg Times - GOP enthusiasm edge: 275,000 early voters

  Polls show a neck-and-neck gubernatorial race between Republican Rick Scott and Democrat Alex Sink, but here's one number that has to make Sink more than a little anxious: 275,000.

• WMUK - Campaign Spending Discussion with Sunlight's Paul Blumenthal

  Watchdog groups that track spending in political campaigns say following the money has become more difficult. Earlier this year the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the government cannot ban spending by corporations, and other groups in political campaigns. The non-profit Sunlight Foundation has found that outside money is pouring into competitive races, including the Congressional race for the district that includes Battle Creek. Paul Blumenthal is a senior writer for the Sunlight Foundation. He spoke with WMUK's Gordon Evans.

• The Tampa Tribune - Rubio benefits from independent groups' funding

  Despite Gov. Charlie Crist's early fundraising lead, Marco Rubio is now far ahead in fundraising and spending in the U.S. Senate race at more than $26 million – if you count around $9 million in spending by interest groups and the national Republican Party on his behalf.

• Fox News - Colorado Senate Race: “The Wild West of Spending”

  Considered by some to host the most competitive Senate race in the country, Colorado is awash in political ads paid for by out-of-state groups.

• Wall Street Journal - Point-and-Click Politics

  For better and worse, democracy in America is changing. The Internet has introduced a new age of mass participation and personal activism in which anyone can be a community organizer, message maker or fund-raiser and mobilize thousands or even millions of people. Though organized money still dominates the game, organized people hold the wild cards.

• Los Angeles Times - The money behind the ads

  A political action committee formed by the California Chamber of Commerce has spent more than $3.8 million in recent weeks to defeat the Democratic candidate for insurance commissioner, Assemblyman Dave Jones of Sacramento. Almost three-fourths of the PAC's money for the final campaign push has come from the insurance companies that would be regulated by the winner of the race between Jones and Republican Assemblyman Mike Villines of Clovis. Meanwhile, political committees backed largely by trial lawyers spent at least $420,000 on radio ads during the same period to support Jones and bash Villines.

• The Washington Post - Capping the secret money gusher

  IT'S POSSIBLE to make a plausible argument that for all the focus on which candidate has raised the most and which party has more in its coffers, money doesn't really play a determinative role in politics. Or that gushers of campaign cash in the 2010 elections are not a troubling indication of financial power trumping message but welcome evidence of a robust public debate. Or that for all the Democratic belly-aching about outside groups' spending this election cycle, the two parties and their ideological allies have managed to spend to a draw, with neither side enjoying that much of a financial edge over the other.

• The Huffington Post - re politicians: follow the money, send a postcard

  Way too much money is flowing into the midterm elections, so it's a big deal who's backing the candidates on the ballot.

• The Denver Post - Who is funding political ads?

  I've heard the ominous music. I've seen Sen. Michael Bennet blasted as a reckless spender, the man who cast the deciding vote for "Obama-care," who wasted billions on the stimulus. I've seen Ken Buck decried for ethics violations, his stance on abortion, for refusing to prosecute a rape case. Then there have been the attacks on Ryan Frazier for sending jobs overseas, on Rep. Ed Perlmutter for giving away "billions to Wall Street billionaires." Betsy Markey votes with Nancy Pelosi 94 percent of the time! Cory Gardner wants to tax the wind!

• Bloomberg - Obama a Drag on Democrat Joe Manchin in Pivotal West Virginia Senate Race

  Five years ago, the popular new U.S. Senator Barack Obama helped out when Robert Byrd of West Virginia needed money for his Senate re-election campaign, backing a fundraising effort that generated more than $600,000 in 24 hours.

• The Boston Globe - Far-off, grass-roots PACs lift Mass. challengers

  Roger Stockton has never set foot in Massachusetts. But the 49-year-old firefighter from Carson City, Nev., has become a player in the campaign to unseat Barney Frank.

• Kentucky Enruirer - Outside groups fund local campaigns

  Some two dozen outside groups have funneled more than $10 million into Greater Cincinnati's congressional races, with the lion's share of that cash going to Kentucky's U.S. Senate race.

• WORT - Interview with Sunlight's Paul Blumenthal

  WORT in Madison, Wisconsin had the Sunlight Foundation's senior writer Paul Blumenthal on to discuss the need for transparency and the various projects that can help inform voters before the midterm elections:

• The Associated Press - Sestak-Toomey Senate race magnet for big outside money

  A radio ad playing on a Philadelphia station booms repeatedly with the notorious maxim "greed is good" and likens Republican Pat Toomey to Gordon Gekko, the fictional, high-flying, filthy-rich financier who made the mantra famous in the 1987 movie "Wall Street."

• The Desert Sun - Outside money pours into Senate race

  With Election Day just a few days away, California's U.S. Senate race is shaping up to be one of the most expensive on record.

• Indianapolis Star - Outsider cash flows to fund races

  Spending on Indiana's congressional races by the national parties and 27 outside groups has topped $7.2 million, more than double what was spent in 2008.

• Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - Follow the money

  Conservative groups that are plowing huge sums from undisclosed donors into the midterms have been insisting that groups on the left are doing the same. But are they? I've done an informal comparison. Guess what: It's not even close.

• Maryland Gazette - Kratovil, Harris campaigns rake in the big bucks

  A recent U.S. Supreme Court decision unleashed a wave of campaign contributions, and money from outside groups has been pouring into Maryland's 1st Congressional District, making the election race between U.S. Rep. Frank M. Kratovil Jr. (D) and Andrew P. Harris (R) one of the most expensive in the nation.

• The Associated Press - Outside money raises ire in Mo. Senate race

  Democratic Missouri Senate candidate Robin Carnahan is accusing outside interest groups of trying to "buy themselves a senator" by spending millions of dollars opposing her and backing Republican Roy Blunt.

• CNN Money - Business bets big on Fiorina

  If former Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina's bid to become the next senator from California succeeds, she will owe a giant "thank you" to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

• MSNBC - Chamber of Commerce Independent Expenditures

  MSNBC's The Rachel Maddow Show had a segment about independent expenditures by the Chamber of Commerce that uses data compiled by the Sunlight Foundation's Reporting Group.

• Los Angeles Times - Colorado is bastion of outside money this election

  The airwaves here have been saturated with brutal ads about the U.S. Senate race in recent weeks. But few are coming from the actual candidates.

• The Courier-Journal - Outside groups spend big in U.S. Senate race

  More than two dozen outside groups have poured nearly $8.5 million into the U.S. Senate race between Democrat Jack Conway and Republican Rand Paul, according to a foundation that tracks such spending.

• The Associated Press - Outside groups spend over $12M on Mo. Senate race

  Democratic Missouri Senate candidate Robin Carnahan claimed Friday that special interest groups are trying to "buy themselves a senator" by spending millions of dollars on ads attacking her and backing Republican Roy Blunt.

• McClatchy - Poll: Murray still holds 1-point lead in Washington state Senate race

  The Washington state Senate race is going down to the wire, with a McClatchy-Marist poll released Friday showing incumbent Democratic Sen. Patty Murray maintaining a 1 percentage point lead over Republican challenger Dino Rossi among likely voters.

• Kansas City Star - Missouri Senate race has brought in $13 million from outside groups

  With the fall campaign entering its final weekend, outside groups have spent nearly $13 million on the Missouri Senate contest.

• The Ocala Star-Banner - Stearns' fundraiser may show ambitions

  Who would you pay $500 to have a cup of coffee with?

• PBS - 4 Minute Roundup: Sunlight Foundation Tracks Money in Politics

  In this week's 4MR podcast I talk with Sunlight Foundation's Ellen Miller about their efforts to track down the biggest donors in this year's election races. On Election Night, they will run their Sunlight Live platform that will give details on who has donated to whom as live video shows the winners and losers. Miller also talks about Sunlight's recent $1.2 million grant from the Knight Foundation.

• KSHB-KC - Outside Spending in the Missouri Senate Race

  KSHB in Kansas City, Missouri has a segment about the outside spending in the local Senate race that cites data from the Sunlight Foundation.

• WJAC - Spending in PA Senate Race

  WJAC in Johnstown-Altoona, Pennsylvania has a brief segment about the outside spending in the local Senate race that cites data from the Sunlight Foundation:

• WAMU - Virginia Congressional Race Ranks Among Most Pricey

  The race for Virginia's 11th Congressional District is reportedly one of the most expensive races in the state. Republican challenger Keith Fimian has out-raised Democratic incumbent Gerry Connolly by nearly $40,000 in the Congressional race, according to the Federal Election Commission.

• The Baltimore Sun - Kratovil-Harris race nears top of spending list

  The down-to-the-wire rematch between Frank Kratovil and Andy Harris for Maryland's easternmost congressional seat is now one of the ten most expensive House races in the nation, in terms of spending by outside groups.

• Detroit Free Press - Outside groups spend big in 9th

  Outside money is rushing into the race for Michigan's 9th Congressional District in Oakland County.

• NBC Washington - "Bears" to Take Part in the Stewart-Colbert Rallies

  John Stewart and Stephen Colbert’s rallies on Saturday are inspring "bears" to come out to the National Mall.

• CQ Politics - Larsen Keeps It Local to Fight the GOP Tide

  Rep. Rick Larsen says he burns shoe leather during every campaign, ringing doorbells across Washington’s 2nd district in this northwest corner of the state regardless of whether he’s in a competitive battle. This year, the five-term Democrat might need a new pair of shoes.

• Roll Call - Roll Call: Larsen Keeps It Local to Fight the GOP Tide

  Rep. Rick Larsen says he burns shoe leather during every campaign, ringing doorbells across Washington’s 2nd district in this northwest corner of the state regardless of whether he’s in a competitive battle. This year, the five-term Democrat might need a new pair of shoes.

• The Plain Dealer - Ohio congressional candidates focus on getting voters out in battleground districts

  Alliance Democratic Rep. John Boccieri doesn't agree on much with his Republican challenger, Jim Renacci, a businessman who formerly served as Wadsworth's mayor.

• USA Today - Total campaign spending may hit $4 billion

  Democratic Rep. Dina Titus has outraised her Republican challenger, Nevada physician Joe Heck, by more than $1 million.

• The Chronicle of Philanthropy - Nonprofits Should Rally Behind Efforts to Shed Light on Secret Donors

  Sunlight is the best disinfectant.

• MSNBC - Will freshmen crash Senate Republicans' party?

  Insurgent Republican candidates hoping to win election to the United States Senate have made one thing clear: They are not coming to Washington to make friends.

• Mother Jones - Outside Election Spending Doubles in Two Weeks

  Outside spending on the election crossed a threshold on Thursday—a rather large one. Outside groups have spent more than $400 million this election season—a figure that has doubled in just the past two weeks, according to data from the Sunlight Foundation. As of Thursday morning, total outside spending was up to $424 million.

• The Weekly Standard - ProPublica on Ron Kind's Dirty Money

  On Monday, Daniel Bice of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that two doctors had offered sworn affidavits accusing Wisconsin Democrat Ron Kind's staff of charging them money in order to meet to discuss legislation:

• The Bay Area Reporter - Castro gym to cut ties to Gold's

  The owners of Gold's Gym in the Castro took action this week to distance themselves from a Texas billionaire whose company licenses the Gold's Gym brand name and has given millions to conservative outside political groups.

• The New Mexico Independent - Independent spending zooms past $6 million

  Independent expenditures in New Mexico’s 1st and 2nd Congressional Districts have now exceeded $6 million, according to Sunlight Foundation analysis of FEC reports. The bulk of the latest money came from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which spent more than $465,000 on advertising since The Independent’s last report earlier this week.

• The Associated Press - AP ENTERPRISE: Interest groups target state races

  EDITOR'S NOTE — This story is the culmination of a project by The Associated Press and the Associated Press Managing Editors association to track outside spending on political advertisements. In partnership with the nonpartisan Sunlight Foundation, APME and AP trained dozens of newspaper reporters to find, analyze and report on special-interest spending in their states and communities. This national overview draws on reporting by APME members.

• CSPAN - Opaque Spending

  CSPAN aired a conference where one of the panelists mentioned the work of the Sunlight Foundation and the need for improved disclosure.

• The Plain Dealer - Rep. Dennis Kucinich says GOP challenger is making him sweat

  An Oct. 26 decision by a political newsletter called "Cook Political Report," to alter its rating of Cleveland Democratic Rep. Dennis Kucinich's re-election chances from "safe" to "likely Democratic" prompted Kucinich to email a fundraising pitch to his supporters this afternoon.

• CNN Political Ticker - Nevada Senate candidates trade barbs over Social Security

  Nevada's two Senate candidates traded barbs Thursday over Social Security amid a new report about comments Republican nominee Sharron Angle once made about federal social programs.

• The Statesman Journal - On devil's spawn and other election questions

  "Are incumbent politicians the spawn of the devil?"

• Epoch Times - And They Call It Democracy

  In an example of an article that has appeared in many if not most political publications during the past few days The New York Times reported Wednesday morning that “Democratic candidates have generally wielded a significant head-to-head financial advantage over their Republican opponents in individual competitive races.”

• The Nation - The SBA List's 'Pro-Life' Lies

  Among the myriad lies and distortions peddled this midterm election season by the Republican right, there is one seemingly designed to cause prochoice women to tear our hair out: that a vote for healthcare reform was a vote for "taxpayer-funded abortion." The reason this claim is so maddening, of course, is that prochoicers in Congress were in fact forced to swallow a last-minute compromise in which the principle of the 1976 Hyde Amendment, which banned federal funding for abortions except in the cases of rape, incest and danger to the woman's life, was applied to the law through an executive order from President Obama.

• WNYC - Outside Groups Spend Big as Elections Approach

  These mid-term elections are seeing massive amounts of money being raised and spent both left and right, from party committees to outside independent groups — much, much more money than the last mid-term elections in 2006. Over $260 million has been spent by outside groups, who have been able to remain largely anonymous since the Supreme Court ruling in Citizens United v. FEC, earlier this year.

• ABC News - The Blotter - Shadowy Groups Have Poured Nearly $227 Million Into 2010 Elections

  Oil and gas industry services and investors have contributed $415,000 from their company coffers to fund a group blasting Democratic Senate candidates in four states with attack ads.

• The Denver Post - Rival ad-buys pour $1.4 million more into Senate contest

  A couple of major advertising buys from the National Education Association and the National Republican Senatorial Committee boosted Colorado's Senate-race spending by more than $1 million early this week.

• The Denver Post - Political Polygraph: NEA Advocacy Fund television ad

  Claim: "Ken Buck's math: Subtract $1.1 billion from education, including taking away 11,000 teachers. It equals Ken Buck's disastrous plan for our schools. Ken Buck would increase class sizes and make it even harder for middle class students to afford college."

• The St. Petersburg Times - Midterms will reshape Congress — but how bloody will the GOP takeover be?

  Two years after Barack Obama promised change in Washington, it's coming in a dramatic final torrent of campaign money, nasty commercials and voter rebellion that will answer not whether Nov. 2 will reshape Congress but how bloody the takeover will be.

• The Daily Beast - Nearly $100 Million of Anonymous Ad Money

  The Sunlight Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to promoting transparency in government, crunched the numbers on the record-breaking outisde spending this election and finds that $97 million, about half the total, is completely untraceable. So that flier in your mailbox or the attack ad you see on TV could be coming from anywhere—corporations, George Soros, NAMBLA, whoever—and there's no way to evaluate its context or directly respond back. With Republicans blocking any legislative attempts to require groups to disclose donors, this looks to be the new normal for campaigns in the foreseeable future.

• KTXL - Sunlight's Useful Election Websites

  KTXL in Sacramento, California did a morning segment on some useful websites as the election approaches that highlights a number of projects from the Sunlight Foundation including Influence Explorer.

• The Irish Times - US midterm fundraising frenzy shatters all spending records

  House and Senate candidates are on track to raise $2bn in their campaigns. That’s the equivalent of about $4m for every seat, writes Dan Eggen

• The Huffington Post - All They Ask for Is an Unfair Advantage

  I attended a screening this week of Alex Gibney's new documentary, Client 9. It's the story of the rise and fall of New York State Governor Eliot Spitzer, brought down by imperial hubris and a reckless penchant for ladies of the evening.

• Reuters - Sparks Fly in Big-Dollar Shootout For New Mexico House Seat

  Outside corporate money is fueling a high-dollar New Mexico television advertising campaign that bashes Democratic incumbent Rep. Harry Teaguefor his cap-and-trade energy bill vote.

• Roll Call - Colorado: With New Ads, DSCC Spending Tops $6M

  With the launch of two new TV ads against Republican Ken Buck in Colorado, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee has topped $6 million in independent expenditures in the state. The similar ads slam Buck on many of his stances that Democrats say are too out of the mainstream for voters to trust him in the Senate. “I just can’t vote for Ken Buck,” one voter featured in both ads says. “He’s just too out there,” says another. The National Republican Senatorial Committee, which just launched another ad against Sen. Michael Bennet (D), has spent $4 million in Colorado. Nearly $30 million of outside money has been spent on this race, according to the Sunlight Foundation, by far the most of any race this cycle.

• Politico Click - 'Transbearancy' Coming to Mall

  We already know to expect marijuana activists in business attire, radicals clad in black, and thousands of people sporting Team Sanity and/or Team Fear swag this Saturday on the Mall. But now we know to expect a host of people in bear suits, too.

• Orlando Sentinel - Outside groups spend big to oust Democrats

  In the last two weeks, a trio of outside groups have come to the defense of U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson -- spending about $110,000 on canvassing and web ads to help the Orlando Democrat against his Republican challenger, Dan Webster, according to federal records.

• Anchorage Daily News - Alaska Politics Blog - Native corporations to canvass villages for Murkowski

  A coalition of Alaska Native corporations has spent at least $1.26 million in an effort to re-elect Sen. Lisa Murkowski -- the biggest spending of any single third-party group in Alaska this season -- campaign finance reports say.

• Roll Call - PACs Still Favoring Democrats

  Recent political giving from corporations, unions and trade groups has continued to tilt toward Democrats, despite polls predicting major Republican gains on Capitol Hill after the midterm elections.

• Mother Jones - Cool Tools for Tracking Campaign Cash

  If you're trying to make sense of the $2 billion being spent in anticipation of next Tuesday's election, here's a few nifty tools. Maplight.org and Wired have teamed up to create the Influence Tracker, which compiles the latest data on members of Congress' haul during this election cycle as well as their biggest donors. Nice touch: logos of each member's top corporate sponsors.

• The Washington Independent - As Outside Money Flows In, Party Committees Lose Influence

  In the wake of the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision, many groups, from independent political action committees to the Republican National Committee, decided to test the waters and file cases against the Federal Elections Commission arguing that they, too, should enjoy the ability to solicit unlimited donations for spending on specific, non-coordinated campaign activities. In the case of the RNC, the group sought to reverse the longstanding “soft money” ban in McCain-Feingold campaign finance legislation that prevented the parties from raising unlimited sums of money for “party building” and other activities not directly related to elections. While the challenge failed, the three-judge panel that ruled against the RNC did express worry about the implications of a growing divide between the fundraising capacities of outside groups and the traditional party committees.

• The Washington Post - House and Senate shatter fundraising records for midterm election and may exceed $2 billion

  House and Senate candidates have already shattered fundraising records for a midterm election and are on their way to surpassing $2 billion in spending for the first time, according to new campaign finance data.

• The Washington Examiner - Rep. Darrell Issa: Technology is key to achieving 21st century transparency in government

  Americans know that their government spends too much on a complex, unmanageable bureaucracy. What they don’t know – because much of the raw data about government spending and performance is not accessible to them – is exactly how much waste, fraud, and abuse goes on every day. That has to change.

• San Francisco Chronicle - Independent expenditure groups reshape key races

  Independent expenditure groups, including some from outside California that are not legally required to list their donors, are reshaping several key races in the state by pouring millions of dollars into TV attack ads and mailers, mostly against Democratic candidates.

• Mother Jones - Lisa Murkowski's Dirty Energy Supporters

  Incumbent Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski is not on the ballot in Alaska this November, but she's still favored to win, with the most recent polls showing her in a dead heat with Joe Miller, the tea party candidate that unexpectedly defeated her in the primary. She's also crushing Miller and her Democratic opponent Scott McAdams in fundraising—but as her campaign disclosures show, it's not Alaskans that are dumping money into her write-in campaign. The vast majority of her funds have come from out-of-state oil, gas, and coal interests.

• The New York Times - The Caucus - Both Parties Seek Edge in Colorado Senate Race

  A furious final push by both parties has made the Colorado Senate race one of the closest in the nation, with both candidates seeking the slightest edge in the days before next week’s election.

• The Hill's Hillicon Valley - GSA moves Data.gov to the cloud

  The General Services Administration is shifting the federal government's online data repository Data.gov to the cloud by awarding a series of contracts for remote dataset hosting and distribution.

• Fox News - Is Big Tech Hoping For a Change in Congress?

  You heard right: Big Tech leans left.

• The Concord Monitor - Ayotte fundraises in Washington

  Republican Senate candidate Kelly Ayotte is fundraising in Washington.

• The Denver Post - The Spot - NRA hits Bennet on gun support, tries to raise volume on senate gun debate

  Gun issues have been relatively muzzled in this U.S. Senate election cycle, but the National Rifle Association is happy to raise the volume with a big buy of radio ads attacking Sen. Michael Bennet and backing Ken B

• The Times Herald - Gender, sports and ... politics

  As I mentioned in my first commentary back in the spring, the first letter I ever wrote to a newspaper was in 1970. I had been the assistant coach of the 1969 Plymouth Little League team that lost in the district finals to Ore

• The Huffington Post - Your request is being processed... The Netflix For Voting? New Website Makes It Easier To Vote From Home

  Driven by a simple yet lofty vision -- to make it easier for more people to vote -- three graduate students at the Harvard Kennedy School developed a voter-registration site called TurboVote to simplify the process of mailing in a ballot.

• Roll Call - Roll Call: Murray Could Decide Senate Control

  The debates are done, the funds raised, the TV airwaves blanketed and the ballots mailed. Now, for Democratic Sen. Patty Murray and Republican Dino Rossi, the focus is on getting people to send in their votes.

• Governing - Ads Are No More Negative In This Election Than Previous Years

  This post written by Ellen Miller, co-founder and executive director of the Sunlight Foundation.

• Governing - Tools for Transparency: Easy Ways to Organize Your Events

  This post was written by, Scott Stadum of the Sunlight Foundation. Tools for Events

• Mother Jones - The GOP's $1,000 Cup of Coffee

  On my way to work each morning, I walk past the Capitol Hill Club, an exclusive Republican Party club in southeastern Washington. With its "Fire Pelosi" sign hanging above the entrance, the CHC looks exactly like where you'd expect Boehner and Co. to hang out: stately and posh—with quite delicious food, too. (Or so I'm told.) But is it swanky enough to charge $1,000 for a cup of coffee?

• Centre Daily Times - Voters’ Guide lets you meet the candidates

  Thanks go today to the Centre County League of Women Voters, who again coordinated our Voters Guide. You’ll find it in the Centre Life section.

• Agence France-Presse - Anti-incumbent fervor threatens job of US senator

  Russ Feingold -- the maverick Democrat who championed campaign finance reform -- is struggling to hang onto his Wisconsin senate seat amid an onslaught of attacks ads aimed at stirring up voter frustration with Washington.

• The St. Petersburg Times - A $1,000 cup of coffee with Cliff Stearns

  U.S. Rep. Cliff Stearns, R-Ocala, has a re-election cake walk next week, but that's not stopping him from raising money. On Friday he won't even be in Florida.

• Detroit Free Press - 7th District Schauer, Walberg race draws independent funding

  The race to win south-central Michigan’s 7th congressional district has attracted more independent spending than any other House campaign in the country.

• The Denver Post - The Spot - Anschutz loyalty to Bennet only goes so far?

  Sen. Michael Bennet frequently touts his private business experience on the campaign trail, having made millions for the Anschutz Corp. as a managing director overseeing oil and gas and movie theater deals. But that hasn’t stopped billionaire Phil Anschutz from helping to bankroll Bennet’s opponents, including a $50,000 contribution to a group running attack ads against Bennet as a “rubber stamp” for Democrats.

• The Seattle Times - Murray-Rossi race draws $12M in independent spending

  Independent groups have poured more money into the race between Patty Murray and Dino Rossi than in all but two U.S. Senate contests, a flood of spending that reflects both a tight battle and the role of large — and secretive — donors in this year's elections.

• Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel - Millions pouring into 7th District tossup race

  Never before in Wisconsin have we seen a congressional campaign quite like the battle up north over the Dave Obey seat.

• The Courier-Post - Defense and energy industries favor Frelinghuysen

  The congressman who could become the most powerful New Jersey House member after the Nov. 2 elections got $126,000 in campaign contributions from two industries he will closely work with.

• CQ Politics - Murray Could Decide Senate Control

  The debates are done, the funds raised, the TV airwaves blanketed and the ballots mailed. Now, for Democratic Sen. Patty Murray and Republican Dino Rossi, the focus is on getting people to send in their votes.

• The Associated Press - Big names hit Ill. in campaign's waning days

  In the final days before the Nov. 2 election, Democrats and Republicans are leaning on party heavyweights, energizing their bases and looking for swing voters in the high-profile races for President Barack Obama's old Senate seat and Illinois governor.

• Chattanooga Times Free Press - Money flows into tight races

  Outside groups, some with murky sources of funding, have dumped about $2.43 million into Tennessee's 4th and 8th Congressional District contests, figures show.

• The Columbus Dispatch - National parties pouring money into 6th District

  Spending by the national parties is on the rise in eastern Ohio's 6th Congressional District.

• Gannett - Defense, energy industries pour thousands into Frelinghuysen's coffers

  The congressman who could become the most powerful New Jersey House member after the Nov. 2 elections got $126,000 in campaign contributions from two industries he will closely work with.

• Omaha World-Herald - Dealings with lobbyists hot issue

  They draft legislation and push for loopholes that benefit their clients.

• The Sacramento Bee - Region, state slammed by political ads

  In one half-hour newscast last week, Sacramento television viewers saw 15 campaign ads packed into three commercial breaks on Channel 3.

• The New York Times - In Colorado, Voters Voice Uncertainty and Anger

  That Americans are angry and anxious heading toward the Nov. 2 elections has become a truism, an assumption built into candidate calculations from the lowest local alderman on up. Plot a voter’s place on the rage scale, and voilà, out pops a prediction of the expected anti-Democrat, or anti-establishment, backlash.

• McClatchy - Meet the lawyer who argued money is speech, and won

  A conservative Indiana lawyer engineered the string of legal victories that have enabled corporations and wealthy individuals to channel tens of millions of dollars into this year's midterm elections secretly, a study by campaign watchdogs has found.

• Gannett - Outside groups spend the most in Blunt, Carnahan Senate race

  Missouri's two U.S. Senate candidates have spent millions of dollars, but neither is the top spender in the race.

• The Morning Call - Outsiders flooding state with campaign ads after court ruling

  The election will be here in nine days and by now there's no escaping campaign ads. The creepy soundtrack, bad lighting, menacing narration — it's all there in this U.S. Senate spot:

• The Courier-Journal - The Senate sticks to the paper trail

  The spittoons are long gone, thank goodness. And the gas lights were replaced with electricity a long, long time ago.

• Youngstown News - Wilson’s campaign chest outweighs Johnson’s

  Though the race for the 6th Congressional District is considered to be close, the incumbent has raised and spent quite a bit more than his Republican challenger.

• Peoria Journal Star - On the Air: Political season – time to attack

  You can't turn on the TV or radio these days without being besieged by "attack ads," those political messages where the chief purpose is to defame the opposition.

• The Sacramento Bee - Outside groups on both sides open wallets in Lungren-Bera House race

  Candy makers and anesthesiologists aren't usually mentioned in the same sentence, but both are among those chipping cash into the battle between Republican Rep. Dan Lungren and Democrat Ami Bera.

• The Boston Globe - The nasty season

  IN THE clutter and hum of campaign ads assaulting the voters in the last weeks of the 2010 campaign, one negative radio spot stands out. It targets Jim McGovern, the Democratic congressman from Worcester, for an answer he gave at a debate in Shrewsbury last week. “I think the Constitution is wrong,’’ McGovern’s voice intones, over and over. The ad goes on to call him “the most radical man in Congress,’’ and darkly notes that “he’s been arrested twice in the last five years.’’

• The Wall Street Journal - Campaigns Find Diminishing Returns

  A torrent of money from outside interest groups has flooded Colorado's U.S. Senate race in recent weeks, dwarfing candidates' own spending, but the contest has shown not so much the power of political cash as its limitations.

• WGN - Huge Anonymous Sums of Money

  The John Williams Show on WGN in Chicago interviewed the Sunlight Foundation's senior writer Paul Blumenthal about how anonymous donations are influencing this year's election.

• KUOW - Big Campaign Spenders, Dicks Vs. Cloud, And Fall Colors Threat

  Who Are The Big Spenders In Washington's Election? Huge amounts of money are pouring into our state to influence the upcoming election. Where's it all coming from? We'll talk to a representative of the Sunlight Foundation, a nonpartisan, nonprofit group "dedicated to creating open government."

• Crain's Cleveland Business Journal - Campaign money flies in Boccieri-Renacci race for House seat

  A few quick thoughts and links for the day:

• The Washington Independent - Who’s the Biggest Outside Political Spender of Them All?

  Critics of the media will allege that The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal have both betrayed their slants today, publishing stories about the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, respectively, each claiming its target to be this election cycle’s top outside spender.

• The Charlotte Observer - Congressional races get big outside money

  As outside groups pour record amounts of money into congressional races across the country, two of their top targets are in the Charlotte area.

• Chicago Sun-Times - Mystery money backing Kirk

  An unprecedented amount of money from outside groups is pouring into the hotly contested Illinois Senate race, most of it to bolster Republican Mark Kirk over Democrat Alexi Giannoulias.

• The Daily Review - Political ads need more accountability

  If political campaign ads seem even more abundant and toxic than usual this year, it's because they probably are.

• The Huffington Post - AFSCME Responds To Critics: Unlike Chamber There's "No Mystery" With Us

  The public employees union American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), defended itself on Friday from charges that the massive funds it has devoted to the 2010 elections diminish the Democratic Party's argument that conservative donors are overwhelming the system.

• Seattle Weekly - Dino Rossi Leads the Nation in Secret Donations with $4.5M

  We've all heard the rhetoric. "Anonymous donors are flooding the election with untraceable cash, subverting our democracy and buying votes." Whether anonymous donations are actually subverting democracy is debatable. What's not debatable is the fact that millions of dollars are indeed being handed to (mostly Republican) candidates from companies that--since the landmark Supreme Court case Citizens United v Federal Election Commission--are under no obligation to tell people who they are. And who's getting more of this secret cash than anyone? Turns out it's GOP Senate candidate Dino Rossi.

• The Atlantic - How to Find Out Who's Spending What and Where

  The Federal Election Commission has finally come up with a handy, searchable database of independent spending in House and Senate races across the country, so we can all find out what's being spent, where it's being spent, and what it's being spent on.

• Wisconsin State-Journal - On the Capitol: In making sense of this campaign, follow the money (if you can)

  Toto recently pulled the curtain back a bit on the issue of political shadow groups, their anonymous donors and the role both are playing in this fall's elections.

• The Washington Post - The Plum Line - Conservative groups have spent up to $75 million in undisclosed funds, dwarfing left

  As you know, the conservative groups that are plowing huge sums of money from undisclosed donors into the midterm elections have been defending their actions by insisting that groups on the left are doing the same.

• The New York Times - Elections: Oshkosh Shrugged

  I’m in Sheboygan!” said Senator Russ Feingold over the phone. “It’s the bratwurst capital of the world!”

• The Standard Speaker - Who's paying for toxic ads?

  If political campaign ads seem even more abundant and toxic than usual this year, it's because they probably are.

• Time Magazine - Swampland - Morning Must Reads: The Big Mo

  --Another poll suggests Pat Toomey's lead over Joe Sestak has evaporated in Pennsylvania. They slugged it out in last night's debate. Read more: http://swampland.blogs.time.com/2010/10/21/morning-must-reads-the-big-mo/#ixzz130cz9fji

• San Francisco Chronicle - Barbara Boxer up 5 points on Carly Fiorina in poll

  Republican first-time candidate Carly Fiorina is closing the gap in her race against Democratic U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer, as many of Boxer's traditional supporters remain undecided about backing the three-term incumbent, according to a survey released Wednesday by the Public Policy Institute of California.

• The Akron Beacon Journal - How big money got even bigger

  In December, Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner issued a directive to county elections boards to grant ballot access to minor parties in this year's races. The old standard for a minor party was that it had to meet a threshold of 5 percent of the vote in the previous statewide general election to gain the all-important party label.

• The Florida Independent - Democratically aligned PAC spends a hefty amount to oppose Southerland

  Though independent expenditures opposing Republican Steve Southerland outnumber those supporting him by approximately $545,000, he isn’t having any trouble staying ahead of opponent Rep. Allen Boyd. This week, a mysterious, Democratically aligned PAC added to the pile of opposition.

• National Review Online - Team Angle Makes Huge Ad Buy, Launches Two New Ads

  The Sharron Angle campaign reportedly made a $1.5 million ad buy Wednesday (H/T: @RalstonFlash). The two new television ads are about to saturate the Nevada airwaves and focus on Harry Reid’s wealth contrasted with that of his struggling constituents.

• KBOI News/Talk 670 - Top Federal Prosecutor Vows Crackdown On Corrupt State Legislators

  One of the nation's top criminal prosecutors said this week that the U.S. Department of Justice is aggressively pursuing cases against corrupt state legislators in several states on the heels of recent arrests in Alabama, where lawmakers have been accused of accepting bribes from gambling lobbyists in exchange for their votes.

• McClatchy - Outside groups keep pouring money into Washington Senate race

  With ballots already sitting on kitchen counters and control of the U.S. Senate up for grabs, a torrent of campaign cash continues to surge into the race between Patty Murray and Dino Rossi as independent groups spent almost $4.5 million in three days this week.

• KTUU - Rising tide of Outside cash fuels political ads

  KTUU in Anchorage, Alaska has a segment about the outside spending in local races that cites data compiled by the Sunlight Foundation.

• The Huffington Post - Open Government Goes to the Theater at Fedtalks

  What did I learn at Fedtalks? The Department of Defense is way ahead of the country on electronic health records. The Veterans Administration's new "Blue Button" is a sorely needed salve to disabled veterans. By 2014, NASA CTO Chris Kemp estimates that Generation Y will be over 47% of the workforce. President Obama knows how to install a Firefox Web browser plug-in. The General Services Administration has a new platform for citizen engagement software. PBS viewers will be able to watch much more public media programming online and on iPads soon. And Craig Newmark wants government to free the nerds.

• Bloomberg Business Week - The Ties that Bind GOP Fundraisers

  A network of Republican-leaning groups is doing what the Grand Old Party and most of its candidates could not: outspend Democrats in the 2010 elections. Fueled by unlimited and often undisclosed donations from corporations and wealthy individuals, these organizations, with names like American Crossroads and the American Action Network, have spent $98 million between Sept. 1 and Oct. 17 on House and Senate races. That's more than three times as much as Democrat-friendly organizations.

• The Columbus Dispatch - The Daily Briefing - Parties up the ante in the 6th District

  Spending by the national parties is on the rise in the eastern Ohio 6th District, with the national GOP today releasing its second ad attacking Rep. Charlie Wilson, D-St.Clairsville and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee shelling out nearly $291,000, apparently to run an ad attacking Republican challenger Bill Johnson.

• Sean Lengell - Some top posts on panels up for grabs

  While House Republicans are jockeying behind the scenes for coveted committee chairmanships should Democrats be ousted from leadership after the midterm elections, many political insiders don't expect a drastic reshuffling of leadership within the GOP.

• Politics Daily - The Campaign Money Trap: Reformers Become Flip-Floppers When Victory Is in Sight

  Railing about money in politics -- too much, too secret, too influential -- is a surefire way for politicians to signal that they are high-minded reformers. But it's also a pretty good way to earn the tag of hypocrite or flip-flopper.

• Charleston Daily Mail - Raese supporters spend more on ads

  With two weeks to go before Election Day, opponents of Democratic Gov. Joe Manchin have outspent his supporters 3-2.

• ABC News - Good Morning America - Caught on Tape: A Lobbyist's Golf Party for Lawmakers

  The arrest of four Alabama state legislators and three lobbyists has exposed what has long been a too cozy relationship between the two groups, say critics.

• The Hill - Moran to fundraise at musical with 'very adult content'

  Rep. Jim Moran (D-Va.) will hold a fundraiser next week at the Kennedy Center for the opening night of a musical that his campaign warns contains "very adult content."

• The Wall Street Journal - Washington Wire - Report: Half of Outside Campaign Spending Can’t Be Traced

  More than half of the money spent by outside groups on the 2010 elections is untraceable, according to an analysis of Federal Election Commission data by the nonpartisan Sunlight Foundation, which monitors campaign finance.

• ABC News - World News Tonight - Political Corruption in State Houses

  Brian Ross investigates accusations of corruption in state governments.

• CQ Politics - Taegan Goddard's Political Wire - The Rise of Dark Money

  Sunlight Foundation: "Of the $189 million spent so far by Super PACs, non-profits and labor unions to influence the 2010 mid-term elections, $97.5 million has come from groups that do not disclose any donors, an analysis of Federal Election Commission contribution records shows. That is, about 52 percent of the money spent so far on everything from political ads to phone banks to fliers promoting or opposing federal candidates has come from groups that don't disclose the sources of their funds."

• ABC News - Nightline - Conduct Unbecoming

  "Nightline" investigates a nationwide rash of state legislators behaving badly.

• WOI-DT - State Legislator Misconduct

  WOI-DT in Des Moines, Iowa repackaged the recent ABC segment and included a quote from the Sunlight Foundation's executive director Ellen Miller.

• National Journal - CFI Care

  The Campaign Finance Institute estimates political cmtes and non-profits will spend $564M this year -- $334M by pro-GOP groups and $230M by pro-Dem groups (Schlesinger/Dwyer, ABCNews.com, 10/19).

• National Journal - Palin Likes Raese For Pennsylvania

  Ex-AK Gov. Sarah Palin (R) "has thrown her support behind" '84/'06 nominee/'88 GOV candidate/industrialist John Raese, but she "also temporarily relocated" his bid to PA in a 10/18 tweet that Dems "were quick to seize on" (AP, 10/19).

• Colorado Public Radio - Outside Campaign Money Flooding CO

  Every morning, Nancy Watzman gets up in her Denver house and turns on a half hour of TV news. She’s not trying to catch up on current events, instead she's actually watching for the commercials. Watzman: "I hear a lot of ominous music. Getting a little dizzy from that."

• KTUU TV - Miller files FEC complaint against Murkowski backers

  Joe Miller filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission Wednesday, accusing the Native corporations behind the group Alaskans Standing Together of illegally spending more than $1 million in support of Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s campaign.

• Denver Daily News - Little damage for Buck?

  Despite heavy media coverage, one political pundit doesn't think Republican U.S. Senate candidate Ken Buck's saying that being gay is partially a choice, like being an alcoholic, will have a significant impact on the election.

• The News Tribune - Independent groups ramp up election spending

  Independent groups have nearly doubled their spending in the U.S. Senate race in Washington state in the past 10 days as Republicans especially realize that control of the chamber could depend on the outcome of the race between Democratic Sen. Patty Murray and GOP challenger Dino Rossi.

• Politico - Wall Streeters fill CFTC's dance card

  A government regulator tasked with implementing the new Wall Street reforms has met with special interest groups almost 200 times since President Barack Obama signed the reforms into law last summer, according to an analysis by the Sunlight Foundation, a group that works for greater government transparency.

• Politico - Big Labor invests in voter turnout

  Republican groups this year are doing the flashy multimillion-dollar ad buys.

• The Times-Tribune - 'Free' speech unaccountable

  If political campaign ads seem even more abundant and toxic than usual this year, it's because they probably are.

• Anchorage Daily News - Alaska Politics Blog - Alaskans Standing Together: Murkowski's name on their form was a mistake

  Independent expenditure committees have had a huge role in this year's midterm elections across the country and in the Alaska Senate race, where so far they've contributed $1.9 million.

• The Huffington Post - Your request is being processed... Flow Of Political Money From Outside Groups To Colorado Races DOUBLED Last Week

  The Denver Post: Outside political money being spent in Colorado more than doubled last week to over $23 million, dropping even the most cynical jaws and boosting calls for campaign-finance reform just after the election.

• CBS News - Political Hotsheet - Big Election Spenders Revealed

  This may be our first comprehensive look at the muscle being put forth by well-funded interest groups after the Supreme Court loosened some campaign fundraising and spending rules.

• The Daily Herald - District 4 forest preserve candidates outline their key issues

  On Nov. 2, voters will choose between two Glen Ellyn men vying to represent District 4 on the DuPage Forest Preserve Commission.

• The Taunton Daily Gazette - OUR VIEW: The anonymous campaign donors and what they want

  Between the Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling, which removed all limits on corporate political spending, and a new set of organizations operating under a provision in the tax code that allows donors to remain anonymous, it’s getting harder than ever to tell who’s behind this year’s campaign commercials — or what they hope to get in return.

• MSNBC - Secret Campaign Spending

  MSNBC's Countdown with Keith Olbermann had a segment about campaign spending that used data and a visualization from the Sunlight Foundation.

• National Journal - Bill-able Hours

  On 10/18 in Everett, Bill Clinton "put forth a roaring defense" of Dem ideals "in a spirited rally to energize get-out-the-vote efforts on behalf" of Sen. Patty Murray (D). Clinton: "She's done a good job for America."

• The MetroWest Daily News - Editorial: What the anonymous campaign donors want

  Between the Supreme Court's Citizens United ruling, which removed all limits on corporate political spending, and a new set of organizations operating under a provision in the tax code that allows donors to remain anonymous, it's getting harder than ever to tell who's behind this year's campaign commercials - or what they hope to get in return.

• The Columbus Dispatch - The Daily Briefing - National GOP airs new anti-Space ad

  The National GOP is continuing to put its money behind a claim that Rep. Zack Space, D-Dover, is vulnerable to a challenge from Republican Bob Gibbs, a state senator from Lakeville, in the rural and socially conservative eastern and southern Ohio 18th district.

• The Columbus Dispatch - The Daily Briefing - Portman cash advantage over Fisher: 16 to 1

  When The Dispatch did a story for Saturday's paper on the state of the U.S. Senate race in Ohio, it was obvious about how big a cash advantage Republican Rob Portman had over Democrat Lee Fisher, but Fisher wasn't talking publicly Friday about just how much cash he had left in his coffers.

• The Washington Examiner - Lisa Murkowski swears she's not illegally coordinating with Lisa Murkowski's campaign

  Lisa Murkowski's lobbyist friends have launched a "Super PAC," called "Alaskans Standing Together," funded by 6-figure checks from Alaska Native Corporations, which are subsidized by the likes of Lisa Murkowski. I cover this racket in my column today, but the Sunlight Foundation yesterday noticed something odd about AST's campaign finance filings.

• WGAL - Raising Campaign Cash

  WGAL in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania ran a piece about raising campaign cash that cites the Sunlight Foundation's Party Time project and interviews editorial director Bill Allison.

• Talk Radio News Service - Nearly $100 Million Spent Against Democrats This Year By GOP Groups

  The non-partisan Sunlight Foundation reports today that total outside spending on midterm election campaigns has reached almost $265 million. Independent expenditures have accounted for over $218 million of that, according to the organization’s website.

• Bloomberg Business Week on MSNBC - 'Shadow Parties' Share Leaders and Republican Roots

  The outside groups spending record amounts to help elect Republicans this year are required to work independently of the campaigns. The ties that bind them to the party ensure that there isn't too much distance. Many of the leaders are veterans of President George W. Bush's administration, former Republican elected officials, past chairmen of the Republican National Committee, or ex-aides to Republican lawmakers, records show. And the groups themselves share a political agenda, including opposition to the health- care overhaul and tax increases.

• KUSA 9 News - TRUTH TEST QUICK HIT: Buck and Colorado schools

  Throughout the 2010 political season, 9NEWS will hold those who run political ads on our networks accountable for what they say.

• The Times-Tribune: Political Buzz - Follow the Money: Outside groups spending big on Rossi

  Independent groups have nearly doubled their spending in the Washington state Senate race in the past 10 days as Republicans especially realize control of the chamber could depend on the outcome of the race between Democratic Sen. Patty Murray and GOP challenger Dino Rossi.

• Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel - Outside money making inroads

  From where he sits in Washington, D.C., conservative activist David Keating would like nothing more than to see Russ Feingold gone from the U.S. Senate.

• The Denver Post - Outside political money floods into Colorado races

  Outside political money being spent in Colorado more than doubled last week to over $23 million, dropping even the most cynical jaws and boosting calls for campaign-finance reform just after the election.

• WBIR - Information on TN House races just a click away

  Rep. Lincoln Davis has spent exactly 10 minutes 48 seconds speaking on the House floor so far this year, talking about everything from the importance of job growth to the legacy of Bluegrass legend Lester Flatt.

• CSPAN - Washington Journal on October 17th, 2010

  CSPAN's Washington Journal mentioned the Sunlight Foundation (and showcased the website) as a resource to track government spending after a caller commented on the current national debt.

• The Courier-Journal - 'Them that got shall get; them that don't shall lose'

  This 2010 mid-term election cycle is one of the nastiest, filthiest and ignorant that I can recall. Contributing factors include the insatiable 24/7 cable news cycle, technology that makes it possible for big-A lies to circle the globe within seconds, and a Republican Party so desperate to win that it seems as if just about any stumble bum or brunette who chants “I hate Barack Obama” can get on the ballot with an R behind his or her name — even sometimes at the expense of longtime party loyalists, who don't like the President's agenda either, but can't in good conscience get down with the Palin-Beck-Limbaugh program.

• WESH - Washington Fundraisers Found with Party Time

  WESH in Orlando, Florida has a television segment about fundraising events in Washington that interviews the Sunlight Foundation's editorial director Bill Allison about the Party Time project and events leading up to the elections.

• Detroit Free Press - Obama: Dems can win if voters can tune out attack

  President Barack Obama said Friday that Democrats can prevail in next month's midterm elections if voters focus on what he and his party have accomplished -- rather than on the flood of attack ads from special-interest organizations enabled by the Supreme Court.

• Flathead Beacon - Outside Spending Surpasses $200 million

  While this is a relatively sleepy mid-term election in Montana with few statewide races, that is not the case elsewhere. Spending by outside groups has skyrocketed when compared to four years ago, according to the Sunlight Foundation.

• ABC News - The Note - The Note: Off To An Early Start

  EARLY LINE ON EARLY VOTING. No need to wait until Nov. 2 -- more than 40 states are participating in some form of early voting this year and we’re already seeing the results. In Iowa, for example, 119,430 early votes have been cast so far, according to the Iowa Secretary of State’s Office. That represents 13 percent of the total number of votes cast in 2006. Of this first batch, 42.1 percent were registered Democrats, 28.9 percent registered Republicans and 28.9 percent independents. “I’m just blown away by these numbers, given everything we’ve been told about the enthusiasm gap,” George Mason University political science Professor Michael McDonald said in an interview with ABC News. McDonald, an expert in voting statistics and trends, said he’s also seen some positive signs for Democrats in certain Ohio counties. “I don’t know what the heck to make out of what we’re seeing out of Iowa and Ohio,” he said. “I feel like I’m in 2008, it’s like déjà vu all over again.” If this is a national phenomenon, Professor McDonald said it would really start kicking in this weekend when more states open up early voting locations, but he cautioned that it was too early to tell exactly what it all means. For example, Iowa's Democratic Gov. Chet Culver is still is bad shape against his Republican challenger, former Gov. Terry Branstad. That’s not likely to change, but early voters could potentially help Democrats in some tight House races in the Hawkeye State.

• The Washington Post - The Plum Line - The Morning Plum - October 15th, 2010

  * Calling the Nevada debate for Sharron Angle: Nevada top-dog journalist Jon Ralston, who has a good read on the Nevada electorate, says she won, because she managed to avoid appearing as "the Wicked Witch of the West."

• Bloomberg - `Shadow Parties' Share Leaders, Republican Roots in Congress Campaigns

  The outside groups spending record amounts to help elect Republicans this year are required to work independently of the campaigns. The ties that bind them to the party ensure that there isn’t too much distance.

• USA Today - Campaign spending by outside groups skyrockets

  Spending by outside groups to influence congressional races surged past the $220 million mark this week, as party committees and conservative groups pumped last-minute cash into ads in advance of the Nov. 2 elections.

• The Washington Independent - Are the Political Party Committees Becoming Irrelevant?

  Today is third-quarter Federal Election Commission filing day, which means it’s the last day for candidates and political committees to report their hauls (and the donors behind them) to the FEC before the November 2 elections. Between now and then, committees will be required to file 24-hour reports indicating how much money they spend on any new campaign advertisements, but that’s it.

• WCVB - Washington Fundraising

  WCVB in Boston had a segment recently about raising money for campaigns at events in Washington that cites the Sunlight Foundation's Party Time project and quotes editorial director Bill Allison.

• WPBF - Campaign Fundraising in Washington

  WPBF in West Palm Beach Florida had a segment about fundraisers taking place before the election in Washington and interviews the Sunlight Foundation's editorial director Bill Allison.

• KHOG - Fundraising for Campaign Cash

  KHOG in Northwest Arkansas had a segment about campaign fundraising in Washington that cites the Sunlight Foundation's Political Party Time project and quotes editorial director Bill Allison.

• KITV - Campaign Dash for Cash

  KITV in Honolulu ran a segment with their Washington correspondent about fundraising in the nation's Capitol that quotes the Sunlight Foundation's editorial director Bill Allison and cites data from the Party Time project.

• KMBC - Fundraising Frenzy

  KMBC in Kansas City did a piece about the 'Fundraising Frenzy' in Washington and cites data from the Sunlight Foundation's Party Time site and quotes editorial director Bill Allison.

• WAPT - Stuffing Campaign Cash Coffers

  WAPT in Jackson, Mississippi has a news story about candidates building up their campaign cash coffers that cites data from the Sunlight Foundation's Party Time project and quotes editorial director Bill Allison.

• WMTW - Dash for Cash

  WMTW has a piece about the rush to raise money from fundraisers in Washington that cites invitations from the Sunlight Foundation's Party Time project and quotes editorial director Bill Allison.

• WMUR - Fundraising in Washington

  WMUR in New Hampshire ran a piece about fundraising in Washington that quotes the Sunlight Foundation's editorial director Bill Allison and cites invitations from the Party Time project.

• WXII - Dash for Campaign Cash in Washington

  WXII in North Carolina ran the piece with the Sunlight Foundation's editorial director Bill Allison about campaign fundraisers that take place in Washington and were found thanks to the Party Time project.

• WBAL - Candidates Dash For Cash

  While the President draws more midterm money for candidates, many of them are coming to Washington to fill up their war chest.

• National Journal - They've Got Their Flippy-Floppies

  National Journal's Cook writes, So what are pollsters and strategists seeing in 2010? Unquestionably, GOPers are still headed for a big year. My hunch is that GOP gains will be roughly comparable to '94, when the party picked up 52 House seats and eight Senate seats. Over the past two weeks, Dem performance has improved in some places and deteriorated in others, making any sweeping generalizations difficult.

• The Durango Herald - National parties enter Salazar-Tipton fray with negative ads

  National parties have jumped into the race between Democratic U.S. Rep. John Salazar and Republican challenger Scott Tipton of Cortez.

• Fairbanks Daily News-Miner - Political action committee directs big bucks to Lisa Murkowski

  A political-action committee supporting the write-in candidacy of Sen. Lisa Murkowski has raised its $805,000 war chest entirely through corporate contributions, according to filings with the Federal Election Commission.

• Mother Jones - It's a Bird! It's a Plane! It's ... SUPER PAC!

  A new Super PAC, Alaskans Standing Together, has launched to support Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski's write-in bid to hold her seat. The Sunlight Foundation reports that records from the Federal Election Commission show this to be the first Super PAC receiving money exclusively from corporations. Super PACs are a new development in electoral politics, facilitated by the Supreme Court's decision in Citizen's United, which allowed groups that make independent campaign expenditures to raise unlimited amounts of money from corporations or individuals.

• The Washington Independent - How Has Angle Kept Up With Harry Reid?

  Most Democrats and even many Republicans agree that Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) lucked out in a major way when he drew tea party candidate Sharron Angle as his GOP challenger for Senate in 2010. So why, on the eve of his first (and only) debate with Angle — and less than three weeks until elections — has Reid been unable to leave her in the dust?

• The Plain Dealer - Democrats pump an extra $788,000 into Ohio congressional races

  The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee filed federal election reports today that show it's purchased its first ads against the Republican opponent of St. Clairsville Democratic Rep. Charlie Wilson: Bill Johnson, a retired Air Force officer who is now an executive at an electronic components company. The group spent $64,820.

• Chattanooga Free Press - National GOP steps into 4th District race

  Saying it sees an opportunity for an upset, the National Republican Campaign Committee has jumped into Tennessee’s 4th Congressional District campaign with an independent expenditure blasting U.S. Rep. Lincoln Davis, D-Tenn.

• The New York Times - Colorado Candidate’s Brother Lies Low

  The Salazar family name has been a leading political brand in Colorado for years. It has also been shorthand for a big-thought Democratic Party strategy of carrying the West that the Salazar brothers, John and Ken, helped invent and articulate as shoulder-to-shoulder voices of deep-country Colorado, where they grew up and where John still runs the family potato farm. The Salazar formula: rural and urban coalitions around centrist, libertarian-tinged politics, mixing support for gun rights with an ability to look natural in a cowboy hat.

• The Huffington Post - NRSC Admits Connection To 'Hicky' Ad, Fires Responsible Vendor

  The National Republican Senatorial Committee fired one of its ad vendors on Thursday after reports emerged linking the firm to a controversial casting call, in which it asked for "hicky" actors to portray West Virginians upset with Gov. Joe Manchin's Senate run.

• WJAC - Campaign Spending in Local Races

  WJAC in Johnstown, Pennsylvania has a segment about campaign advertising spending that interviews the Sunlight Foundation's editorial director Bill Allison.

• WPXI - Campaign Ad Spending

  WPXI in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania had a mention about the amount of campaign ads in the area and discussed the sources with the Sunlight Foundation's editorial director Bill Allison.

• The Washington Independent - Support for Alaska ‘Super PAC’ Backing Murkowski Comes Entirely From Federal Contractors

  More data are in concerning the new Super PAC, Alaskans Standing Together, formed to back Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) in her write-in re-election bid for Senate. The group’s FEC filings reveal that all nine of its contributors are Alaska Native corporations that have previously secured business through federal contracts. The Sunlight Foundation notes that one of the donors even says as much in a press release:

• Government Computer News - New York is looking for a few Big Apps

  New York City, continuing a government trend, is opening up 350 datasets from its agencies to software developers in its BigApps 2.0 contest. The idea is for contestants to create beneficial apps for city residents, but the winners will benefit too – the contest is offering $20,000 in prize money.

• The Huffington Post - Your request is being processed... Super PAC 'Alaskans Standing Together' Using Unlimited Corporate Donations To Help Keep Murkowski In Office

  A new Super PAC, an organization that, thanks to the Supreme Court's Citizens United ruling, is allowed to draw unlimited contributions from any type of donor, has sprouted up in the Frontier State to help Sen. Lisa Murkowski in her write-in campaign effort.

• Jackson Free Press - Eyes on Spending

  One of the great things about government transparency is its trans-partisan appeal. Conservatives can distrust government just as much as liberals, sometimes more. Still, when it comes to high-tech watchdog organizations and initiatives, most innovation seems to come from vaguely progressive, if officially nonpartisan, sources.

• Minneapolis Star-Tribune - Bachmann campaign opens checkbooks – and eyes

  U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann, already a presence on the national stage, stunned the political world with news that she has raised $10 million for her reelection bid -- more than any other House candidate in the country has ever collected.

• Politico - $198 million spent on ads in 5 weeks

  Candidates, political parties and special interest groups have spent nearly $200 million in advertising on House and Senate races during the past five weeks, a 75 percent increase from the same period in 2008, according to a study by the Wesleyan Media Project released Wednesday.

• The Washington Post - As campaign money pours in, so do complaints

  The 2010 midterm elections are likely to set records for spending by outside interest groups - and are already setting a healthy pace for complaints with the Federal Election Commission and the Internal Revenue Service.

• Politico - Contractors for Murkowski

  This is pretty straightforward:

• The Plain Dealer - Outside political groups are playing fast and loose with the facts

  Groups spending lots of money on commercials before the Nov. 2 congressional elections are dominating the airwaves with claims that repeatedly mar the truth.

• The Washington Independent - The Secret World of ALEC’s Hacks

  In early August, an obscure measure called Proposition C — which prohibits the government from mandating the purchase of health insurance — passed overwhelmingly in a Missouri referendum and soon became national news. While seen by many legal scholars as a largely symbolic act of defiance, the new statute will likely lead to yet another legal showdown over the implementation of the Affordable Care Act and was seized upon by conservatives as a sign of growing disillusionment with the president’s agenda.

• The Florida Independent - How the American Legislative Exchange Council turned health care repeal into a national wave

  In early August, an obscure measure called Proposition C — which prohibits the government from mandating the purchase of health insurance — passed overwhelmingly in a Missouri referendum and soon became national news. While seen by many legal scholars as a largely symbolic act of defiance, the new statute will likely lead to yet another legal showdown over the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, and was seized upon by conservatives as a sign of growing disillusionment with the president’s agenda.

• The National Journal's CongressDaily - Industry Bolsters a Democrat In Kanjorski

  In a tight rematch of his close 2008 election, Rep. Paul Kanjorski, D-Pa., is picking up crucial support from the financial services industry, which has been cool to many of his fellow Democrats after passage of the financial regulatory overhaul law.

• The Plain Dealer - Ganley ad switch marks strategy change, not capitulation, his campaign says

  Brecksville auto dealer Tom Ganley's decision to switch his campaign advertising from broadcast television to cable and radio marks a strategy change rather than an admission that he's giving up his race for Congress against Copley Township Democratic Rep. Betty Sutton, his campaign says.

• Gannett - Endangered incumbents stuff mailboxes at taxpayer expense

  The four Ohio members of Congress tapped as most vulnerable this November have spent the most taxpayer money on mass communications throughout their current term.

• Agence France Press - Are US elections for sale? Mid-term polls find out

  She made millions of dollars from big men slamming each other into the floor and now wrestling entrepreneur Linda McMahon hopes her financial muscle will secure a US Senate seat in next month's mid-term polls.

• National Journal - Three Times A Lady

  Seattle Times endorsed Sen.Patty Murray(D), saying "on almost every topic, Murray is studied and has an answer" (10/8). Portland Oregonian also endorsed Murray, saying she "both built influence and displayed strong connections to the concerns" of WA (10/8) as did TacomaNews-Tribune, who said "We don't excuse her dirty campaigning, which is puzzling given her strong record in office. It's that record, in spite of her disconcerting attacks, that earned our endorsement" (10/11).

• The Indian Express - Here comes the bribe

  A Goan is compelled to pay a Rs 70,000 bribe for permission to rebuild his family home in Margao after he is told, “Can’t be done, sir, not until...” For refusing to pay off a municipal employee, a 45-year old man in Ahmedabad is kept waiting a year to get his birth certificate. A New Delhi resident buckles and palms a 100-rupee note to a policeman accusing him of illegally operating his car as a cab while driving a foreigner friend to Agra.

• The Los Angeles Daily News - Legislation shouldn't be rushed

  Would you sign a contract without reading it? Would you make a major decision, such as buying a house or taking a job, without eyeballing the details? Hopefully the answer is no.

• McClatchy - Washington state Senate race flooded by outside donors

  A group founded by Republican political operative Karl Rove has dropped $800,000 on television advertising opposing Democratic Sen. Patty Murray, just part of the independent expenditures that have flooded into the Washington state Senate race in the past week.

• CBS - Outside Group Campaign Spending

  WFRV News in Northeastern Wisconsin has a segment about campaign advertising and spending following the Citizens United Supreme Court ruling that cites data from the Sunlight Foundation's Reporting Group.

• NBC - Decision 2010 - Senate Dollars

  NBC-KING 5 News in Seattle Washington has a brief segment about independent expenditures in local elections that cites data from the Sunlight Foundation.

• NWCN - Campaign Contributions to Washington Senate Race

  NWCN (Northwest Cable News) had a brief mention of data gathered by the Sunlight Foundation, particularly looking at Crossroads GPS and the Senate race in Washington State:

• The Akron Beacon Journal - Campaign gusher

  Ohio is no stranger to big spending in political campaigns. What's opened the floodgates this year in battleground states across the country is a January ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court. In its Citizens United decision, the court misguidedly opened the financial floodgates, overturning decades of federal campaign finance law to clear the way for corporations and unions to spend unlimited amounts on television ads and other activities that urge voters to support or oppose candidates.

• The Washington Times - Political 'outsiders' coming in for cash

  Republican Trey Gowdy has lots to say about Washington politics in his campaign for a congressional seat in South Carolina — and much of it isn't too flattering.

• ABC News - From Football Suites to Bourbon Tastings, Washington Fundraisers Flourish as Elections Near

  With election season well underway and the Senate wrapping up nearly a week after the House adjourned, members of congress are getting down to the important business of throwing fundraisers.

• The Hill's On the Money - Washington Post Co. hires Raben Group to lobby on for-profit college regulations

  The Washington Post Company is turning to a K Street firm to lobby on a regulatory proposal that could impact Kaplan, Inc., its profitable education subsidiary.

• The Associated Press - Who’s Saying What In Colorado’s Campaign Ads

  Colorado Voters Are Bombarded With Political Ads These Days, And Many Of Them Are Coming From Outside Interest Groups Hoping To Sway Voters A Look At Some Of The Messages Popping...

• The Boston Globe - Donor names stay secret as nonprofits politick

  Sandy Greiner is a 64-year-old grandmother of six, farming corn and soybeans in Iowa while running for the state Senate. She’s also steering one of the biggest efforts to inject unrestricted and anonymous funding into the midterm elections, financing ads around the country in an attempt to win Republican majorities.

• WNYC - 30 Issues Wonk Wars: Earmarks

  Tad DeHaven, budget analyst at the Cato Institute; Gabriela Schneider of the open-government group the Sunlight Foundation; and Scott Lilly, senior fellow at American Progress, on why earmarks are what brings important dollars to local needs.

• The Plain Dealer - Business lobby makes big ad buys in Ohio political races

  This country's big business lobby, led by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, is smart. It is rich as well. We'll get to the source of that money momentarily.

• The Boston Globe - Donor names stay secret as nonprofits politic

  Sandy Greiner is a 64-year-old grandmother of six, farming corn and soybeans in Iowa while running for the state Senate. She’s also steering one of the biggest efforts to inject unrestricted and anonymous funding into the midterm elections, financing ads around the country in an attempt to win Republican majorities.

• The Statesman Journal - 'Independent' groups wield more election influence

  The man most responsible for the Supreme Court decision allowing corporations to be more directly involved in politics says that fears of corporate takeover of campaigns were overblown, and that attacks on corporate funding of political ads come from a left-wing that has long employed similar tactics through unions and interest groups supported by wealthy donors.

• CNN - Spending Spree?

  CNN Politics with John King did a segment on the spending in the midterm elections that featured the Sunlight Foundation's editorial director Bill Allison.

• The Pacific Northwest Inlander - Out of Focus

  Stories about the Senate matchup between incumbent Sen. Patty Murray and her Republican challenger, Dino Rossi, invariably describe the race as an important one. It’s a “flashpoint in the national fight for the Senate,” or a way to “[clean] out some of the bad spots in Congress.”

• Roll Call - House GOP Earmark Transparency Website Goes Dark

  A House Republican website that provided a searchable database of federal earmark requests has disappeared.

• Wall Street Journal - Campaign Wire

  Rush to Leave Town Pauses for Cash

• The Livingston Daily - 'Outside groups' are wielding more election influence

  The man most responsible for the Supreme Court decision allowing corporations to be more directly involved in politics said that fears of corporate takeovers of campaigns were overblown, and that attacks on corporate funding of political ads come from a left wing that has long employed similar tactics through unions and interest groups supported by wealthy donors.

• The Denver Post - Colorado Senate race ranks first nationally in attracting outside money

  Colorado's U.S. Senate race ranks first in the country for attracting outside money — most of it paying for ads against GOP Senate hopeful Ken Buck and his Democratic opponent, incumbent Sen. Michael Bennet.

• The Washington Independent - As Conservative Groups Release New Campaign Ads, Watchdog Groups Ask IRS to Investigate

  Two groups conceived by Karl Rove and former RNC chairman Ed Gillespie have new independent expenditure ads today in two U.S. Senate races, opposing Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) and supporting Florida candidate Marco Rubio (R). The ads appear as campaign finance watchdog organizations wrote a letter to the IRS today asking it to investigate the 501(c)(4) tax status of one of those groups, American Crossroads Grassroots Policy Strategies (GPS).

• Politico - Rahm Emanuel's rough opening day

  Former White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel’s first day on the campaign trail in the Chicago mayoral race didn’t exactly go as planned.

• Wall Street Journal - Washington Wire - Lawmakers Raise Funds Before Leaving D.C.

  Rarely have members of Congress been as eager to get out of town as recently, when, mindful of anti-Washington sentiment, they have adjourned to go home and campaign.

• Roll Call - DCCC Still Holding Funds for Late TV Push

  House and Senate Republicans kicked off October with several aggressive independent expenditure moves aimed at putting Democrats further on the defensive with just weeks to go before Election Day.

• The Huffington Post - Huffpost Hill - October 5th, 2010

  The echo chamber nearly punctured our eardrums as media watchers blathered on about the move by Howard Kurtz -- a trailblazer of new media at CNN and the Washington Post -- to the Daily Beast. But how will we know what to think without an evenhanded Kurtz column to lay it out? Despite our best efforts, we still couldn't drown out the noise: Joe Miller has said that state legislatures should pick our senators (and recent history has proven them to be real bastions of character), RedState is blasting a congressional candidate for not vetting every single lodger at a motel he owns and Michael Steele, champion of the little guy, doesn't know what the minimum wage is. This is HUFFPOST HILL for Tuesday, October 5th, 2010:

• The Florida Independent - American Crossroads, American Crossroads GPS release new ads, one supporting Rubio

  Two groups conceived by former Bush White House Senior Advisor Karl Rove and former RNC chairman Ed Gillespie have new independent expenditure ads opposing Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., and supporting Republican Florida candidate for U.S. Senate Marco Rubio. The ads appear the same day as campaign finance watchdog organizations wrote a letter to the IRS asking them to investigate the 501(c)(4) tax status of one of those groups, American Crossroads Grassroots Policy Strategies (GPS).

• The Huffington Post - West Virginia Conservative Foundation's New Ad Warns Of Rep. Nick Rahall's Outreach

  Rep. Nick Rahall (D-W.Va.) is the target of a well-funded attack campaign by a conservative nonprofit called the West Virginia Conservative Foundation (WVCF), which is airing an ad questioning the congressman's outreach to the Arab-American community.

• CNN - Secret Spenders Trying to Sway Voters

  CNN's Anderson Cooper 360 had a segment about campaign advertising during the 2010 election cycle that featured the Sunlight Foundation's Bill Allison:

• The Oregonian - Cancer care lobbyists raise money for Oregon lawmakers

  Three Oregon members of Congress have benefited from Capitol Hill fundraisers hosted by two lobbyists for US Oncology, a $3 billion-plus firm that provides cancer services to doctors.

• WNYC - Wonk Wars: What's So Bad About Earmarks?

  Welcome to Wonk Wars, a weekly feature from It's A Free Country as part of the Brian Lehrer Show's 30 Issues in 30 Days. Early each week, we'll post one of those issues in the Wonk Wars sections of the website and invite two or more policy experts to start the discussion online, along with your input. Then, each Thursdays, the conversation continues on-air at the Brian Lehrer Show.

• The Commercial Appeal - Gubernatorial candidate Bill Haslam refuses to release tax returns

  Here in the shadow of Chilhowee Mountain, Memphis transplant Susan McGroom relishes her "slice of heaven," yet worries over a budding real estate development backed by a group of high-powered investors that includes Republican gubernatorial nominee Bill Haslam.

• Knoxville News-Sentinel - Humphrey on the Hill - TN Political Notebook, Weekend Edition

  Surrogate Susan & Tea Parties State Rep. Susan Lynn, R-Mount Juliet, is working the tea party circuit on behalf of Knoxville Mayor Bill Haslam, a candidate who has been less than popular with the tea party crowd, reports Chas Sisk. She has planned a four-event tour to Cleveland, Munford, Camden and Humphreys County.

• The Washington Times - Top '08 political donors tighter in 2010

  Yalcin Ayasli isn't a name familiar to most Americans, but in political fundraising circles, he's known as a heavy hitter.

• The Tennessean - TN 8th District race between Stephen Fincher, Roy Herron is hotly contested

  It should be pretty obvious by now that the campaign for the open 8th District House seat is the most hotly contested congressional race in the state.

• The Times of India - City's bribe drive inspires US

  'Ipaidabribe', a campaign which has created a buzz in the city, is likely to be replicated in the US. Impressed by the crusade against corruption launched by Janaagraha, US-based Sunlight Foundation, which is working towards digitalizing government documents in states, is mulling over launching a similar website there.

• The Journal Gazette - Issue groups’ spending mainly aids GOP

  From TV ads to bus tours, advocacy groups have spent more than $1.7 million in the past two months trying to encourage Hoosiers to vote against three Democratic candidates on Nov. 2.

• The Hill's Hillicon Valley - White House visitor logs show Rahm spent quality time with the media

  Judging by the list of journalists he's met with while serving as White House chief of staff, Rahm Emmanuel won't have any trouble attracting media attention for his campaign to be mayor of Chicago.

• The Columbus Dispatch - Ohio races not a big draw for outside groups' campaign donations

  When the National Association of Realtors spent about $320,000 on a television ad this week supporting Rep. Pat Tiberi, that brought to more than $4.1 million the amount lavished on Ohio races this election by independent group

• The Washington Independent - Reading the Tea Leaves of Rahm’s White House Visits

  Now that Rahm Emanuel has officially bid his adieu to the White House, Paul Blumenthal at the Sunlight Foundation figured it would be a good time to trawl through the White House visitor logs to see who visited the famously gruff chief of staff during his tenure and what it might mean for his future mayoral bid in Chicago:

• Federal News Radio - Rahm Emanuel's White House visitor trail

  E-government is increasing government transparency, including making available the names of White House visitors.

• Slate - Weigel - Rahm's White House Visits

  The Sunlight Foundation lists them, painting a picture of a couple things; his power base in Chicago, the connections he maintained to the conservative Democrats he pulled into office, and, interestingly, the journalists who got face time: Jonathan Alter, Karen Tumulty, Noam Schieber, Fred Hiatt, Ryan Lizza, Ron Fournier, Candy Crowley, Tom Friedman, Susan Page, David Ignatius, David Wessel, Mark Halperin, Katty Kay and David Leonhardt. And maybe Murdoch.

• The Wall Street Journal - Deal Journal - Which Wall Street Officials Had Rahm Emanuel’s Ear?

  Rahm Emanuel, the departing White House chief of staff and possible future mayor of Chicago, was courted by a litany of Wall Street officials and business leaders since he swept into power with President Obama.

• Mother Jones - Rahm and Rupert

  Did Rahm Emanuel and Rupert Murdoch huddle together at the Obama White House?

• Federal News Radio - Sunlight Foundation Reports on White House Visitor Logs

  The Dorobek Insider discussed the Sunlight Foundation's recent piece about Rahm Emanuel and the White House visitor logs before his departure.

• Multichannel News - Update: Comcast's Cohen On Emanuel Visitors List

  The Sunlight Foundation found a number of interesting names on a just-released list of the folks who had met with White House exiting chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, but one they did not highlight was one David L. Cohen and meetings on Dec. 3 and April 15.

• The Washington Post - Want to know whom Rahm Emanuel hung out with?

  The Sunlight Foundation pulled together all of his video logs and plugged them into sortable data player:

• Los Angeles Times - Times launching database that maps, analyzes crime reports across L.A. County

  For car thieves working the streets of Los Angeles County, few stretches of pavement are more attractive than the two blocks of Alondra Boulevard that run from the 605 Freeway to Studebaker Road. At least 20 vehicles were stolen there in a recent six-month period.

• The Plain Dealer - Outside groups spend nearly $3.7 million in Ohio's congressional races

  Outside groups have paid nearly $3.7 million for their own commercials, fliers, bumper stickers and staff salaries in hopes of swaying your vote in Ohio's congressional races this year.

• USA Today - Departing Congress leaves piles of unfinished business

  As Congress finishes work this week and heads home to campaign, warring Republicans and Democrats finally found a shared goal: Collecting as many contributions as possible from Washington's special interests.

• WAMU - Lobbying for International Clients in Washington

  Small shifts in U.S. government policy can have huge implications for governments and companies across the globe. So it stands to reason that foreign governments and industries would want to influence and lobby official Washington. But the only time we hear about international lobbyists tends to be when they are working for controversial clients. We examine a little-known facet of Washington's influence industry.

• The Hill - Watchdog group waiting for Obama to fulfill ethics pledge for online hub

  Despite a campaign pledge, the Obama administration so far has failed to set up a central online hub for all of the government’s ethics information.

• NPR's It's All Politics - Campaign Dirty Tricks Watchdogs Crowdsource Mid-Terms

  If you see examples of campaign dirty tricks like robo calls that tell you Election Day has been moved to late December this year and the like, the folks at the Center for Public Integrity want to know about it

• The Huffington Post - Huffpost Hill - September 30th, 2010 Roundup

  It's lady's night in HuffPost Hill: Because cutting unemployment benefits was starting to lose its punch, Linda McMahon suggested the minimum wage get a fresh look. Nancy Pelosi's up for cutting corporate taxes. Mary Landrieu's "sad" and "outrageous" hold of the OMB chief still stands. And Garrison Keillor probably won't be meeting Michele Bachmann for drinks at the Sidetrack Tap anytime soon. This is HUFFPOST HILL for Thursday, September 30th, 201

• Clovis News Journal - Friday morning briefing: Colleges, (Hotel) California and campaign contributors

  Welcome to October, and welcome to Freedom New Mexico’s Friday morning briefing.

• The Associated Press - PROMISES, PROMISES: Pelosi ethics pledge falters

  House Speaker Nancy Pelosi promised four years ago that Democrats would lead "the most honest, most open, most ethical Congress in history."

• Capitol News Connection - Congress' Operating Costs Skyrocket

  Money Congress spends on itself - to fund its innumerable offices, committees, subcommittees, commissions, research arms and perquisites - soared 89 percent over the past decade, more than three times the inflation rate, a review of spending bills and other government documents shows.

• The Denver Post - House race in 4th CD getting national attention Read more: House race in 4th CD getting national attention

  Incumbent Democrat Betsy Markey concedes her independent streak probably got her into trouble with her voting base in the massive 4th Congressional District. But Markey thinks the straight-shooting rural voters of the 32,000-square-mile 4th appreciate her efforts to help everyone, not just her Democratic backers.

• Roll Call - Gingrey Backed Project for Consultant’s Client

  On April 1, 2008, Rep. Phil Gingrey paid Mitchell Hunter, his former chief of staff, $6,000 for campaign consulting fees. That payment came one day after the Georgia Republican signed a letter to the Appropriations Committee requesting an earmark for the National Center for State Courts, which had recently hired Hunter as a lobbyist.

• The Christian Science Monitor - As political ads abound, a push to uncloak who is behind them

  Does it seem like you're being bombarded by more political ads this midterm election season than even during the last presidential cycle? Turns out you're right – well, right on the money.

• USA Today - Recovery.gov a model for transparency

  Of the $814 billion in government stimulus spending, there's $18 million that could forever change the way government spends money.

• Politico - D.C. disconnect: 400 fundraisers in 14 days

  Inside the Capitol, lawmakers are largely marking time by naming post offices and passing a resolution to keep the government running through the elections.

• The News & Observer - Thin majority still backs offshore drilling

  A majority of North Carolinians back offshore drilling, although support has dropped sharply since the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, according to the latest Elon University Poll.

• The News & Observer - Etheridge and Price go PAC hunting

  Democratic Congressmen Bob Etheridge and David Price will benefit from Capitol Hill fund raisers this week hosted by Washington D.C. lobbying firm.

• The Iowa Independent - DCCC spent more than $70K opposing Zaun, report finds

  The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee reportedly spent $70,687 this month on media aimed at Republican 3rd District Congressional candidate Brad Zaun, according to a new project by the Sunlight Foundation that tracks the activity of outside groups spending money to influence federal elections.

• The Baltimore Sun - Bill Clinton to headline Mikulski fundraiser

  Incumbent Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski may be leading in the polls by double digits and enjoying a big financial edge over a little-known Republican opponent. But that isn't stopping her from raising money like she's in the race of her life.

• NextGov - Wikileaks' OGov Lessons

  What the ongoing furor over the Wikileaks phenomenon has revealed, writes Peter Ludlow, author of Crypto Anarchy, Cyberstates, and Pirate Utopias, "is that the media and government agencies believe there is a single protagonist to be concerned with -- something of a James Bond villain, if you will."

• Wall Street Journal - It’s a Big Fund-Raising Week

  For political insiders, Sept. 30 marks one of the most important days of the election cycle: the end of the third-quarter fund-raising period.

• CBS News - Political Hotsheet - Party Politics: One Week, 70 Fundraisers

  There are at least 70 fundraisers taking place in Washington D.C. for Congressional candidates and affiliated organizations this week, according to the Sunlight Foundation - which has helpfully posted the invitations of the events on its "Party Time" website.

• Springfield News-Leader - AFL-CIO releases anti-Blunt mailer No. 3

  The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations has released its third anti-Republican Roy Blunt mailer to its members. You can see it here (pdf).

• The Huffington Post - Real-Time Government Has Arrived

  Back in November 2009, Ellen Miller of the Sunlight Foundation wrote here on The Huffington Post about "Envisioning a Real-Time Government." Here's a quick excerpt:

• The New York Times - The Caucus - Political Fund-Raising As if It’s Going Out of Style

  Consider it the last-minute rush, Congressional campaign-style.

• Centre Daily News - New Campaign Ad Monitor allows voters to report political ads

  Are you wondering about some of the political ads you're seeing?

• The Miami Herald - Naked Politics - Putting for dollars. Debbie Wasserman Schultz heads to DC "country club" for fundraising

  From the Sunlight Foundation: Debbie Wasserman Schultz's fundraising PAC -- Democrats Win Seats -- will host a fundraiser Thursday at a hip DC hotspot, the H Street Country Club.

• Knoxville News-Sentinel - War chest a necessary load

  In political campaigns, money is as good as gold.

• The Florida Times-Union - Opinion nuggets: Lifting the curtain

  With so much of the direction of our country at stake, eyes are glued on the November elections for Congress.

• Naples Daily News - Obama falls short on ‘sunshine’ improvements

  Florida has been a bright and shining force over the decades when it comes to keeping the public’s business public.

• Centre Daily News - Turn to Family Pages in print and online

  Our monthly Family Pages section returns to the paper Sunday, and we know it’s popular. Now that schools are back in session, those who like Family Pages monthly can enjoy it more often.

• Springfield News-Leader - Most campaign funds put into attack ads

  The nonpartisan Sunlight Foundation has released a database of all third-party spending in elections.

• WNYC - 30 Issues Cont'd: Money, Politics, and Citizens United

  Peter Overby, NPR's power, money and influence correspondent, and Bill Allison, editorial director of the Sunlight Foundation Reporting Group, take a look at campaign finance spending on a national level and talks about how the Citizens United ruling could impact upcoming elections.

• The Hill's Ballot Box - Candidates run to shake D.C. ‘money tree’

  The traffic jam of black SUVs in front of the Capitol Hill Club this week was a clear sign campaign fundraising has reached a fever pitch.

• The New York Times - TimesOpen 2.0: Open Government Event

  Next up in our TimesOpen 2.0 series is an evening about Open Government. Open Government allows for great governmental efficiency, transparency and citizen participation.

• The Jackson Sun - RNC Chair Steele: 'The people are angry'

  Fire Pelosi. Plow Congress. Go Green: Recycle Congress.

• Springfield News-Leader - See how much third parties are spending in Missouri

  The nonpartisan Sunlight Foundation has released a database of all third-party spending in elections.

• The Washington Independent - Abortion Debate Driving Election Spending in California

  Social issues might be taking a back seat to health care and the deficit in a number of national races, but not so in California’s Senate race between Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina. The Sunlight Foundation, which has undertaken a new project of tracking all independent expenditures (IE) made in the lead up to the 2010 election, reports that 87 percent of the IEs made in the race thus far have come from groups that advocate on abortion issues:

• Denver Daily News - Colorado Senate campaigns aided by outside money

  Colorado's Senatorial race between Democrat incumbent Michael Bennet and Republican challenger Ken Buck has been influenced by more outside money than almost every other race in the country.

• The Denver Post - Outside groups pour money into Buck-Bennet Senate contest

  Outside groups have spent more in Colorado's U.S. Senate race than in all but one contest nationwide, according to an analysis of independent expenditures released Thursday by a campaign-finance watchdog group.

• The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette - Senate GOP again blocks campaign-finance disclosure bill

  For the second time in two months, Senate Republicans blocked a Democratic bill that would have required corporations and unions to disclose their involvement in political advertisements.

• National Public Radio - Check Them Out: Other Efforts To 'Truth-Squad' Campaign Ads

  While NPR has its Message Machine project ("fact-checking the 2010 campaigns) with PolitiFact.com, we certainly don't want to ignore the other things being done to "truth-squad" what candidates and interest groups are saying in their campaign ads.

• The Denver Post - The Spot - It’s a miracle! Some positive campaign ads!

  Amid the din of ubiquitous trash-talking on television, both Senate candidates have finally released a — gasp — positive ad.

• The Sacramento Bee - 'Super PACs' proliferate, spend big money on elections

  Federal court decisions, Citizens United and SpeechNow.org, opened the door for political organizations to spend huge sums on advertising explicitly supporting or opposing candidates for office. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, the Federal Elections Commission has so far authorized 33 "independent expenditure-only (IE) committees" that are legally allowed to raise unlimited funds from individuals, corporations, unions and other groups. CRP has been tracking the proliferation these so-called super PACs which advocate from both sides of the political spectrum. You can see the complete list here.

• KCFR - Independent Spending During Colorado Senate Race

  Colorado Public Radio News looked at the independent spending during the Senate campaign race in Colorado that interviews the Sunlight Foundation's editorial director Bill Allison

• Mail Tribune - Help shine a light

  It's election time again, and that means campaign ads will bombard us from every direction and on every medium, from television to the Internet. This year, thanks to the Sunlight Foundation, everyone has an opportunity to help track those ads and who is paying for them.

• The Associated Press - Colo. Senate Race Target Of Outside Money

  A watchdog group that tracks campaign spending says Colorado's Senate contest ranks fourth in elections attracting outside spending this year.

• Bloomberg - Republicans Block U.S. Campaign-Spending Disclosure Bill for Second Time

  U.S. Senate Republicans for a second time blocked legislation that would require corporations and unions to disclose their spending on political advertising.

• KXRM - Fox News - Colorado Senate Campaign Spending

  Fox News Channel 21 KXRM in Colorado has a segment that uses the Sunlight Foundation's database on independent expenditures to report on the Senate race in Colorado:

• Springfield News-Leader - Carnahan, Blunt collect contributions in D.C.

  Both major party candidates for Missouri Senate have recently hosted expensive D.C. dinners to raise money for their campaigns, according to the Sunlight Foundation.

• The Denver Post - The Spot - Sunlight Foundation: CO Sen. race ranks 2nd for outside money

  A new analysis by the Sunlight Foundation ranks Colorado’s U.S. Senate race second in the nation in terms of the total spent by outside groups in support or opposition of the candidates.

• USA Today - Study: Outside political spending up by 61%

  Party committees and outside groups have increased spending 61% to influence November's crucial midterm elections for Congress, according to a new analysis from the Sunlight Foundation.

• WIRED's Webmonkey - Open Data’s Access Problem, and How to Solve it

  The recent Gov 2.0 summit in Washington D.C. saw several promising new announcements which will help government agencies share code and best practices for making public data available to developers.

• The Huffington Post - HuffPost Hill - September 22nd, 2010

  Both parties today prepared to unveil sweeping job-creation initiatives as Senate Democrats readied their payroll tax measure and Republicans leaked their "Pledge to America." Discussions of jobs were not relegated to back-to-work schemes, however. Word got out that Rahm Emanuel may go from telling people in Washington to go @*#$% themselves to telling people in Chicago to go @*#$% themselves. Lisa Murkowski lost her plum gig as the number-five GOPer in the Senate but got a month-to-month re-up as the energy committee's top Republican. And the government's chief TARP official announced he's dunzo. We hope Harry Reid will be able to get back to his job after his eyes cartoonishly shot out of his head today upon hearing that Tom Coburn wouldn't object to something. This is HUFFPOST HILL for Wednesdsay, September 22nd, 2010:

• The St. Louis Post-Dispatch's Political Fix - Blunt, Carnahan take turns at fundraisers thrown by lobbyists

  On Tuesday, Democratic Senate hopeful Robin Carnahan was feted at a fundraiser in the Washington office of a prominent D.C. lobbying firm.

• TBD - GAO and Sunlight Foundation on government spending

  Tom Lee, the director of Sunlight Labs, went on TBD's Capital Insider show to discuss the ClearSpending.com project:

• The Huffington Post - Obama, Dems Try To Make Shadowy Conservative Groups A Problem For Conservatives

  When President Obama used his radio address this past weekend to spotlight the issue of campaign finance reform and the role that outside groups are having on the election landscape, it was clearly done with some political calculation.

• Reuters - Omidyar Network promises $55M in transparency and mobile investments

  Omidyar Network, the philanthropic investment firm created by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar (pictured) and his wife Pam, plans to spend a sizable piece of its money over the next three years on government transparency and mobile.

• Chronicle of Philanthropy - Omidyar Network Pledges $55-Million to Promote Government Transparency

  Omidyar Network, the philanthropy started by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar, will invest $55-million in technology to promote government transparency and help people rise out of poverty.

• The Financial Times - Ebay founder to bridge digital chasm

  Pierre Omidyar, the billionaire founder of Ebay, will spend $55m over the next three years to bolster government transparency and spur innovation in the developing world.

• PBS - Campaign Cash: How Are Political Donations Being Spent This Year?

  A new report shows that official Democratic organizations have raised more than Republicans so far this year. But those figures don't reflect money coming from undisclosed and outside sources. Gwen Ifill gets two views on how fundraising could change the political landscape this year.

• Los Angeles Times - Fiorina to head to Washington for fundraising trip

  With the California Senate race in a dead heat, Republican candidate Carly Fiorina and her opponent Sen. Barbara Boxer are in the midst of a fundraising sprint before the next report is due on Sept. 30. Fiorina heads to Washington, D.C., later this week for a series of fundraisers, including one co-hosted by the political action committee of Koch Industries, whose founders have been longtime supporters of conservative causes and more recently major backers of a ballot measure that would roll back California’s global warming law.

• The Sacramento Bee - Valero key player in bid to suspend climate-change law

  Valero Energy Corp. CEO Bill Klesse once jokingly suggested oil industry executives should fight global warming by holding their breath. Now, his company has emerged as a major force behind the November ballot measure to suspend California's climate change law.

• The Florida Times-Union - Lifting the curtain on Washington ways

  With so much of the direction of our country at stake, a lot of eyes are glued on the November elections for Congress.

• Democrat & Chronicle - More information about earmarks needed

  Truth be told, what's often dismissed as "pork" doled out by re-election seeking members of Congress and state lawmakers helps to provide vital programs and services.

• The Hill - Sunlight wants more transparency from Congress

  The Sunlight Foundation watchdog group on Thursday announced a series of recommendations for lawmakers, as well as a new website, both aimed at increasing transparency.

• St. Louis Today - After slamming lobbyists' influence, Carnahan will hold fundraiser -- at lobbyist office

  Robin Carnahan has spent hours on the campaign trail slamming her opponent's ties to lobbyists and bemoaning their influence on government.

• Rubyology Podcast - Rubyology 93: SunnyConf - Luigi Montanez Interview

  A podcast discussion with the Sunlight Foundation's developer Luigi Montanez

• American Journalism Review - Celebrating Innovation

  It's easy to get discouraged about the state of journalism, with rampant cutbacks at traditional news organizations, the elusiveness of a business model for a vibrant future and the obsession with such topics as a fringe minister threatening to burn a Koran. But it's important not to lose sight of all the exciting innovation that is also part of the landscape.

• Federal News Radio - Sunlight Foundation's Ellen Miller Criticizes Data Quality

  Federal News Radio mentions the debate about data quality brought up by the Sunlight Foundation's Ellen Miller:

• The St. Petersburg Times - GOP rival says Nancy Pelosi's San Francisco office rent is over-the-rainbow high and downright wicked

  What do you do when you're a Republican running an uphill, some would say quixotic, campaign against Democratic Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi in historically liberal San Francisco?

• The News Tribune - Obama still has work to do on reversing federal secrecy

  Here is some news to cheer supporters of open government: The feds made considerable progress last year in paring what had been a chronic backlog of public disclosure requests.

• CSPAN - Carl Malamud mentions Apps for America

  CSPAN2 aired footage of the Gov 2.0 Conference that included a reference to the Sunlight Foundation's Apps for America contest during a speech by Carl Malamud:

• The Brownsville Herald - Ortiz quiet about trips

  U.S. Rep. Solomon P. Ortiz, D-Texas, on Friday remained silent regarding at least 62 trips, both official and special-interest, to 71 countries, even as he finds himself the target of a federal probe into the possible misuse of travel funds.

• The Mansfield News Journal - Lee Fisher fundraiser on 9/11 panned

  Vying for Ohio's open senate seat, Lee Fisher is set to attend a fundraiser in Mansfield today -- a money-making opportunity some Republicans, including race contender Rob Portman, are criticizing for its timing.

• Federal News Radio - Countdown: 9/11 remembered, Challenge.gov debuts

  Choosing the three most important Federal news stories of the week this week: --Chris Dorobek, host of the DorobekInsider radio show and blog on Federal News Radio 1500AM --Bill Eggers, Global Director, Public Sector Industry, Deloitte Research

• Politico - Politico's Morning Energy - September 9th, 2010

  THE OTHER TAKEAWAY – BP’s internal investigation unleashed another round of the oil spill Blame Game, but its long-term impact may prove more substantive and could potentially even help end the drilling moratorium sooner. Meanwhile: a top environmental lobby shop will shutter its doors, a former EPW staffer is busted for trying to take pot to work, and the never-say-die RES crowd shows no signs of letting up.

• The Washington Post - The Mall is now an Internet 'hotspot'

  Visitors to the Mall can power up their computers for the first time, now that outdoor "hotspots" cover the area from 3rd Street on the east side to 14th Street on the west. The Smithsonian Institution and the National Gallery of Art also are connected.

• The Hill - Good morning tech, September 9, 2010

  Good morning!

• The Sacramento Bee - AM Alert: Arnold goes to Asia

  Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger heads to Asia today for a six-day trade mission.

• Federal News Radio - Open Government and transparency

  Open Government and transparency seems to the be the theme of the day today at Federal News Radio.

• MSNBC - Dylan Ratigan discusses Sunlight's Clearspending project

  During an interview with Rep. Mike Pence (R-Indiana) the Sunlight Foundation's recently launched Clearspending project is brought up to discuss government accountability with budget information.

• The Washington Examiner - 'Close enough for government work' isn't good enough for Sunlight's Clearspending.com

  Sunlight Foundation has just put up Clearspending.com, an important new web site that tracks the accuracy of federal spending data posted to USASpending.gov. So far, Clearspending.com has found more than $1.3 trillion in federal spending that was incorrectly reported by departments and agencies.

• The Hill - Sunlight: Federal spending data is "broken"

  The majority of data published online on federal spending is inaccurate and unreliable, according to analysis from the Sunlight Foundation.

• Federal Computer Week - USASpending.gov numbers off by $1.3 trillion, report says

  The Health and Human Services Department is the worst offender among federal agencies in failing to report its spending data to the USASpending.gov spending website, according to a new report from the Sunlight Foundation watchdog group.

• Time Magazine - Morning Must Reads: Choice

  --Obama is set to unveil his new business tax credits proposal today in Cleveland. You can bet he'll work in some jabs at one Ohio native in particular: "the man with the plan to be Speaker."

• GOOD Magazine - The Government Does Provide Data. It's Just Horribly Inaccurate.

  So we're entering a new era in government transparency in which federal agencies put spending data online so the public can access, evaluate, and manipulate it, right?

• The Hill - Good morning tech - September 8, 2010

  Good (mid)-morning!

• Federal News Radio - Federal checkbook balance off by $1.3 trillion?

  A federal watchdog group says it's found more than $1.3 trillion worth of bad data on USASpending.gov.

• Federal News Radio - Sophomore slump for Open Government?

  In recent years, one of the Obama Administration's biggest and best supporters when it comes to open government efforts has been the Sunlight Foundation. But now, the head of that group is openly questioning the administration's ability to deliver on its promises of data transparency and open government.

• Fast Company - The Curious Case of USASpending.gov's Missing $1.3 Trillion

  The Obama administration is committed to transparency, at least in theory. To track the mountains of cash we're spending on contracts, wars, programs, initiatives, and stimulus packages, the government launched USASpending.gov, a tool designed to help the public understand where our tax dollars are heading. And where is all that federal spending going? Not to USAspending.gov, where an estimated $1.3 trillion worth of data is missing or wrong. If only there were a website for tracking cash missing from the cash-tracking site....

• The Huffington Post - The Rise of 'DIMBYism': Open Data Is the Key to Smarter Communities

  A few weeks ago I attended a Chicago neighborhood meeting for residents of the wards affected by the end-of-life of a nearby overpass, a stretch of roadway that runs about 1,000 feet and allows motorists traveling north-south to vault over a tricky intersection caused by one of the city's diagonal thoroughfares. The viaduct forms part of the western edge of the neighborhood I live in. Like much road infrastructure built in the middle of last century, it needs to come down for reasons of material fatigue. The question was whether to rebuild or try something different.

• NextGov - Fix Needed for Spending Data

  The Sunlight Foundation said on Tuesday that it launched Clearspending.com, a site that will analyze data from USAspending.gov.

• Information Week - Gov 2.0 Summit: Advocate Calls USASpending Data 'Useless'

  An open government advocacy group is trying to keep the federal government honest about its spending with a new online scorecard that analyzes data on USASpending.gov.

• Governing - Bill Would Place Agency Reports to Congress Online

  This post was written by Daniel Schuman, Policy Council at the Sunlight Foundatio

• The Huffington Post - How Censoring Craigslist Helps Pimps, Child Traffickers and Other Abusive Scumbags

  For the last 12 years, I've dedicated immense amounts of time, money and energy to end violence against women and children. As a victim of violence myself, I'm deeply committed to destroying any institution or individual leveraging the sex-power matrix that results in child trafficking, nonconsensual prostitution, domestic violence and other abuses. If I believed that censoring Craigslist would achieve these goals, I'd be the first in line to watch them fall. But from the bottom of my soul and the depths of my intellect, I believe that the current efforts to censor Craigslist's "adult services" achieves the absolute opposite. Rather than helping those who are abused, it fundamentally helps pimps, human traffickers and others who profit off of abusing others.

• Chicago Tribune - Lawmakers put 'fun' in their fundraisers

  House Democrat Melissa Bean invited donors to the glimmering Trump International Hotel & Tower in Chicago in July. The gathering, her fourth annual "Chi-Town Weekend," came with a suggested campaign contribution of $2,400 to $5,000.

• Kansas City Star - Missourian embraces role of the insider

  It took only a single term for Roy Blunt to become more than just a congressman from small-town Missouri.

• The Huffington Post - What's Going on in the Labs

  This is the first in a monthly series of updates letting you know what we're working on here in the Sunlight Labs offices.

• The Washington Examiner - Examiner Local Editorial: Put D.C. government's check register online

  When the leading candidates for D.C. mayor and City Council chairman met with The Examiner's editorial board recently, they were each asked if they would support measures to post D.C. government's check register online, so that residents can see every expenditure by every department, including the District of Columbia Public Schools. To their credit, Mayor Adrian Fenty, Council Chairman Vincent Gray, chairman candidate Vincent Orange and Council member Kwame Brown all unhesitatingly said yes. So, no matter which of these candidates wins the Sept. 14 primary and the general election in November, D.C. residents should be able to look forward to a new era of transparency in the District's governance that would have been unthinkable just four years ago.

• Democrat and Chronicle - Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand pushes for more transparency in government

  Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand on Wednesday visited Rochester to talk about transparency measures she is advocating for in the Senate, but recognized that it's not the top issue in voters' minds.

• Next American City - The Data Dividend

  When it comes to making cities better, accurate and abundant data are powerful tools. In New Orleans and Detroit, which share many challenges — including vacant property and high crime and poverty — open data can help citizens improve their communities, officials strategize for effective change, and foundations and developers identify investment opportunities.

• UPI - Three House members in ethics probe

  WASHINGTON, Sept. 2 (UPI) -- A House ethics committee has told three U.S. House members they remain under investigation for their fundraising activities during a vote on financial reform.

• National Journal - Top News - September 2, 2010

  Obama hosts Mideast summit meeting and promises to put administration's 'full weight' behind peace negotiations. Plus: Romer defends stimulus in farewell speech.

• The Hill - New details emerge in ethics probe of fundraising, vote on Wall Street bill

  New details have emerged about an ethics investigation into links between eight members’ fundraising and their votes on the Wall Street reform bill.

• The Washington Times - Waters family profiting from mailer biz

  Rep. Maxine Waters has turned political endorsements into a family business, using federal election laws to charge California candidates and political causes to include their names as her personal picks on a sample ballot, or "slate mailer," she sends to as many as 200,000 South Central Los Angeles voters, records show.

• Governing - Transparency Best Practices for States, Pt. 3

  This article was written by LaurenEllen McCann, an Organizer for the Sunlight Foundation.

• TWiT Live Specials - Podcast - TWiT Live Specials 33: Gov 2.0

  The Sunlight Foundation's policy director John Wonderlich was interviewed recently on the TWiT podcast about Sunlight's role in the Gov 2.0 movement.

• Governing - Transparency Best Practices for States, Pt. 2

  This article was written by John Wonderlich, Policy Director for the Sunlight Foundation.

• Politico - Politico's Morning Tech - August 26th, 2010

  Privacy legislation, lobbying picking up steam – Va's McDonnell lauds the 'Silicon Dominion' – Sunlight Foundation scrutinizing Waters for 'selling' endorsements – DoD talks cybersecurity PRIVACY PICKING UP SERIOUS STEAM – It is not immediately clear today if the myriad of privacy bills pending consideration in the House and Senate will accrue the momentum needed make it to the floor this year. But what is very obvious is that stakeholders involved in the debate are picking up their pace, as are the groups lobbying for a say in the talks. We asked Bobby Rush, the author of one of the chamber’s privacy bills, to reflect on the uptick in interest in the issue; more on that in a moment.

• San Antonio Express News - Retreat on ethics feeds cynicism

  President Barack Obama entered the White House with an impressive commitment to government transparency. Issuing an executive order and two memoranda related to transparency and open government were among his first acts in the Oval Office. “All agencies should adopt a presumption in favor of disclosure” he wrote in the order instructing public officials to comply with the spirit of the Freedom of Information Act.

• The Washington Examiner - Maxine Waters: Buy my endorsement

  From the Sunlight Foundation:

• Time Magazine - Let It Be Known As The Maxine Waters Loophole (Or NOT) UPDATED

  The Sunlight Foundation has this report from the front lines of Congressional fundraising skulduggery.

• Missouri News-Leader - A useful tool during election season

  A non-profit group has created a tool that analyzes news stories and shows campaign contributions to the politicians mentioned.

• Governing - Transparency Best Practices for States, Pt. 1

  This article was written by Nicole Aro, the Sunlight Foundation's Director of Organizing.

• The Huffington Post - That Hopey, Changey Thing Comes to the California Republican Party

  SAN DIEGO. Hope and change, part of the universal human condition, have arrived on the doorstep of the Republican Party in California. I spent this past weekend listening to and talking with Republicans at the state party convention in San Diego, trying to get a bearing. We know who Republicans are now, but who are they becoming?

• The Tribune - White House stalls its commitment to transparency

  At a time when ethics issues are making headline news consider the pending ethics charges against Reps. Charlie Rangel (D-NY) and Maxine Waters (D-CA) - is the White House short-changing its commitment to transparency and ethics reform?

• The Moscow News - A question of ethics

  Matthew Murray, an American businessman who chairs the Center for Business Ethics and Corporate Governance in Russia, prefers to describe corruption as “over-regulation and under-enforcement”.

• The Clark Fork Chronicle - Tester posts latest ethics review

  Senator Jon Tester on Friday posted online a new ethics review of his office.

• The Washington Independent - Good Government Groups Raise Questions About New White House Ethics Czar

  When the Obama administration announced last month that Norm Eisen, the specially appointed White House “czar” for ethics and transparency, was leaving to become the ambassador to the Czech Republic, advocates of campaign finance reform and “good government” groups in Washington took the news hard. They describe Eisen’s tenure as a “dream come true,” and worry that no one will adequately fill his shoes.

• The Huffington Post - 'Third World America' Step 6: Hold Our Leaders Accountable

  "It's a classic catch-22: The most effective way of fixing the multitude of problems facing America is through the democratic process, but the democratic process itself is badly broken," Arianna writes in Third World America. Only when business leaders and politicians are truly held accountable, she argues, can real social change come about:

• Carroll County Times - It’s time to defend net neutrality

  Perhaps the greatest freedom in a democracy is freedom of speech. Throughout our nation's history, people have died fighting not only for our right to speak, but for our right to be heard. The Internet is the greatest communications network ever created because it allows us to speak for ourselves without first asking permission from corporate gatekeepers.

• Politico - The ethicist?

  Obama campaign lawyer -- now White House counsel -- was the best kind of lawyer to cover during the campaign: Creative, combative, and argumentative, he once called into a Clinton campaign conference call with the press to spar with Howard Wolfson.

• NextGov - Craigslist creator tries to bring initiative out of the shadows

  The Obama administration's open government initiative is discussed regularly in some circles inside the Beltway, but travel just a few miles west and it's rarely, if ever, a topic of conversation.

• Governing - Less of a Non-Sequitur Response on Campaign Finance

  After responding to a non-sequiturial (sic?) tweet from political strategist Patrick Ruffini last week, Ruffini responded by calling my post a non-sequitur. Apparently, Ruffini's tweet, which stated that the Sunlight Foundation's work would lead to a world where only billionaires would run for office, was a more general statement largely about the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 and not our support for the DISCLOSE Act. While I largely disagree with the fears that campaign financing laws create incentives for the super-wealthy to self-fund their campaigns, I do--personally--agree with Ruffini that campaign finance laws have caused a ton of problems.

• The Taunton Gazette - OUR VIEW: President Obama’s record on transparency is not the ‘change’ he promised

  Most of the cases where the Obama administration has fallen short of its promises can be attributed to the united and stubborn opposition of Republicans. The stimulus, health care reform and financial regulatory initiatives were compromised in fruitless pursuit of bipartisanship. Fear and foot-dragging by the GOP and some Democrats have helped stymie climate and energy legislation and the repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell.”

• The Herald News - OUR VIEW: Partly cloudy presidency

  Most of the cases where the Obama administration has fallen short of its promises can be attributed to the united and stubborn opposition of Republicans. The stimulus, health care reform and financial regulatory initiatives were compromised in fruitless pursuit of bipartisanship. Fear and foot-dragging by the GOP and some Democrats have helped stymie climate and energy legislation and the repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell.”

• Livingston Daily - For compliant Congress, votes draw big money

  The days before the U.S. House approved a historic financial-reform package this winter were hectic ones for lawmakers, and not only on the House floor. Many were busy collecting money from financial interests that were lobbying to defeat the measure.

• Beaumont Enterprise - President Obama must follow up on pledges to support open government

  Voters are used to politicians who make promises when they are campaigning but fail to follow up on them once they get elected. President Obama said he would be different, particularly on open government issues. He made more pledges about openness than previous candidates in either party. He said he would make the appointments and set up the programs necessary to help taxpayers keep tabs on the federal government.

• Democrat and Chronicle - Attempts to sway public opinion

  A lot gets said about the lobbying of public officials and the influence of campaign donations. But there’s a more direct path to political activism at the corporate level: Going straight to the public. A Sunlight Foundation study of the way oil and gasoline companies influenced policy at the state level found much of the industry’s expenditures were not in campaign donations, but in public relations efforts opposing measures that would raise taxes on the industry or otherwise hinder its operations. Here’s a link to this fascinating study:

• Congress.org - Inviting liberals to the tea party

  With Democrats likely to lose seats in Congress this November, liberals may despair of getting any substantial legislation.

• Governing - White House Announces Leading Practices Winners

  This article was written by John Wonderlich, the Sunlight Foundation's Policy Director.

• USA Today - Ethics inquiries in Congress increase this year

  WASHINGTON — The number of ethics cases launched in Congress has jumped dramatically in the past year, putting a focus on allegations of misconduct by lawmakers heading into November's elections. Despite the specter of public ethics trials for veteran Democratic Reps. Charles Rangel of New York and Maxine Waters of California, lawmakers have escaped serious punishment.

• Fox News - John Wonderlich interviewed about White House Ethics Appointment

  Fox News' Special Report with Bret Baier had the Sunlight Foundation's policy director John Wonderlich on the show to discuss the White House's appointment of Bob Bauer to replace former ethics czar Norm Eisen.

• The Hill - MoveOn.org wants a new ethics czar, too

  MoveOn.org joined other transparency advocates Monday in urging the White House to appoint a new ethics czar to replace the outgoing Norm Eisen.

• NextGov - Advocates worry White House changes could hurt transparency

  As the Obama administration gently pushes agencies to follow their transparency plans, recent changes in key management positions at the White House have watchdog groups concerned the open government initiative could lose steam.

• This Week in Cause - Podcast: This Week in Cause #5

  A video podcast called 'This Week in Cause' discusses the work of the Sunlight Foundation and the larger transparency movement

• Daily News Tribune - Editorial: Obama's record on transparency

  Most of the cases where the Obama administration has fallen short of its promises can be attributed to the united and stubborn opposition of Republicans. The stimulus, health care reform and financial regulatory initiatives were compromised in fruitless pursuit of bipartisanship. Fear and foot-dragging by the GOP and some Democrats have helped stymie climate and energy legislation and the repeal of "don't ask, don't tell."

• The Salt Lake Tribune - DC Notebook: Bennett, Hatch raise cash for North Dakota governor

  North Dakota politicians don’t often look to Utah to stuff their campaign chests, but Gov. John Hoeven was hoping to nab some contributions in the Beehive State this weekend at a golf-oriented event in Park City. Sens. Bob Bennett and Orrin Hatch threw Hoeven — who is running for the Senate — a golf fundraiser ($1,000 a person), followed by a reception fundraiser ($500 a person) Saturday, according to an invite posted by the Sunlight Foundation’s Party Time blog.

• The Milford Daily News - Obama's record on transparency

  Most of the cases where the Obama administration has fallen short of its promises can be attributed to the united and stubborn opposition of Republicans. The stimulus, health care reform and financial regulatory initiatives were compromised in fruitless pursuit of bipartisanship. Fear and foot-dragging by the GOP and some Democrats have helped stymie climate and energy legislation and the repeal of "don't ask, don't tell."

• Inforum - Hoeven raising funds at Utah golf event

  Gov. John Hoeven will host a golf outing Saturday in Park City, Utah, where he’ll raise funds for his Senate bid with the help of two Republican senators.

• Federal Computer Week - White House issues second-quarter report card for agency open-gov plans

  Despite a second chance to revise their open-government plans, 11 federal agencies are still falling short, according to White House Chief Technology Officer Aneesh Chopra. According to the White House's assessment dashboard, the lowest-scoring agencies are the National Science Foundation and the State Department, which have met five of the 10 transparency criteria, and the Agriculture, Commerce and Labor departments, which have met six of the 10 criteria.

• Reason Magazine - Putting a Partisan Legal Advocate in Charge of White House Transparency

  Do click on the link that Jesse Walker highlighted below about President Obama re-assigning his ethics czar to Shirley Temple Black's old job as U.S. ambassador to Prague. It's a Timothy P. Carney column, and as such it will make you want to throw a brick through an opaque window:

• Governing - It's Not Easy Being Non-Partisan

  I'm often told that being non-partisan is an ambiguous position.

• Governing - Where is the Government's Blowout Preventer?

  This article was written by John Wonderlich, the Sunlight Foundation's Policy Director.

• The Washington Examiner - Group sues Federal Election Commission, saying its slow response limits appeals

  A prominent Washington advocacy group filed a lawsuit Wednesday against the Federal Election Commission, arguing that the panel routinely makes it impossible to appeal its decisions.

• NPR - Watchdogs Mourn Loss Of White House Ethics Czar

  White House "ethics czar" Norman Eisen is taking an ambassadorship. He's been the "ethics czar," and now his portfolio is being added to those handled by Bob Bauer, the counsel to the president. Is that an upgrade for ethics and openness in the White House, or the opposite?

• The Sacramento Bee - On the Media: Small-town salaries spur demand for disclosure

  We're living through the Summer of Bell. The Tony Soprano-sized venality of officials in the small L.A. County city is so brazen that it's got Americans buzzing and journalists asking how much officials in other cities get paid.

• The Washington Examiner - Timothy P. Carney: Obama closes curtain on transparency

  President Obama has abolished the position in his White House dedicated to transparency and shunted those duties into the portfolio of a partisan ex-lobbyist who is openly antagonistic to the notion of disclosure by government and politicians.

• The Salt Lake Tribune - Bennett, Hatch to raise money for North Dakota guv

  North Dakota politicians don't often look to Utah to stuff their campaign chests, but Gov. John Hoeven is hoping to nab some contributions in the Beehive State this weekend at a golf-oriented event in Park City. Sens. Bob Bennett and Orrin Hatch are throwing Hoeven - who is running for the Senate - a golf fund-raiser ($1,000 a person), followed by a reception fund-raiser ($500 a person), according to an invite posted by the Sunlight Foundation's Party Time blog.

• NextGov - Reshuffling May Impair OGov

  A rearrangement of staff within the White House may dilute the already weak enforcement of the president's open government directive, the Washington nonprofit Sunlight Foundation contends.

• The Huffington Post - White House Ethics Initiatives At A Crossroads

  The Obama White House's ambitious push for accountability and open government has lost steam, and the imminent departure of reform champion Norm Eisen is making some good-government groups anxious about the future.

• The Huffington Post - A Setback in the Commitment From the White House

  From our perspective, with the appointment of White House Counsel Bob Bauer and Steven Croley to the Domestic Policy Counsel, we have just lost an important fight about how the Administration will handle the duties of 'ethics czar' post Norm Eisen's tenure. It certainly looks like the White House's commitment to a more transparent government is teetering.

• Los Angeles Times - It's a message as clear as Bell

  We're living through the Summer of Bell. The Tony Soprano-sized venality of officials in the small L.A. County city is so brazen that it's got Americans buzzing and journalists asking how much officials in other cities get paid.

• Las Vegas Sun - Is free campaign advice a no-no?

  The leading candidates in the governor’s race are attracting so much high-dollar talent seemingly willing to work for free that the Nevada secretary of state is curious what’s up.

• Politico - Freedom of Information Act exemption for SEC stirs protests

  It’s been less than a month since the Dodd-Frank financial reform bill was signed into law, and there’s already a serious bipartisan effort to amend part of it.

• The Hill - Good morning tech

  Good morning!

• The New York Observer - Charlie Rangel On Dan Rostenkowski--in 1994!!!

  Big H/T to the Sunlight Foundation for this amazing video of Charlie Rangel appearing on ABC's This Week to defend Dan Rostenkowski, who died today at 82.

• The Washington Independent - More on Bob Bauer’s Expanded White House Role

  Writing yesterday about Sunlight Foundation co-founder Ellen Miller’s criticism of White House council Bob Bauer and his commitment to transparency and disclosure, I may have spoken a tad hastily.

• National Journal - Magic Mystery Budget Plans

  Clark Co. Commis. Rory Reid (D) "reiterated his no new tax stand" on 8/10 and "said he believes there are other ways to deal" with NV's "looming budget deficit while keeping the state open for business." Neither Reid nor Ex-U.S. District Judge/ex-AG Brian Sandoval (R) have laid out budget plans, but both say they won't raise taxes.

• Gloucester Times - Editorial: City must be certain Washington St. work doesn't hurt businesses

  The section of Washington Street from Grant Circle to the Joan of Arc statue and the American Legion building is indeed the major "gateway into Gloucester."

• GOOD Magazine - Poligraft: See the Corruption Behind the News

  We all know politicians take money from companies and other interest groups, but it's sometimes hard to connect those contributions to what happens (or doesn't happen) in Congress. Now, thanks to a brilliant online tool called Poligraft, you can see the webs of influence behind the news.

• The Columbia Journalism Review - Untangling the “Influence Web” (With a Click)

  For your reading and reporting tool box, an addition: an influence detector, as Poligraft is described by its creator, the Sunlight Foundation (which, by the way, funds CJR’s reporting on transparency).

• The Hill - Sunlight Foundation: White House wavering on transparency

  The Sunlight Foundation questioned the Obama administration's commitment to transparency on Tuesday after the White House announced that ethics czar Norm Eisen would be leaving to serve as ambassador to the Czech Republic.

• The Washington Examiner - Rangel: Sure there’s an economic emergency, but ‘what about me?’

  Examiner congressional reporter Susan Ferrichio’s report on the 37-minute floor speech by Rep. Charles Rangel, R-N.Y., is a must read. It’s bad enough that Rangel remains so defiant, but his hubris is appalling — see this less than cogent defense:

• The Washington Independent - Is The New White House “Ethics Czar” Against Transparency?

  Over at the Sunlight Foundation, co-founder Ellen Miller provides more reasons to fret about the departure of White House “ethics czar” Norman Eisen, whose duties will be assumed by Bob Bauer, the White House council:

• Pittsburgh Tribune-Review - Capitol gluttony

  The amount that Congress spends to avoid legislating on empty stomachs is more than enough to make taxpayers sick to theirs.

• Pittsburgh Tribune-Review - Stimulus' success hard to track

  On a recent summer day, more than a dozen laborers swarmed the steel-reinforced concrete wall of the once-crumbling locks on the Monongahela River, the main thoroughfare for hauling coal to Western Pennsylvania power plants.

• Seattle Times - Murray touts bringing home the bucks

  It was the start of a typical weekend back home for U.S. Sen. Patty Murray.

• PC World - Net Neutrality: What's the Price?

  Net neutrality is making headlines again. According to reports in the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal, Google and Verizon have been canoodling in an attempt to reach a pact that will give Verizon more moola in exchange for preferential treatment to Google's data packets.

• The Times Leader - Cash flow aids Dems, report says

  Chris Carney’s job as a congressman is very safe but Paul Kanjorski’s stranglehold on his House seat isn’t as comfortable. That’s if you believe the analysis done by a foundation that studied campaign cash and its effect on the outcome of past mid-term elections that changed the balance of power in Washington.

• The Colorado Independent - VIDEO: Bennet says Times got DPS deal wrong

  The New York Times waded into the Colorado Democratic U.S. Senate primary Thursday with a lengthy investigative piece detailing a flashy Denver Public Schools interest-swap refinance deal brokered in part by U.S. Senator Michael Bennet as superintendent. The Times story of a stacked transaction that produced windfall profits for the banks but catastrophe for the schools has given new life to questions raised by Bennet detractors about his relationship to big money. The Bennet campaign says the Times simply got the story wrong.

• Roll Call - Ellsworth, Hodes Hype Lobby Bans

  Two Congressmen who are trying to ascend to Senate seats released proposals this week to tighten restrictions on former Members looking to cash in on K Street.

• The Post Star - Latest rating in 20th CD race

  OK — Here’s one for those who are keeping score of ratings in the 20th Congressional District race between incumbent U.S. Rep. Scott Murphy, D-Glens Falls, and Republican challenger Chris Gibson, a retired Army colonel from Kinderhook, in Columbia County.

• The Iowa Independent - National research shows little possibility of Iowa congressional shift

  If money is a predictor of which incumbents are most vulnerable in the 2010 mid-term elections, then analysis from a national nonpartisan group indicates that Iowa won’t see much change.

• The Huffington Post - Sunlight Foundation Launches Poligraft, Bringing New Transparency To Political Reporting

  Back in May, we made note of how the Sunlight Foundation, wholeheartedly dedicated to jailbreaking the hidden connections between money and power, had developed a unique way to watch important Congressional hearings -- using a dynamic contextual data stream that ran live alongside the televised coverage enabling viewers to see at a glance what major industries contributed how much money to what legislators, so you were always in touch with the level of whoring involved.

• AOL News - Poligraft Highlights Political and Financial Connections in Online Text

  If, like this blogger, you have a bit of a political streak, the last several years have been a boon to your obsession.

• The Huffington Post - Follow the Money: What Kind of Wave Will 2010 Bring Ashore?

  Opinion polls and prognosticators alike suggest that Republicans are poised to make a major comeback in this year's midterm elections. The comparison du jour is the 1994 "wave" that swept 54 Democrats in the House of Representatives out of office and the Republicans into power for the first time since 1956.

• USA TODAY - Our view on campaign finance: Big votes draw big money for a compliant Congress

  The days before the House approved a historic financial reform package this winter were hectic ones for lawmakers, and not only on the House floor. Many were busy collecting money from financial interests that were lobbying to defeat the measure.

• The Washington Examiner - Mark Hemingway: Is there a double standard on ethics for Congress

  An upcoming trial for Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., on 13 charges of financial and other misconduct highlights a double standard between regular citizens and members of Congress, congressional ethics experts say.

• The Irish Times - Opening our processes of democracy to scrutiny

  According to some, we have in Ireland a system of governance unfit for purpose. Serious structural reforms are needed. Well, maybe so. But step back for a moment and consider the wider world. Disenchantment with political systems is widespread.

• The Atlantic - 'Poligraft' Tool Lets You Follow the Money From Your Browser

  A new tool from the Sunlight Foundation embeds campaign finance information right into online news stories. Poligraft automatically exposes financial relationships between people and organizations, a function that would have required deep journalistic digging just a few years ago.

• Jackson Free Press - Fact-Checking the Speeches

  The political speeches at the Neshoba County Fair are a time when politicians and candidates get on the stump to tout their achievements, take a few jabs at their opponents and occasionally forget to the tell the truth. We’ve looked into some of the statements on a few of the speeches and fact-checked their validity.

• The Burlington Free Press - Five years later, transportation earmarks haven't been used

  WASHINGTON - In 2005, Congress approved over $5 million to build roads and other infrastructure for a new pedestrian-friendly city center in South Burlington. So where's the project now?

• Minnesota Public Radio - Five by 8 - 8/3/10: A parental blind eye?

  I'm back after a couple of weeks off. Sorry for the sudden departure. I had to go back to New England on short notice for a funeral, and then back to Minnesota, only to head to Oshkosh on vacation. Now I'm back for a few weeks before going on vacation again. Only this time I'll spend vacation working in the MPR booth at the State Fair. Yeah, it's that fun.

• The Indianapolis Star - 'Disappearmarks': the cash Indiana could have had

  Congress approved a nice chunk of money in 1998 to widen U.S. 31 through Columbus.

• New Jersey Today - Lance Sent Out Over A Million Pieces Of Mail In 1st 3 Months Of 2010

  Congressman Leonard Lance sent almost 1.2 million pieces of mail to constituents at taxpayer expense in the first three months of 2010.

• The Buffalo News - Build the (other) bridge

  A long-moldering pot of federal money that was once -- excuse the expression -- earmarked for a new bridge to Buffalo's outer harbor has been diverted to other uses, and may disappear altogether. That realization should inspire local leaders to start looking for new money to fund a project that has only become more important as time has gone by.

• CSPAN - Washington Journal caller mentions Sunlight Foundation's work

  During the CSPAN's Washington Journal a caller mentioned the work of the Sunlight Foundation that investigated possible ethics violations years earlier:

• The San Francisco Chronicle - FCC working more with the public

  Hey, the folks at Politico give credit where it's due, showing that the FCC, over the past coupla years, has gotten really serious about serving the American public.

• McClatchy Newspapers - Despite anger over BP spill, Washington might not act on it

  As the Gulf of Mexico focuses on cleaning up the mess left by the BP oil spill, the question facing the nation's capital is: Will Washington clean up its act, too?

• Inforum - Forum editorial: Senators say ‘no’ to sunlight

  The U.S. Senate’s rejection of the DISCLOSE Act is yet another reason for Americans to distrust their elected representatives. The act would have required more transparency regarding campaign spending by special interest groups. It would have required those organizations to reveal the sources of their funding.

• The Texas Tribune - Fraser Failed to Disclose Perry Land Deal

  The lawmaker involved in a questionable land deal with Gov. Rick Perry failed to disclose ownership or sale of the property to the Texas Ethics Commission, an apparent violation of a state ethics rules, according to a review of his personal financial statements.

• The American Prospect - Digital Copywrongs

  On July 26 the librarian of Congress announced six ways you can legally violate the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. The Internet found this extremely exciting. "DMCA Victory!" declared the homepage of the Electronic Frontier Foundation. "With the full force of the U.S. government behind [you] … you might be able to, perhaps, sue Apple when an iOS update makes your phone inoperable," PC Magazine daydreamed. Some reactions were even more grandiose.

• Politico - New FCC team aims for accessibility

  Haley Van Dyck has a tall order for a 24-year-old: helping to employ the Internet to turn a once notoriously opaque and uncommunicative Federal Communications Commission into a consumer-friendly agency.

• Christian Science Monitor - Charles Rangel careens toward House trial; Democrats keen to avoid it

  Twenty-term Rep. Charles Rangel (D) of New York was as close as the House comes to invincible – a powerful committee chair, winning his last race with 89 percent of the vote – until the ethics woes he couldn’t talk away led to Thursday’s scheduled launch of a rare House trial.

• NextGov - Craigslist creator tries to bring transparency initiative out of the shadows

  The Obama administration's open government initiative is discussed regularly in some circles inside the Beltway, but travel just a few miles west and it's rarely, if ever, a topic of conversation.

• The Reporter - Editorial: 'Use it or lose it' is sensible

  A week after Rep. Betsy Markey, D-Colo., introduced a "use-it-or-lose-it" measure to rescind Transportation Department funds authorized during the last two decades but never spent, Congress overwhelmingly adopted it Tuesday.

• The Journal Gazette - State sitting on millions in unspent road money

  More than $103 million in highway money – some of it OK’d by Congress nearly two decades ago – remains unspent in Indiana, according to an analysis of federal data.

• Politico - Privacy continues to dominate Hill agenda; Facebook recommends action – COMPETES in Senate limbo again? – Major PTO funding push – Retrans fight returns

  CONGRESS IN YOUR POCKET – Sunlight Foundation released an open-source application for Android phones designed to let you find members’ latest activities, votes, phone numbers and tweets.

• The Los Angeles Times - On the Media: Let's put more public documents online

  How far have we come from the world of Deep Throat and the superhero reporter when the biggest news of the day arrives via a somewhat obscure website, in the form of tens of thousands of documents dumped by an unknown source?

• Bloomberg Businessweek - Obama Promotes Policies in New Jersey, Raises Funds in New York

  President Barack Obama is making a final push today for passage of his plan to aid small businesses on a trip that combines campaigning for his economic policies and raising money for the Democratic Party.

• New Hampshire Public Radio - NH's Delegation Splits on Campaign Finance Reform Bill

  The New Hampshire Congressional delegation split on a bill that would have forced large corporate donors to reveal their identities in campaign ads. NHPR Correspondent Matt Laslo reports from Washington on what the legislations defeat could mean for campaign season in the state.

• The East Oregonian - High Notes & Footnotes: July 28, 2010

  It has existed for more than 230 years, but few visit. It’s been on TV for more than 60 years, and on radio years before that, and C-SPAN has offered gavel-to-gavel coverage for more than 30 years. It, of course, is Congress. But now, thanks to the Sunlight Foundation, it’s available: Congress, the app.

• CSPAN - Washington Journal with Paul Singer

  Paul Singer discusses the ethics charges against Rep. Rangel as well as the history of other ethics hearing involving other members, including a mention of the Sunlight Foundation:

• The Sacramento Bee - Opportunity for GOP - and challenge

  Given what members of Congress get away with these days, it takes a lot to break House ethics rules.

• The Huffington Post - The new Federal Register: 'USA.gov meets USA Today'

  The Open Government Initiative has a lot to do with telling people what's going on in Washington, and providing way better return for the taxpayer dollar.

• Roll Call - Real-Time Congress App Now on Androids

  Even those who didn’t wait in line all night to snag a new iPhone 4 can now have fingertip access to the legislative branch.

• MSNBC - House Investigations Led by Rep. Issa

  MSNBC's The Daily Rundown has an interview with Representative Darrel Issa who mentions the Sunlight Foundation when discussing the government releasing data in better formats and more promptly responding to requests.

• Washington Post - Federal Register relaunching Web site to make it easier to navigate

  Eager to boost public participation and awareness of the federal rule-making process, the Obama administration will relaunch the Federal Register's Web site Monday with a design resembling a newspaper Web site.

• CNN Money - Fight brews over drilling watchdog

  The government was supposed to keep an eye on offshore oil drilling, it was supposed to make sure nothing went wrong.

• Politico - Lobbyists call bluff on 'Daschle exemption'

  Tom Daschle has earned millions of dollars telling the nation’s biggest companies how to get what they want from official Washington.

• Roll Call - GOP Assails Sandlin Family Ties

  Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin’s family situation is becoming a major headache for the South Dakota Democrat in her tough re-election bid, with Republicans ramping up their criticisms of her voting record — and her lobbyist husband’s extensive list of clients.

• Fox News - A Moveable Feast

  Fox News' Special Report With Bret Baier looks at food and beverages costs in the House of Representatives that uses data compiled by the Sunlight Foundation:

• Associated Press - Paper: Gov. Perry land deal benefited from courtesies

  Gov. Rick Perry's investment in a Texas resort property was enhanced by a series of professional courtesies and personal favors from friends, campaign donors and the head of a Texas family with a rich history of political power-brokering, The Dallas Morning News reported Sunday.

• The Hill - Federal Register gets user-friendly

  The Federal Register, the daily journal that tracks most regulatory actions of the federal government, got a facelift last week as the Government Printing Office (GPO) and the National Archives Office launched a new website designed to be more user-friendly.

• Federal News Radio - Federal Register: new look for new rules

  The Federal Register website has been given a fresh new look as a part of its 75th birthday celebration. Federal Register managing editor Michael White explains how the changes with affect your agency.

• NextGov - Redesign spruces up policy, rule-making site

  FederalRegister.gov, long criticized as an eye-glazing laundry list of public notices, relaunched on Monday as a more navigable website patterned after an award-winning free application developed by volunteers.

• PBS - ‘Disappearmarks,’ or what ever happened to that $6 billion for transportation?

  Remember your old friend, The Bill? That lovable “Schoolhouse Rock” character? Well … He’s gone missing. And the ransom: $6.5 billion. Or he gets it.

• CBS - Buffalo sitting on millions from feds

  BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) - Western New York is sitting on $65 million in unspent money from Uncle Sam. The taxpayer watchdog group, The Sunlight Foundation, says some of this federal funding dates back 19 years, and includes millions for the Peace Bridge project, Buffalo's waterfront and the Buffalo-Niagara Medical Campus. Congressman Brian Higgins blames the holdup on bureaucratic red tape.

• The Buffalo News - $65 million in federal aid to WNY is unspent

  WASHINGTON -- Nearly $65 million in federal highway funds -- some of it set aside by Congress 19 years ago -- remains unspent in Western New York, an analysis of federal data shows. The sum includes $17 million for the Peace Bridge, nearly $9 million for improvements at the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, about $6 million for Buffalo's waterfront and a similar amount for the return of cars to Main Street in downtown Buffalo.

• The Daily Caller - Google: Regulations for thee, but not for me

  For the last four years, Google has fought for net neutrality in Washington, and the right to aggregate and serve ads against other people’s content in the technology press. An open letter that the company sent to the FTC Tuesday, however, shows that Google is ready to engage in not one, but two regulatory battles on Capitol Hill.

• PBS - Sunlight Foundation's report on disappearmarks

  PBS in New York, NY, has a piece that mentions the Sunlight Foundation's report on unspent earmarks, called "disappearmarks":

• Christian Science Monitor - Charles Rangel charged with ethics violations: How bad for Democrats?

  Members of a House panel on Thursday charged Rep. Charles Rangel (D) of New York with violating a list of House ethics rules.

• Washington Examiner - House GOP pushing 'Read the Bill' on America Speaking Out

  House Minority Leader John Boehner is touting a proposal introduced by Rep. John Culberson, R-TX, requiring a three-day internet posting prior to votes on final passage for all legislation in the lower chamber.

• The Hill - Sunlight Foundation wants to know where telecom lobbyists come from

  As in, what jobs did they hold before they joined the private sector. The foundation has a blog post and a graphic, below.

• AOL News - How Congress Spends Billions on Itself: About This Series

  The Sunlight Foundation is a nonpartisan nonprofit that uses technology to try to make government more transparent. One way it does that is to release (in cooperation with the Capitol Hill newspaper Roll Call) massive, searchable databases culled from the House of Representatives' expense reports. There's enough in the data dumps to keep oversight-obsessed numbers junkies busy for weeks.

• AOL News - How Congress Rolls: House Spends $1.4 Million Per Month on Travel

  It's a truth of political life (not to mention, yes, an unforgivable bastardization of a classic TV catchphrase): Have seat in Congress, will travel. As if your job depends on it. Because it very well might.

• The Daily Reflector - Campaigns of incumbents get edge from PAC dollars

  Challengers in North Carolina’s congressional races are far behind the incumbents in raising campaign dollars, and a lot of that has to do with the money that comes from special-interest groups.

• CSPAN - Rep. Levin Quotes Sunlight Foundation on the House floor

  While discussing a bill that was online before voting for 72 hours, Rep. Levin quoted the Sunlight Foundation that called the bill a "model of transparency."

• CSPAN - Rep. Doggett discusses the Sunlight Foundation

  CSPAN aired footage of Rep. Doggett on the House floor discussing the work of the Sunlight Foundation to create a public online database to accompany the Miscellaneous Tariff bill:

• Politico - Bringing government up to data

  Technology drove Barack Obama’s presidential campaign. And Obama’s three tech “chiefs” drive his administration’s technology.

• The Guardian - Knight-Batten awards push collaborative future for news

  The journalistic projects that won the 2010 Knight-Batten Innovation Awards work on subjects from government data and presidential promises to humanitarian disaster, but they present a common vision of the future of news: as live, collaborative and context-driven.

• The Springfield News-Leader - 7th Congressional District candidates discuss earmarks

  The Sunlight Foundation defines an earmark as "an item that is inserted into a bill to direct funds to a specific project or recipient without any public hearing or review."

• The Huffington Post - Reforming the Way Washington Works

  I have not been in Washington long but I've been there long enough to know that it's broken and we need to fix it.

• Roll Call - GOP Promises Transparency, but With Limits

  House Republicans said the webcast of a forum held Friday between Members and lobbyists is an example of the kind of openness they would bring if they retake the majority, but leaders warned that some meetings would still remain behind closed doors.

• American Public Media - Lobbyists prepare for new financial reform landscape

  Bill Radke: President Obama will sign the financial overhaul bill this week. And when he does, we still won't know what effect it will have. That's because the bill leaves crucial decisions up to the regulators who'll be implementing it. Marketplace's Nancy Marshall Genzer reports lobbyists are gearing up to influence those decisions.

• St. Petersburg Times - Politifact's Obameter wins Knight-Batten Award

  PolitiFact's Obameter has won a Knight-Batten Award for Innovations in Journalism.

• CNN - Why Obama's poll numbers have sunk

  President Obama's supporters have been frustrated about the apparent paradox of this administration. With the recent passage of historic financial regulation legislation, many Democrats are having trouble grasping why his approval ratings still lag and why Democrats might lose control of the House in the fall elections.

• Columbia Journalism Review - Knight-Batten Innovation Award Winners Announced

  The Knight-Batten Awards for Innovations in Journalism were announced on the J-Lab site on Monday. The $10,000 grand prize goes to the Sunlight Foundation, for their project Sunlight Live, an “innovative blending of data, streaming video, liveblogging and social networking - first used at February’s bipartisan health-care summit,” according to the press release.

• The Lawrence Journal-World & News - WellCommons honored in Knight-Batten competition

  WellCommons was honored Monday as a "notable entry" in the annual Knight-Batten Award competition.

• The Columbus Dispatch - Bauman back working for Kilroy

  A familiar name to central Ohio political junkies is back in Columbus, working as spokesman for both the campaign and the official office of Rep. Mary Jo Kilroy, D-Columbus.

• Fox News - Social Media on the Hill

  Fox News KNWA has a segment about the use of social media in Congress that interviews the Sunlight Foundation's policy director John Wonderlich.

• Congressional Quarterly - On the Move: Advocacy

  The Sunlight Foundation has hired Nicole Aro, who caught the politics bug as a community organizer for the Barack Obama presidential campaign, to coordinate grass-roots support for its open-government efforts. Aro, 26, who most recently worked at the Democratic National Committee to promote the health insurance overhaul enacted this spring, says the skills she developed on the 2008 campaign trail -- she worked in several areas of the country -- are easily transferred to issue advocacy.

• PBS - Internet and Democracy

  The Miller Center National Discussion and Debates Series focused recently on the Internet and Democracy and mentioned the work of the Sunlight Foundation:

• McClatchy Newspapers - Ethics office examining eight lawmakers over fundraising

  U.S. Rep. Mel Watt is among eight Republican and Democratic lawmakers under scrutiny by a congressional ethics office for fundraising that took place near the time of a key House vote last year on a financial regulatory overhaul.

• The Washington Post - 'USA.gov meets USA Today' launching soon

  Just as news outlets are adapting to the web, social media and mobile devices, officials are working on a major revamp of the government's daily newsletter in hopes of boosting traffic and audience participation.

• The Huffington Post - Sunlight Foundation Streams and Reports GOP Meeting With Lobbyists

  Hey, Sunlight Foundation does lots of great work for government accountability via transparency. They aim to show you where the money comes from, where it goes, and what it gets.

• The New York Times - Who Won Big in the Financial Bill

  Paul Blumenthal is a senior writer at the Sunlight Foundation, a nonprofit group that focuses on transparency in government.

• Gannett - Bill would reduce deficit with some unspent earmarks

  Every year members of Congress designate federal funds for specific transportation projects in their states or districts. The allocations are among the "earmarks" that politicians often use to curry favor among their constituents.

• CNN - Top House Republican wants ban on new federal regulations

  House GOP Leader John Boehner said he supports a ban on all new federal regulations, after meeting Friday with business lobbyists who complained about uncertain economic conditions.

• The Washington Examiner - GOP opens its meeting with lobbyists to the public, you can watch it right now

  If you ever wanted to sit in on a meeting between Members of Congress and lobbyists trying to influence their voting, you can do it now, at least from a cyber perspective, courtesy of the House GOP and the Sunlight Foundation.

• National Journal - Live Analysis Of House GOP's Meeting With Business Lobbyists

  As Republican leadership sits down with trade association lobbyists to talk about the party's 2010 policy agenda, watch here as the Sunlight Foundation and National Journal report live. The meeting is part of the House GOP's "America Speaking Out" project, as the party seeks input to help shape its platform.

• NextGov - Minerals Management Service's replacement still has no website

  The homepage of the bureau that replaced the now-defunct Minerals Management Service seems to be as opaque as the former organization that has been blamed for lax oversight of the energy industry, open government advocates said.

• Federal News Radio - Federal Register set to unveil extreme makeover

  It's found in lobbyists' offices on K Street, lawmakers' offices on Capitol Hill, and the desks of cabinet secretaries all across official Washington. But now users who access the Federal Register online are being asked to prepare for big changes on the Register's 75th anniversary on Monday, July 26.

• The Washington Post - More setbacks for campaign finance rules; lawmakers, staffers get free golf

  It's turning into the year of setbacks for campaign finance regulations.

• Bloomberg Businessweek - Ethics Office Probes Wall Street Giving Before Vote

  A congressional ethics office is investigating campaign donations made by the financial industry to some U.S. House members as they were preparing to vote on the Wall Street regulation overhaul in December.

• InformationWeek - Federal Register Gets User-Friendly Updates

  The Federal Register, the official daily newspaper of the federal government and the traditional primary source of new federal rules and regulations, Presidential proclamations and public meeting notices, is about to get a long overdue upgrade.

• The New York Times - Prospects Abound Among the Kurds

  Shortly after leaving his job last year as the United States ambassador to the United Nations, Zalmay Khalilzad started negotiations with Iraqi Kurdish leaders to become a paid adviser.

• The Coloradoan - Markey bill would use unspent earmarks to reduce national debt

  Hundreds of millions of dollars in unspent transportation earmarks would be returned to the federal treasury under a bill introduced Wednesday by Rep. Betsy Markey.

• The Philadelphia Inquirer - Stalled local transit projects result in loss of federal funds

  Local transit agencies will lose about $5.7 million in federal funds committed for projects that have stalled or died.

• Florida Today - Reed: Earmark money for bus terminal ignored

  A $198,000 congressional earmark seemed like a lot of money for a local agency to leave lying around, unused.

• The Star Democrat - Net neutrality may be in serious trouble

  Perhaps the greatest freedom in a democracy is freedom of speech. Throughout our nation's history, people have died fighting not only for our right to speak, but for our right to be heard.

• The Economist - Mr Newmark goes to Washington

  "I'm in over my head in Washington. I am a nerd, and politics is intensely social, and I am not intensely social," Craig Newmark informed his audience at the Aspen Ideas Festival on July 8th. Yet the eponymous founder of Craigslist, a classified-advertising website, has decided to overcome his shyness to campaign for greater openness in government. Indeed, he has developed an amusing public persona based on good-naturedly sending up his own geeky nature.

• The Guardian - Liberals and despair

  As Misanthrope and ngavc noted toward the end of the Margot thread, Politico ran a piece about my big essay in my journal and Eric Alterman's new opus in The Nation, in which he argues that the US system is too rigged against progressive change because of the make-up of the Senate, the power of corporate money in Washington and other reasons.

• The Ohio News Democrat - Keep the Internet open for all

  Perhaps the greatest freedom in a democracy is freedom of speech. Throughout our nation's history, people have died fighting not only for our right to speak, but for our right to be heard.

• Mother Jones - Is Congress' Golf Habit Out of Bounds?

  Each year, two familiar haunts on Washington political circuit—the Capitol Hill Club (GOP) and the National Democratic Club—host popular golf outings where members of Congress, their staffers, and other paying participants hit the links to raise money for the two clubs. The more big-name lawmakers who show up, enjoying for free a round of golf that usually costs $3,000 to $8,000, the better. But by letting lawmakers swing away and dine for free, are the clubs breaking House ethics rules?

• The San Francisco Chronicle - A few days at the Aspen Ideas Festival

  Okay, I haven't recovered yet from the Aspen Ideas Festival, too many interesting people and genuinely valuable panel sessions. I tried to do my part; here's a very narrowly focused take; another can be found at AspenSpin.

• Noozhawk - Harris Sherline: What Makes You Think We Read the Bills?

  Vapor bills have become a common tactic to propose legislation without having to disclose details.

• Miller-McCune - C’mon, Peek Inside Elena Kagan’s Inbox

  Online access to pertinent public documents celebrates a milestone, as Elena Kagan’s Clinton-era e-mails are made easily available for pubic consumption.

• CNN - Craigslist founder working with congress on transparency

  Aspen, Colorado (CNN) – Craig Newmark, a self-described "nerd," has found a pretty nerdy issue on Capitol Hill and is seeing bipartisan support: transparency in government through technology.

• Computer World - 10 free Android apps for staying in the know

  The promise of a smartphone is that you have the world's knowledge at your fingertips anywhere you go. Since Google is committed to organizing the world's knowledge, it seems only natural that its Android operating system, now available in dozens of smartphones and other devices worldwide, would excel at bringing you that information.

• The Washington Post - LeBron James -- Democratic donor, tea party helper and more

  LeBron James's decision to sign with the Miami Heat wouldn't at first blush seem to have a lot of political implications, but that hasn't stopped politicians from trash-talking his choice or bloggers from looking for underlying political angles.

• ABC News - Stimulus Money: There's an App for That

  WASHINGTON - Stimulus projects are going on across our region, and a new smart phone app will tell you where they are in your neighborhood, and how many taxpayer dollars the project is getting. Agree with the stimulus spending or not, the money's been handed out. Thanks to a free new phone app, you can see who got it wherever you are.

• Federal News Radio - Grading the new USA.gov

  USA.gov, the site that conveys official information and services about the U.S. government, just launched the new design of their website. Since Sunlight Labs took a stab at redesigning it back in January of '09, they thought they'd see if the government took any of their advice.

• Governing - Earmark Transparency Still Makes More Sense than a Ban

  The Sunlight Foundation recently sent a letter seeking cosponsors for H.R. 5258 and S. 3335, both known as the Earmark Transparency Act. The bill would require the creation of a centralized database of earmarks and earmark requests.

• The Philadelphia Inquirer - Philadelphia University: ‘A special place’ waits for Specter

  In the nearly three years since he became president of Philadelphia University, Stephen Spinelli Jr. has nurtured a relationship with U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter, who lives within blocks of the school.

• Governing - Grading the New USA.gov - Sunlight Labs

  This article was written by Ali Felski, the Sunlight Labs Senior Desginer.

• The American Prospect - For the Sake of Transparency

  The financial-reform bill has been a good test case for what happens when Congress introduces transparency into a clash that pits the interests of the powerful against those of the public.

• The Nation - Kabuki Democracy: Why a Progressive Presidency Is Impossible, for Now

  Few progressives would take issue with the argument that, significant accomplishments notwithstanding, the Obama presidency has been a big disappointment. As Mario Cuomo famously observed, candidates campaign in poetry but govern in prose. Still, Obama supporters have been asked to swallow some painfully "prosaic" compromises.

• InformationWeek - Code For America To Help Cities Modernize IT

  A new nonprofit project backed by several high-profile technology foundations aims to help city governments better leverage Web 2.0 technology in their transparency plans.

• The Huffington Post - Net Neutrality Versus the Telecom Pirates

  The standard set top box is an endangered species as entertainment and information converge and is increasingly delivered over the internet to your TV, laptop and handheld device. Not only will there be entertainment, sports and information sources available anywhere, anytime and on any device, the Internet will be the engine of job creation, at the center of health care reform and education. But to make this glimmering promise become a reality we have to move up the ladder from our position in 17th place for broadband Internet penetration among developed countries.

• The Desert Sun - Fiorina running against D.C. with hands out

  On a three-day East Coast swing, California Republican Carly Fiorina continued her assault on Washington politics even as she turned to GOP lobbyists and political insiders to fund her Senate campaign.

• The Register Citizen - Keep the Internet free and open to all

  Perhaps the greatest freedom in a democracy is freedom of speech. Throughout our nation’s history, people have died fighting not only for our right to speak, but for our right to be heard.

• The Chronicle - How useful is open Government data?

  The Sunlight Foundation, a Washington-based organisation that aims to help make governments transparent and accountable, has raised some interesting questions about the usefulness of the US open data site Data.gov.

• The New York Times - Changing Government and Tech With Geeks

  Talking about government and computer programming most likely doesn’t evoke the feeling of “fun” for most Americans. But a group of Web geeks and technology leaders is trying to change that with a new nonprofit project, Code for America, which aims to import the efficiency of the Web into government infrastructures.

• Politico - NBC-Comcast deal hits the road -- FTC extends privacy comment period -- Digital gap on Hill – eBay against Delahunt’s Internet tax bill – Skype wants Congress

  DRIVING THE WEEK -- A second congressional committee will soon hit the road for a hearing on the proposed NBC-Comcast merger. Members of the House Energy and Commerce subcommittee on Communications, Technology and the Internet will invite top industry leaders to Chicago to discuss the deal on July 8, just five days before the FCC holds its own public forum in the same city.

• American Public Media - ElenasInbox.com reveals Kagan's emails

  What if all the emails you wrote at work were published online? All the gossip, meeting agendas, dumb YouTube clips you sent to friends at work, all of it, slapped up on a website. That’s the deal right now for Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan. You can go right now to elenasinbox.com and read emails written by and sent to Kagan during the years she served in the Clinton administration. Messages received, sent, over 14,000 emails in all, publicly disclosed.

• National Journal Magazine - People

  The Sunlight Foundation, a nonprofit that advocates openness and government transparency, has two new hires: Nicole Aro and Alexis Rudakewych. Aro, 26, will be Sunlight's lead organizer, doing grassroots engagement and working on the group's Public=Online campaign. Rudakewych, also 26, will serve as a policy associate and expects to register to lobby.

• MSNBC - Bringing Transparency to Government

  MSNBC's The Dylan Ratigan Show had a segment on transparency that included an interview featuring the Sunlight Foundation's editorial director Bill Allison:

• The Hill - Sunlight Foundation: Microsoft, Google 'similar' to telecom giants in revolving door hires

  Microsoft and Google have "spun the revolving door" to bring on 112 lobbyists who previously worked in government, the Sunlight Foundation said in a report released Friday.

• The New Mexico Independent - Army of lobbyists working to influence Congress on Internet regulation

  Major corporations are spending millions of dollars to influence Congress as Congress works to rewrite telecommunication rules that affect consumer Internet service.

• The Washington Post - Activists protest to demand Congress stop fundraising from corporate lobbyists

  Washington watchdogs dressed as Founding Fathers "stormed" the marble foyer of a powerful downtown Washington lobbying firm, demanding that members of Congress stop meeting behind closed doors to raise money from corporate lobbyists and instead spend their time working on laws to help the American public.

• USA Today - Politicians' harsh words pull in campaign funds

  In an otherwise courteous Congress, a little brash can bring in cash.

• The Huffington Post - Four Easy Steps to Telco Control of the Internet

  Have you heard about the battle over the Internet?

• The Washington Examiner - Access Elena Kagan's email account

  As Elena Kagan’s confirmation hearings wind down, many are looking for more information on the likely-soon-to-be justice. While all of the emails sent and received by Kagan during her time as a part of the Clinton administration were recently released online, the volume is difficult to navigate. The Sunlight Foundation, a group dedicated to making government information available and accessible, has found the cure.

• Metro Magazine - Study: Nearly $120M in transit earmarks unspent

  Nearly $120 million in Federal Transit Administration (FTA) earmarks that were introduced and approved by Congress have sat untouched in FTA accounts for years and have now lapsed, according to a new analysis by the Sunlight Foundation Reporting Group, a Washington, D.C.-based, non-partisan, nonprofit that focuses on making government transparent and accountable.

• Bloomberg - Finance Panel Freshmen Gain 53% Edge in Donations to Aid Re-Election Bids

  For congressional freshmen trying to win re-election, membership on the U.S. House Financial Services Committee has its rewards.

• The Hill - Rapidfire e-mails from both sides highlight Kagan's positions

  Both Republicans and Democrats are using rapid-response e-mails to rally supporters during the ongoing confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan.

• The Sacramento Bee - $120 million in federal transit earmarks went unspent

  Almost $120 million in federal funding approved by Congress for mass transportation projects has gone unspent. The money sat in Federal Transit Administration accounts for years, according to the Sunlight Foundation, a government transparency group which obtained and analyzed over 150 earmarks from 2006 and 2007 that have all lapsed.

• The Huffington Post - Use the Internet to Save the Internet -- Your Videos Can Counter Big Lobbying Dollars

  The New York Times editorial page put its formidable magnifying glass up to some fabulous work done by the Sunlight Foundation in the ferocious industry lobbying over telecommunications policy.

• The New York Times - The Price of Broadband Politics

  One good measure of the intensity with which phone and cable companies dislike the Federal Communications Commission’s plan to extend its regulatory oversight over access to broadband Internet is the amount of money they are spending on political contributions.

• The Huffington Post - Norm Eisen Gets Ambassador Gig Leaving White House 'Ethics Czar' Post Vacant

  President Obama has nominated his "ethics czar" as ambassador to the Czech Republic, the White House announced on Monday. The White House won't say whether it plans to replace him.

• The Buffalo News - Lawmakers keep wining and dining

  WASHINGTON — Rep. Chris Lee threw a Christmas party last Dec. 9 — but only for those who gave him the biggest campaign gifts allowable under law.

• Information Age Magazine - Government proposes open data 'principles'

  The UK government has compiled a list of 'principles' regarding its open data initiative, and is calling on the public to provide comments and feedback.

• The Huffington Post - White House's Lobbyist Liaisons Blasted By Watchdogs (VIDEO)

  Watchdog groups are blasting the Obama administration for dodging records rules and cutting corners on its self-imposed disclosure requirements for White House visitors.

• Democrat and Chronicle - Read Elena Kagan’s emails

  As is so often the case, the sheer massive volume of documents makes it difficult for anyone to process. It would take days to read through all of them, and even longer to put them in some sort of meaningful context.

• The Columbus Dispatch - Jonathan Riskind commentary: Lawmakers, state on same page

  Let's take a break from despairing at the nonstop partisan bickering and ideological warfare gripping Congress and give a nod to the Ohio delegation for demonstrating that a dab of common sense is still possible on Capitol Hill. A Sunlight Foundation Reporting Group investigation released last week found that nearly $120 million in federal transit-project earmarks won in 2006 and 2007 was never spent.

• The Lexington Herald-Leader - Banking rules must be serious

  Even Congress has begun to understand that Americans are still not happy with banks. That's good because it might, just might have been the only reason members of Congress — despite the bevy of bank lobbyists hovering nearby — managed to keep some teeth in regulatory reform.

• ABC News - Jack Abramoff Out of Prison, Working at Pizzeria

  ABC Brian Ross Investigates looks at the current situation of Jack Abramoff as the disgraced D.C. lobbyist takes marketing job through halfway house in Baltimore. The segment includes an interview with the Sunlight Foundation's executive director and co-founder Ellen Miller.

• The Washington Post - Elena Kagan in her own words

  Elena Kagan is said by many observers to have left a thin paper trail. Below are some of the more interesting publications, reports and reported remarks that reveal her thinking over the years, compiled from and hosted by a variety of sites around the Web. To add to the paper and video trail, leave links in the comments.

• The Washingtonian - SCOTUS Watch: Strategy Edition

  Elena Kagan’s hearings start Monday. That means her opponents are busier than ever building the case against her confirmation.

• The Atlantic - Politicizing James Taylor and Carole King

  Can't James Taylor and Carole King just perform on stage together at the Verizon Center and not have political controversy erupt around it? No, folk music lovers, that is too much to ask: the Sunlight Foundation posted a copy of a Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee invitation to the concert, for $2,400 campaign contributions for New York Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney.

• American Townhall - The American Townhall on National Politics

  The Sunlight Foundation's Jake Brewer and Nicole Aro spoke on Blog Talk Radio with the American Townhall program about the Public Equals Online campaign.

• The Village Voice - Carolyn Maloney, Pols Cash in on James Taylor-Carole King Concert, Showing They've Got Friends

  The Carole King - James Taylor concert tour hit DC last night, and among those crooning along at the Verizon Center to that syrupy boomer anthem, "You've Got a Friend," were a herd of lobbyists and Congress members who chose the occasion to practice the Beltway version of true friendship: A political fundraiser.

• The Hill - Dems rock out, raise cash at Troubadour Reunion Tour

  The Troubadour Reunion Tour that folk legends James Taylor and Carole King are currently on stopped at Washington's Verizon Center on Wednesday.

• Democrat and Chronicle - Sunlight agenda makes progress in Congress

  WASHINGTON — Congress is poised to act this week on bills that would increase disclosure of lawmakers' special funding requests and of the special-interest groups that pay for campaign television advertising.

• Mediaite - Now Anyone Can Take A Peek Into Elena Kagan’s Inbox

  Thanks to the Sunlight Foundation, an organization that promotes political transparency, now anyone with Internet access can look at Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan’s inbox.

• NewsDay - Babylon OKs $11 million for Wyandanch redevelopment

  The town of Babylon has approved $11 million in bonds for property acquisition in Wyandanch as part of its plans for downtown redevelopment.

• The Daily Herald - Insiders hold firm control

  The revolving door keeps spinning in Washington, D.C., leaving power in the hands of the well-connected, not the public. Two nonpartisan reports underscore this never-ending, self-perpetuating problem.

• McClatchy - Triangle Transit earmark vanishes

  One thing Triangle Transit had to give up in 2006, when it was forced to shelve a three-county rail transit plan, was a $19.6 million federal grant earmarked for the project in a congressional appropriations bill. It is the largest of $120 million in unspent grants - so-called "disappearmarks" - listed in a report Tuesday from the Sunlight Foundation, a nonpartisan open-government advocacy group in Washington.

• Roll Call - K Street Files: Bundlers Deliver $126,000 for DCCC

  Three prominent Democratic lobbyists helped give the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee a fundraising lift in May, according to the latest bundling reports filed with the Federal Election Commission.

• The Colorado Independent - Gardner to soak up funds at event hosted by BP lobbyist

  If he’s as “spineless” as Cory Gardner’s race-baiting critics say he is, it’s probably really hard to say no to oil and gas money – even if it is soaked in BP sludge. The Sunlight Foundation’s Party Time blog reported Tuesday that Gardner, the Republican candidate for Colorado’s hotly contested 4th Congressional District, will be the beneficiary Thursday of a $1,000-a-plate luncheon in Washington co-hosted by BP lobbyist Dan Meyer.

• CSPAN - Rep. Issa mentions the work of the Sunlight Foundation

  During the Financial Regulation Conference Committee Representative Darrell Issa mentioned the need for independent non-partisan and non-government organizations like the Sunlight Foundation to monitor government:

• The Weekly Standard - Happy Hour Links

  Dead heats in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin Senate races. Sunlight Foundation makes it easy to read Elena Kagan's White House emails.

• The Washington Post - Updated: Virginia failed to spend millions in federal transportation money, group says

  Nearly $3 million in Federal Transit Administration earmarks approved by Congress for nine projects in Virginia was never spent and the money is no longer available, according to a new report by the Sunlight Foundation Reporting Group.

• The Hill - Search Elena Kagan's Inbox

  The folks at Sunlight Foundation have come up with an innovative tool that lets users search through Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan's e-mails from her tenure as White House associate counsel under President Bill Clinton as if it were their own inbox.

• The New York Times - Kagan in the White House: She Had Mail

  Want to check out Elena Kagan’s paper trail, but intimidated by the sheer number of e-mail messages she wrote and received while in the Clinton White House?

• Politico - Reading Kagan's e-mail

  The Sunlight Foundation converted Elena Kagan's e-mails into what looks like a gmail inbox — searchable, clickable and a remarkable — if voyeuristic — look at a her life in the White House in 1999.

• CQ Politics - Elena's Inbox

  The Sunlight Foundation releases Elena's Inbox which allows you to search actual emails to and from Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan during her stint in the Clinton administration.

• Reason Magazine - Want to Read Supreme Court Nominee Elena Kagan's Email?

  Now you can—at least the mails Kagan sent in her time working for Bill Clinton. The Sunlight Foundation is enabling your inner private eye by offering her mail in a familiar, user-friendly gmail interface instead of the clunky option on the Clinton Library's website.

• The Washington Examiner - Want to read Supreme Court Justice nominee Elena Kagan's email? UPDATED!

  Analysis of the views and writings of Elena Kagan, President Obama's Supreme Court nominee, is beginning in earnest and the Sunlight Foundation has done something that should set a milestone in the confirmation proceedings of all major presidential nominations.

• The Huffington Post - Will President Obama Abandon the Open Internet?

  Perhaps the greatest freedom in a democracy is freedom of speech. Throughout our nation's history, people have died fighting not only for our right to speak, but for our right to be heard.

• The Huffington Post - Cory Gardner, Colorado GOP Candidate, Holds Fundraiser With BP Lobbyist

  A set of upcoming political fundraisers has brought up once again a question often asked by good government groups: Just how tainted do donors have to be before politicians stop taking their money?

• The Huffington Post - HUFFPOST HILL - JUNE 23RD, 2010

  Now THAT was an interesting day. Shortly after the U.S. put Algeria away with a last-minute goal from Landon Donovan, Barack Obama put Stanley McChrystal away, replacing him with David Pretraeus. On the Hill, Joe Barton apologized and unapologized about 30 more times (last we checked, he's feeling bad for BP) and David Vitter's office is once again catching flak for its disgusting approach to women. Speaking of BP, only those clowns would employ a clumsy robot. This is HUFFPOST HILL for June 23rd, 2010:

• Vanity Fair - Read All of Elena Kagan’s E-mails!

  The Sunlight Foundation, an organization dedicated to fostering political transparency through (really terrific!) technology, has a new Web site, Elena’s Inbox, on which users can browse through Supreme Court–justice nominee Elena Kagan’s e-mail archive. It’s technically more like Elena’s Outbox: an overwhelming majority of the correspondences Kagan sent during her time as an adviser and aide in the Clinton White House are available for consumption. And just like real Gmail, the contents of Elena’s Inbox may be starred and searched. For novice voyeurs, the site also provides suggested queries (“red sage” and “making the President look like a liar,” for example) that bring up interesting results.

• Democrat and Chronicle - N.Y. earmarks go unspent

  The amount of money directed by members of Congress to Renaissance Square that was never spent was the second largest on a national list compiled by a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit organization.

• The Coloradoan - 6 lobbyists to host fundraiser for Gardner

  Just days after his campaign criticized Betsy Markey for "taking directions from lobbyists and special interests," Republican congressional candidate Cory Gardner will have a $1,000-a-plate fundraiser hosted by six lobbyists, including one who counts BP America and Goldman Sachs among his clients.

• Newsday - Missed Chance at $1.4M in earmarks

  WASHINGTON - Suffolk County and Huntington Hospital gave up a total of $1.4 million in earmarked federal transit funds when they failed to meet application deadlines, according to a government-watchdog report issued yesterday.

• Roll Call - North Hall Is Popular For Events

  It has been more than three years since the electrical fire that devastated Eastern Market and about a year since the fully restored market was unveiled. Now, according to interim Manager Barry Margeson, the market’s North Hall is playing host to a wide variety of public and private events, ranging from political fundraisers to weddings.

• Congressional Quarterly Today - People on the Move - June 23rd 2010

  AshLee Strong has been hired as press secretary for Sen. John Thune, R-S.D. Strong was press secretary for Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va. She previously was a communications assistant for the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. Before that, Strong served in the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy during the George W. Bush administration, where her positions included deputy White House liaison, confidential assistant to the director and confidential assistant to the chief of staff.

• National Public Radio - Politicians Tweet: Move Over Ashton Kutcher!

  This weekend, Senator Claire McCaskill (D-MO) updated her 38,000 twitter followers on her efforts to change the system for holding up Presidential appointment hearings: First battle won! With Sens Bond and Brownbeck now have 67 Senators on my letter calling for the end to secret holds. Now gotta get a vote. 11:09 AM Jun 19th

• WSLA - Louisiana - Talk Show Discussion with John Wonderlich of the Sunlight Foundation

  The Gereighty & Tidmore Morning Show featured a lengthy interview with the Sunlight Foundation's policy director John Wonderlich and discusses a range of transparency-related topics. Runs about 30 minutes.

• The Hill - Good morning tech

  Good morning! Today is a first for American intellectual property, as the country gets an official enforcement strategy.

• The Star-Ledger - NJ Transit returns $4M from Hudson River tunnel study

  A $4 million Trans-Hudson Midtown Corridor Study for NJ Transit appeared on a list of Federal Transit Administration earmarks that were introduced and approved by Congress, yet lapsed after the money was never spent. The top ten list was compiled by the Sunlight Foundation Reporting Group, which termed its list of disappearing earmarks the “disappearmarks.”

• The Washington Examiner - And then there are the earmarks that just fade away

  General Douglas MacArthur famously said that “old soldiers don’t die, they just fade away.” Something similar apparently happens to congressional earmarks, too, according to an investigative research project by the Sunlight Foundation’s Reporting Group.

• The Atlanta Journal-Constitution - Georgia leaves more transit money idle

  At least $2.4 million that Congress awarded to transit projects in Georgia has gone unspent so long that it has expired, according to a report by a Washington, D.C.-based foundation.

• Politico - Inaugural Edition -- Telecom firms fill lobbyist ranks with ex-gov't officials

  DRIVING THE WEEK – Industry sources tell POLITICO they expect White House Intellectual Property czar Victoria Espinel to drop her much-anticipated IP report this week. Her recommendations could reach the vice president’s office Tuesday and go public Wednesday, just in time for the Senate Judiciary Committee’s scheduled IP oversight hearing.

• Capitol News Connection - Lobbyists Toast Lawmakers With Parties

  Capitol Hill lawmakers allow representatives of the industries they regulate to throw lavish fund-raiser parties for them. BP lobbyists, for instance, have held 53 such events for various Senators and Representatives since 2008.

• Capitol News Connection - Financial Reform Bill Enters Home Stretch This Week

  Description: This week, the conference committee resumes its effort to merge House and Senate versions of financial regulatory overhaul. But how much of an “overhaul” is it shaping up to be?

• NextGov - Data.gov To House New APIs

  A series of new application programming interfaces - tools that facilitate interaction between datasets and other software programs - will make it easier for developers to play and interact with the content on Data.gov, the online repository of federal information and a cornerstone of the open government initiative.

• The Washington Post - Sunlight: Congress' revolving door to telecom, cable firms

  Broadband providers including Comcast, Time Warner Cable, AT&T and Verizon Communications have amassed armies of former government officials and spent $21 million in the first quarter of the year to lobby against net neutrality and other regulations at the Federal Communications Commission, according to a report by the Sunlight Foundation.

• The Hill - Telecom companies have deep lobbying bench as fight approaches

  Major phone and cable companies spent a combined $20.6 million to lobby Congress and the executive branch during the first quarter of 2010, according to a Sunlight Foundation analysis of disclosure filings.

• The Wall Street Journal - Follow Those SpaghettiOs! FDA Food, Drug, Device Recall Data Coming

  Food safety is back in the news thanks to the recalls of certain varieties and lots of Campbell Soup’s SpaghettiOs (on concerns that the food may be undercooked) and ConAgra’s Marie Callender frozen dinners (for their possible link to a salmonella outbreak). Not good.

• CSPAN - Washington Journal with John Bresnahan

  CSPAN's Washington Journal has a segment with John Bresnahan, Senior Congressional Reporter at the Politico who spoke about the campaign finance bill, current support for it as well as the "carve out" for the NRA. The piece mentions the Sunlight Foundation as a source for fundraising event invitations.

• The Washington Post - Even after BP oil spill, fundraising events were hopping

  Lobbyists for BP hosted at least 53 fundraising parties for lawmakers and candidates in recent years -- four of them since the explosion and oil spill at a BP-run oil drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico, according to a watchdog group's analysis.

• Politico - Barton’s gift to Democrats

  The Obama White House has been trying for weeks to change the narrative on the oil spill, but to no avail. Perhaps they should send a thank you note to Rep. Joe Barton for doing just that. Barton’s comments about a $20 billion “shakedown,” and his apology to BP (followed by a retraction), gave Democrats some breathing room from the scrutiny over the federal response to the oil spill.

• Capitol News Connection - House Financial Reform Conferee Defends Derivatives

  Description: Now that both the House and Senate have passed their own bills to reform the financial markets -- Oklahoma Republican Congressman Frank Lucas is a member of the panel working on merging the two versions. Lawmakers want to prevent another financial meltdown. But can they really? Sara Sciammacco reports from Washington.

• NextGov - Data.gov's next big thing: Mashing up federal stats with maps

  Data.gov, the federal government's clearinghouse of downloadable information, plans to release new gadgets that will enable the public to easily create mashups of maps and statistics, according to officials working on the enhancements.

• The Washington Examiner - #DCWEEK: Gov & Org 2.0 Day

  Wednesday’s #DCWEEK sessions focused upon government and nonprofit web 2.0 integrations. Hosted at the United Methodist Church Conference Facility, over 1,000 guests were expected at concurrent sessions discussing advocacy, diplomacy, constituent interaction, privacy, and specific technology deployments. Panelists shined a light on their project and career paths in an effort to guide audience members in their own.

• Charlotte Observer - Watt faces scrutiny on fundraising before financial reform vote

  WASHINGTON - U.S. Rep. Mel Watt is among eight Republican and Democratic lawmakers under scrutiny by a congressional ethics office for fundraising activities that took place near the time of a key House vote last year on financial regulatory reform.

• McClatchy - Bid to end senators' 'secret holds' advances

  WASHINGTON — In the Senate, every man or woman can be king. Each can hold up a billion-dollar spending bill on a whim, or block one of the president's nominees from ever getting a hearing.

• The Hill - The Big Question: Will Congress pass the Disclose Act?

  Some of the nation's top political commentators, legislators and intellectuals offer insight into the biggest question burning up the blogosphere today. ... Today's question: Will the disclose act be signed into law this year? Should it be?

• The Huffington Post - Digital Capital Week Showcases Technological Innovation in Washington

  What happens when you bring together over 5,000 registered attendees to learn about how technology, social media and entrepreneurship are bringing much-needed innovation to the District of Columbia? Excitement, fun, learning, connection and celebration in Washington. For a few days in sultry June, D.C. has exchanged nerd capital for digital capital.

• McClatchy - Democrats carve exception for NRA to salvage campaign law

  WASHINGTON -- Several open-government advocacy groups said Tuesday that they support a deal crafted by the Democratic leadership of the House of Representatives that would exempt the National Rifle Association and other groups from some provisions of a proposed campaign finance disclosure bill.

• Roll Call - CAO Spent $2.9 Million for Temps

  Chief Administrative Officer Dan Beard spends about $2.9 million each year on temporary staffers to work on everything from the House payroll to human resources. The news comes amid a House Inspector General evaluation of the CAO’s payroll, benefits and finance divisions after some Member offices complained of overdue reimbursements and high turnover in the office. Several sources have pointed to high numbers of employees who leave after a short period. For example, the Payroll and Benefits Office — which handles the salaries and benefits for every Member and committee office — has 15 temporary employees out of a total of 43.

• Roll Call - NRA Disclosure Deal Draws Fire

  The deal that House Democratic leaders cut with the National Rifle Association to earn the gun lobby’s neutrality on a campaign finance bill came in for harsh criticism from across the political spectrum on Tuesday, presenting new challenges for the package even as leadership pushes for floor action this week.

• New York Post - Pelosi office fit for queen

  House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's new San Francisco office costs taxpayers nearly twice as much as any other rented by a member of Congress, according to a new study. Pelosi was paying $4,300 a month for her office near San Francisco's City Hall until last fall, when she moved to a new 18-story federal building a few blocks away -- where the rent is $18,736 a month, an increase of more than four times.

• The New Mexico Independent - NRA carve-out in campaign finance bill opposed by transparency group

  The Sunlight Foundation pulled no punches in criticizing a reported deal on a federal campaign finance bill that would exempt large groups, such as the National Rifle Association, from disclosing their donors and the ads they pay for. The transparency group said Democratic leaders “caved to” the National Rifle Association “so the NRA would not oppose the DISCLOSE Act.”

• The American Prospect - Financial Regulation End Game

  Summer has become the season of town hall meetings. Last August, a vociferous health care debate at these local confabs took members of Congress by surprise when they returned home for their annual summer recess. Now, legislators are embroiled in a chaotic committee process with all the same characteristics -- over-crowding, lost tempers and a major policy proposal on the line -- to resolve the financial reform bill.

• Congressional Quarterly Today - People on the Move - June 16th 2010

  Jacob Olcott has been named counsel for the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee. He served as staff director and counsel for the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Emerging Threats, Cybersecurity, Science and Technology.

• San Francisco Chronicle - Pelosi's new office is House's costliest by far

  Washington - House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has more than quadrupled the rent on her San Francisco district office, making the $18,736-a-month cost of her new South of Market space the highest in the House, according to a new report.

• Roll Call - NRA Promises to Hold Fire on Campaign Disclosure Bill

  The National Rifle Association is publicly pledging to uphold its end of the bargain with House Democratic leadership over a measure to roll back a controversial Supreme Court decision on political spending. The gun lobby’s position, in essence: Leave us alone, and we’ll leave your bill alone. The opposition of the powerhouse grass-roots organization was threatening to sink the broader package, so leaders crafted a carve-out to exempt it from new disclosure requirements.

• KETK - NBC - Nothing is too good for Nancy

  The president wants a word with us tonight. We'll have analysis Wednesday night. While lbs tell us they are on our side and are providing for those who didn't have enough, some are still living high on the hog.

• Government Technology - Earl Devaney, Chairman of the Federal Recovery Board, Talks About Building and Running Recovery.gov

  On Feb. 17, 2009, Recovery.gov went live, and the concept of government transparency hasn't been the same since. The site, along with FederalReporting.gov, was designed to give American taxpayers the tools needed to track how and where $787 billion in federal stimulus funds are being spent. Though initially derided for lacking data and organization, the sites have evolved with more robust data sets, maps and usability features. These efforts now set the standard for shedding light on how public agencies spend taxpayer dollars, and they have become the model for state and local government transparency sites throughout the nation.

• The Huffington Post - NRA Remains The King On The Hill

  Democrats on Monday touted a major breakthrough in campaign finance reform legislation that could drastically alter the shape and course of the 2010 elections. But in the process of securing the necessary concessions, the party confirmed the widespread assumption that special interests can literally write legislation if they have enough clout.

• The Seattle Post Intelligencer - You and I pay $18k a month for Pelosi's office

  They say it's good to be king. Ain't bad being speaker of the House, either. The San Francisco Chronicle reports that the monthly rent for Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office in San Francisco is $18,736.

• The Washington Post - Investment disclosure rules for Congress are permissive, confusing

  After the Enron scandal, Congress required corporate executives who buy or sell shares of their company's stock to file electronic reports within two days of trading. But they have not been so strict with themselves. A bill to make lawmakers report their own trades within 90 days has gained support of only a handful of members.

• Roll Call - Pelosi Paying $18K a Month for New San Francisco Office

  Last fall, Speaker Nancy Pelosi moved her district office into the new federal building in San Francisco. The move quadrupled the rent she pays, and her new $18,736 monthly bill is almost double the next-highest rental paid by a Member of the House.

• The Wall Street Journal - Lobbyists Can't Get in Door

  Wall Street's lobbying army is marching around Washington in a push to shape the final financial-overhaul bill. But it has gotten harder to get through the door with some lawmakers. One bank has complained that it no longer has access to House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D., Mass.), whose schedule has filled up to accommodate negotiations with his Senate counterparts during the next two weeks.

• MSNBC - Congress: Spare some change?

  The Washington Post: “President Obama urged reluctant lawmakers Saturday to quickly approve nearly $50 billion in emergency aid to state and local governments, saying the money is needed to avoid "massive layoffs of teachers, police and firefighters" and to support the still-fragile economic recovery.”

• Fox News - Pelosi's New District Office Costs $18,736 a Month

  San Francisco is a high-rent city. Just ask Nancy Pelosi. The House Speaker's district office in the new federal building in San Francisco costs a whopping $18,736 a month -- the highest rental paid by any member of the House -- or, more precisely, the highest rental paid by taxpayers on behalf of a member of the House. The rental price was reported by Roll Call on Monday.

• Governing - Labor Groups Use Ark. Primary As Citizens United Testing Ground

  The Arkansas Senate primary between Sen. Blanche Lincoln and Lt. Gov. Bill Halter is acting as a testing ground for express advocacy advertisements allowed under the Citizens United Supreme Court ruling. The first of these advertisements are coming from labor unions in support of Halter's run to unseat Lincoln. Mother Jones reports on the labor union ads:

• Chronicle of Philanthropy - Web Site Provides Information on Federal Funds for Nonprofit Groups

  A new feature of a Web site devoted to tracking government subsidies allows the public to search a database for detailed information about federal grants to -- and contracts with -- nonprofit organizations.

• The Washington Times - Numerous lobbyists do BP's bidding

  Weeks after the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico began, the fundraising arm for Senate Democrats circulated a petition to hold BP "accountable" while accusing Republicans of making excuses for "bad environmental actors." The petition noted that the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) paid for the message, but didn't mention that the DSCC's own source of cash includes tens of thousands of dollars in political contributions raised earlier this year by a BP-hired lobbyist.

• The Commercial Appeal - Editorial: Store still has allure

  A critical report by researchers with the nonprofit Public Accountability Initiative might have lowered expectations for a Bass Pro Shops store in The Pyramid. But a contract with the Springfield, Mo.-based sporting goods giant remains the best hope for restoring the publicly owned icon at Memphis' western gateway to productive use.

• The Atlanta Journal-Constitution - Congressional candidates get creative to boost coffers

  WASHINGTON -- When country-pop phenom Taylor Swift's tour took her through Washington last week, she easily filled the Verizon Center here with young girls who sang and swooned to every note.

• The Commercial Appeal - Lipscomb assails Bass Pro report

  The city official leading the effort to fill The Pyramid with a Bass Pro Shop said a new, critical report of such deals was written by an organization with "hidden agendas." "They are very pro-union and Bass Pro, I won't say they are anti-union, but I just think you've got to look at the group itself and the data," city community development director Robert Lipscomb said of Public Accountability Initiative.

• Federal News Radio - Sunlight Foundation Releases House Disbursement Data

  WTOP checked in with Federal News Radio who mentioned the release of a database of House Disbursements that was built by the Sunlight Foundation.

• Politico - White House 'ethics czar' worries watchdogs

  Washington watchdog groups are worried that the White House will de-emphasize President Barack Obama’s commitment to ethics reform if his “ethics czar” Norm Eisen leaves the job for a foreign posting. Amid reports that Eisen is in line to be U.S. ambassador to the Czech Republic, the White House has been surprisingly non-committal about any replacement should Eisen depart.

• The Huffington Post - Progressive Groups Protest Washington's Pay-To-Play Culture

  Two dozen protesters gathered outside Rep. Gregg Harper's (R-Miss.) annual "Mississippi Fish Fry" fundraiser at a Capitol Hill townhouse on Thursday, kicking off a series of summer demonstrations at fancy D.C. restaurants and other venues where members of Congress raise campaign cash from lobbyists.

• Roll Call - New Database Reveals Cost to Run the House

  Here’s what it costs to run the House of Representatives for a year: $30 million for Members and staff to travel around the country, $48 million for outside consultants, $26 million to rent district offices, $600,000 for stenographers, $4 million for office temps, $25 million for franked mail, $400,000 for bottled water and $3 million for buffet lunches, doughnuts and pizza.

• Politics in Minnesota - Horner candidacy reignites PR/lobbying debate

  Should PR operations be subject to more reporting requirements? The recent controversy over Independence Party gubernatorial candidate Tom Horner’s refusal to release his PR firm’s client list has underscored an old debate about whether the public has a right to know how professional communicators are working to influence lawmakers.

• CNN - Lobbyists swarm as Wall Street bill talks start

  WASHINGTON (CNNMoney.com) -- As lawmakers began the final push Thursday on a comprehensive Wall Street reform bill, lobbyists also made their final push -- in congressional hallways, on BlackBerrys and cell phones, and at restaurants and bars near Capitol Hill.

• The Wall Street Journal - Group Rolls Out Database on Lawmakers’ Expenses

  A year ago, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi ordered records of House members’ office expenses to be posted online, giving just about everyone an opportunity to see how much their representative was spending on staff salaries, stationery, rental cars, furniture or flat-screen televisions for their official duties.

• The Washington Post - Metro data could mean useful apps

  In the relatively stagnant history of DC bus riding, few innovations have been the game-changer that the Nextbus system has. The online service tells you when your bus will arrive at its stop and eliminates the need to wait aimlessly or decode a schedule--plus recognizes that when a bus is scheduled to arrive and when it will arrive can be very different things, and uses GPS to beam buses' actual locations to computer servers in real time.

• The Washington Examiner - House members spent $673 million on staff expenses in six months

  Do these people at the Sunlight Foundation never sleep? Anupama Narayanswamy of Sunlight's Reporting Group has been digging around in the spending data for Members of Congress and their offices and here's some of what she has found:

• The Washington Examiner - Want to watch the financial reform conference committee, but can't come to D.C.?

  Those outside of the nation's capital who are interested in the financial regulatory reform bill now being conferenced between the Senate and House can watch the proceedings live, courtesy of Sunlight Foundation.

• The New Mexico Independent - Watch financial regulation move through Congress LIVE

  This afternoon representatives from the U.S. House and Senate are meeting discuss regulation of the financial industry. You can follow the progress RIGHT NOW with the Sunlight Foundation’s Sunlight Live program.

• Politics Daily - Congress Chewing Through $3 Million Annually in Doughnuts, Buffets and Pizza

  When it comes to spending, members of Congress put a premium on travel, consultants, office space -- and doughnuts. That's according to a new database, assembled by the Sunlight Foundation and Roll Call, that's turned House spending data into a searchable spreadsheet.

• The Huffington Post - HUFFPOST HILL - JUNE 10TH, 2010

  South Carolina continues to win the day with its (allegedly) philandering gubernatorial candidates and (formally charged) sex criminal Senate candidates. Back in D.C., the Wall Street reform conference committee got underway and the Senate spent the day grappling with high school-level science, barely keeping CO2 regulations intact. Speaking of hot air, Anthony Weiner got stabbed by a mohair goat named Lancelot. This is HUFFPOST HILL for Thursday, June 10th, 2010:

• Diario Público - Los socialistas se inspiran en Obama

  Gobierno abierto. Este concepto implica "acceso a la información de los Ejecutivos y a los asuntos de los que son responsables" por parte de la ciudadanía, según John Wonderlich, el director de programas de la Fundación Sunlight y responsable del compromiso de la Administración de Barack Obama con la transparencia.

• Roll Call - Tanner Fundraiser Raises Eyebrows on K Street

  After Congress, you apparently can take it with you. On June 22, Rep. John Tanner will host a fundraiser at a Beltway-area golf course, an event similar to many others held every day in the chase for campaign cash.

• Die Zeit - German Weekly - Die Sprache der Ölpest

  Es hat Jahre gedauert bis sich BP ein Image als grüner Konzern verpasst hatte. Beyond petroleum lautete der Werbeslogan vor einigen Jahren, "über Erdöl hinaus". Das grüne Sonnenrad wurde zum Logo und symbolisierte ein Unternehmen, das sich für Wind- und Solarenergie stark macht. In Comic-Werbespots schickte die Marketingabteilung Kinder mit Schnuller und Teddybär im Arm in Autos durch eine grüngelb eingefärbte Wohlfühllandschaft. Halt machten die Kleinen nur an BP-Tankstellen, wo eine pfeifende Zapfsäule Sprit spendete, damit die Fahrt dem einladenden Sonnenlogo am Horizont entgegen nicht vorzeitig endete.

• The Bend Bulletin - Rules for campaign ads

  WASHINGTON — Come this fall, many more people in suits will be showing up on televised campaign ads nationwide, saying that they “approve this message,” at least, if U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., has his way.

• Governing - Citizens United: South Dakota's response

  This article was written by Ryan Sibley, a Sunlight Foundation reporter.

• The San Francisco Examiner - Examiner Editorial: Pass earmark-transparency bill without delay

  At a time when the U.S. is starved for genuine bipartisanship in Congress, the Earmark Transparency Act of 2010 should be as welcome as a bottle of spring water to man lost in the desert.

• The Washington Examiner - Pass earmark transparency now

  At a time when the United States is starved for genuine bipartisanship in Congress, the Earmark Transparency Act (ETA) of 2010 should be as welcome as a bottle of spring water to a man lost in the desert. Earmarks are special-interest legislative provisions senators and representatives use to direct tax dollars to favored recipients. Earmarks are typically obscure provisions in must-pass spending bills, so individual items rarely get a specific up-or-down vote. Last year, Congress approved more than 9,000 earmarks worth an estimated $16 billion.

• The Olympian - Earmark Transparency Act would increase oversight

  Love 'em or hate 'em, earmarks are a part of the federal budget process. Critics say that earmarks, which bring billions of federal dollars back into communities for specific projects, are a misuse of federal spending authority and pork barrel politics at its worst.

• CNN - How the web can help us know who to trust

  (CNN) -- We continuously make decisions every day, from which restaurants and dry cleaners to patronize to who to vote for. Sometimes we know enough to make those decisions ourselves, but often we rely on friends, or on friends of friends, or even on strangers.

• The Washington Post - FOIA requests dropped in 2009

  Formal requests for federal data and information dropped by more than 47,000 in fiscal 2009 compared with the previous year, a drop the Obama administration ties to its decision to post more government data online.

• Governing - Citizens United: Arizona's Response

  This article was written by Ryan Sibley, a Sunlight Foundation reporter.

• Computer World - Tech execs wade into the political fray

  This political primary season, some high-profile former titans of high tech are vying to join the ranks of senators, governors, state attorneys general and other elected officials. If they succeed, observers expect the IT-execs-turned-pols to have a good deal to say about the increasing number of societal issues that involve technology, from information privacy and electronic health records to universal broadband and the threat of cyberwar.

• Tulsa World - Through the looking glass

  Here's a quiz: What elected official said: "We might hope to see the finances of (government) as clear and intelligible as a merchant's books, so that every member of (Congress/Legislature) and every (citizen) of any mind ... should be able to comprehend them, to investigate abuses, and consequently to control them."

• New York Post - What scandal? Rangel running again

  A defiant Rep. Charles Rangel brushed aside questions about an ongoing ethics investigation today as he announced his re-election campaign for the seat he has held since 1971. "They can fire their best shot, but they just can't walk over success, right?" Rangel told cheering supporters at Boricua College in Manhattan's Washington Heights neighborhood.

• National Journal - Midterm Strategies

  Several weeks before the 1994 midterms, President Clinton took to the campaign trail to sound a rallying cry that he hoped would rescue the alarming number of Democratic candidates who were sinking in the polls. Clinton warned that the election of Republican candidates would return the country to the bad old days, the 1980s, when, he argued, the rich got richer and everybody else got the shaft.

• The Washington Times - Will Democrats find their technology mojo in time?

  The Personal Democracy Forum held its eighth annual gathering in New York City this year on June 3 and June 4. According to its website, PDF describes itself as: One hub for the conversation already underway between political practitioners and technologists, as well as anyone invigorated by the potential of all this to open up the process and engage more people in all the things that we can and must do together as citizens. We value your input and ideas.

• Politico - W.H.'s Mr. Fixit has own mess to fix

  Jim Messina is usually the one who has to clean up a mess at the Obama White House, not the one who makes it. But the disclosure this week that Messina, a deputy White House chief of staff, presented three government job opportunities to try to convince a potential Senate candidate to drop a Democratic primary challenge in Colorado is fueling a Republican effort to tarnish President Barack Obama’s image as a political reformer.

• The Huffington Post - The Personal Democracy Forum Is Back in Town

  The Personal Democracy Forum is back in New York City for its two-day conference. The home of my original "new media epiphany," my third year attending was as thought-provoking as the first. A person handing out buttons that said "My Brain Scares Politicians," supplied by VoteIQ.com, greeted me at the door of the CUNY facility on Fifth Avenue.

• Federal Computer Week - Microsoft offers cloud for politicians

  Cloud computing has reached political campaigns; Microsoft Corp. rolled out its Campaign Cloud platform today. Microsoft announced it is partnering with ElectionMall.com to introduce a cloud-based array of services intended for political and issue-advocacy campaigns.

• The Huffington Post - Coast Guard Database Keeps Oil Spill Penalties Under Wraps

  The U.S. government has investigated potentially thousands of BP leaks, spills and other incidents but the information is stored in a Coast Guard database that keeps key details such as investigative findings and penalties out of the public's reach.

• The Hill - Watchdog pokes Obama Administration on transparency

  The Obama administration has said the right things with regards to transparency but has failed to deliver, according to a prominent online transparency watchdog.

• The Huffington Post - PdF 2010 LIVE BLOG: The State of Tech-Powered Politics

  FRI, JUNE 4, 4:11 P.M. Forget the Internet. For the post-email, AIM-oriented, text messaging-driven generation of the American electorate, the future of politics -- how voters interact with politicians, elected officials and their government -- is right in their pockets. Scott Goodstein, the Obama campaign's texting guru, writes in his blog for HuffPost Tech:

• The Washington Examiner - Sunlight Foundation unveils new site for one-stop shopping for campaign, lobbying and contracts data

  A significant step forward was taken today in the continuing effort to make it easier for citizens to get as much data as possible about campaign finance, lobbying and government contracting.

• Congress.org - Facebook raises franking questions

  Before grilling BP and Transoceanic officials, Rep. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) went on Facebook to solicit questions from his constituents. When Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) wanted to promote his son's Senate campaign, he also took to Facebook -- to ask for donations.

• The Huffington Post - PdF: Can the Internet Fix Politics?

  This week I'll be at Personal democracy Forum, a big deal where people make online grassroots democracy happen. Its big theme asks, really, can people use the Net to fix politics?

• CUNY TV - Brian Lehrer Live: Transparent Governance, DIY DNA, and Free Buses

  Radio host Brian Lehrer talks to newsmakers and community leaders about New York City issues and takes viewer phone calls live in the CUNY TV Studio. Sunlight Foundation’s Jake Brewer shows us simple tools to illustrate the government’s effectiveness. Plus: publicly available DNA test kits, and new approaches to congestion pricing in Manhattan.

• Governing Magazine - Revolving Around the Sun

  In 1610, upstart philosophers and astronomers challenged the prevailing notion that the earth was the center of the universe. Four hundred years later, upstart activists are challenging the long-held assumption that government is at the center of the transparency movement.

• Federal News Radio - Use collaboration to modernize your agency

  The federal government is increasing its efforts at collaboration. One classic example of social networking is Wikipedia -- if you look up Jimmy Wales on Wikipedia you will discover that he is the founder. In 2009 Jimmy wrote an article called Create a tech-friendly U.S. Government.

• The American Prospect - More Non-Sucky Government Websites, Please.

  The Sunlight Foundation just announced the winners of its Design for America contest, in which they asked designers to come up with innovative visualizations of government data, and things like redesigns of government websites. Not every one will change your life, but there are definitely some great ideas there. For instance, look at the proposal for a redesign of the IRS website by a design firm called A Good Company; then look at the big bag of nothing that is the actual IRS website. The difference shows just how useful, informative, and generally pleasing government websites could be, and how bad they often are.

• The Huffington Post - FTC Considers Publishing Public Data Online to Support the Future of Journalism

  The Federal Trade Commission released a discussion draft of policy recommendations to address the crisis in the newspaper industry and its relationship to the future of journalism. It's embedded below and can be downloaded as a PDF.

• The Sacramento Bee - BP's California spills

  British Petroleum and its subsidiaries have been the subject of roughly 8,000 reported incidents of spills, emissions and leaks of oil, chemicals and gases into the environment since 1990, the nonprofit Sunlight Foundation reports.

• National Journal - What's The Low-down?

  The Senate ethics cmte "discovered several omissions in" ex-NV GOP Chair Sue Lowden's (R) personal finance report "and asked her to clear the matter up."

• Capitol News Connection - A Look at BP's 8,000 OTHER Spills Since 1990

  WASHINGTON – Just as BP scrambled Thursday to plug its massive oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico and President Obama halted further deep-water oil drilling, the Sunlight Foundation released a report showing BP experiencing more than 8,000 spills of oil and dangerous chemicals and gases nationwide since 1990.

• The Washington Examiner - Sunlight Foundation: BP blamed in 8,000 spill reports

  The Sunlight Foundation has the data: British Petroleum and its subsidiaries have been the subject of roughly 8,000 reported incidents of spills, emissions and leaks of oil, chemicals and gases into the environment, according to a government database. (download them here)…

• Federal News Radio - Ellen Miller Mentioned as One of the Most Influencial Women in Technology

  Federal News Radio had a segment that mentioned the Fast Company piece from March that named the Sunlight Foundation's executive director Ellen Miller as one of the most influential women in technology:

• CNN - House Republicans' website raises questions

  Washington (CNN) - When House Republican leaders unveiled their new interactive website, geared towards collecting ideas to shape the GOP Congressional agenda, reporters quickly raised questions about why the site was paid for with tax payer funds when it seemed to be more geared towards upcoming elections.

• American Chronicle - GOP´s Calling Gulf Spill Obama´s Katrina Bogus

  This one could have been mailed in. Sarah Palin predictably knocked President Obama for as she put it in garbled colloquialism failing to "dive in there" and solve the Gulf spill disaster. Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal and a rash of GOP senators were slightly more grammatically intelligible but still pounced on Obama for being too cozy with BP and not pulling out all stops to staunch the spill. The GOP´s political attack plan is crude and transparent. Compare the Gulf spill to Bush´s Katrina bumble, liken Obama to Bush and heap the same blame on him.

• InformationWeek - Gov 2.0: Government Design Winners Announced

  IRS.gov and infographics related to the Senate, U.S. legislation, and the White House were among the winners of the Sunlight Foundation's "Design for America" awards. The foundation, a nonprofit focused on the digitization and better accessibility of government data, unveiled 2010 winners of the awards at the Gov 2.0 Expo in Washington Tuesday night.

• Congress.org - D.C.'s top five political restaurants

  Where does Congress go for lunch? It depends on who's paying. Almost everyday, a Member of Congress holds a fundraiser for lobbyists and political insiders at a Washington restaurant.

• The Huffington Post - Gov 2.0: Government Likes to Draw Lines and It Is Now Time to Cross Them

  Kicking off the Gov 2.0 Expo in Washington, D.C., Bill Eggers, who coined "Government 2.0," provided context for his term: Government 2.0 is a revolution and "revolutions need heroes." Media guru and wine enthusiast Gary Vaynerchuk expressed the attitude that Eggers' Government 2.0 revolutionaries will need to take: lines are drawn by government that are meant to be crossed.

• InformationWeek - Gov 2.0: Army Competition Spurs App Development

  A competition that will award cash prizes to soldiers and Army civilians who create mobile and web applications that could be valuable to the Army has sparked the development of 53 applications in only 75 days, the Army announced Monday ahead of this week's Gov 2.0 Expo. Apps for the Army is the Army's first application development challenge, and one of the first done by the federal government. Recently, as part of the Open Government Directive, the Obama administration encouraged agencies to involve the public in challenges and contests to develop content and ideas for government and provided guidance for running these challenges.

• Politics Daily - America Speaking Out: Republican Website Seeks Republican Ideas to Fix Country

  House Republicans want Americans to suggest and debate government policies on a new website, America Speaking Out. But only the ideas that conform to longstanding GOP principles -- smaller government, lower taxes, less spending -- will be considered for what the GOP calls a governing agenda and critics are calling taxpayer-subsidized politics.

• The Hill - Advancing American online grassroots democracy?

  Right now, we're seeing House members launch what could be a site where they listen to the American grass roots. The challenges are to minimize abuse and to encourage the grass roots to listen to other viewpoints. Big challenges, but I feel many Americans are read.

• The Columbus Dispatch - Editorial: Put public in loop

  When a person donates money to a politician or signs a political petition, the fact is noted in a public record. The politician who spends donors' money to buy yard signs and TV time has to report it. Public disclosure of such transactions is essential to curb corruption in government.

• The Idaho Statesman - Moving Freedom of Information into Real Time

  The good thing about the federal Freedom of Information Act is that it declares the kind of clarity about government operations that citizens require if they're going to make a constitutional democracy work.

• The News & Observer - Burr's funds grow as runoff costs Democrats

  While the Democrats are fighting each other in the Senate primary runoff, Republican Sen. Richard Burr continues to build his political war chest.

• Dayton Daily News - Editorials from around Ohio

  Excerpts of recent editorials of statewide and national interest from Ohio newspapers: When a person donates money to a politician or signs a political petition, the fact is noted in a public record. The politician who spends donors' money to buy yard signs and TV time has to report it. Public disclosure of such transactions is essential to curb corruption in government.

• Intelligencer Journal - SHORT TAKES: Tax relief; campus crime; earmarks

  You gotta love Chris Christie, the New Jersey governor. Christie was swept into office on a wave of reform, and he hasn't disappointed.

• The New York Times - Financial Overhaul Bill Poses Big Test for Lobbyists

  WASHINGTON — Last Wednesday, Representative David Scott, Democrat of Georgia, mingled with insurance and financial executives and other supporters at a lunchtime fund-raiser in his honor at a chic Washington wine bar before rushing out to cast a House vote.

• NextGov - Transparency effort will not end with Data.gov makeover

  The White House on Friday unveiled a more interactive version of its online catalog of federal statistics in celebration of the first-ever effort to open government operations to analysis. But observers noted the Obama administration still has its work cut out for it.

• The Huffington Post - FinReg Negotiations: Use Sunlight Live To Watch Them

  The news today is that as the financial regulatory reform moves to the next stage of negotiations, legislators on both sides of the aisle have come out in favor of televising the proceedings. Here's Brian Beutler with more:

• Federal News Radio - One year in, Data.gov fosters massive innovation

  Today on DorobekInsider, we're wishing data.gov a happy birthday! The site just turned one year old, and Federal CIO Vivek Kundra said a lot has changed during the past year.

• Federal Computer Week - Sunlight Labs creates catalog of government databases

  The Sunlight Labs open government group recently debuted its free online open-source collection of federal, state and local government databases in the United States.

• The Washington Examiner - Michael Barnhart: Free speech regulation masquerading as 'transparency'

  Sen. Charles Schumer, D-NY, and Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-MD, have introduced legislation to gut the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision protecting the free speech rights of citizens when organized into groups such as labor unions, corporations and trade associations.

• The Huffington Post - Ben Nelson Explains ATM Issue, Says He Does Know The Difference Between 'A Hologram And A Barcode'

  Why can't Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) get a vote on his amendment to limit what he calls the "legal thievery" of ATM fees? Is it because members of the Senate, who are in the midst of reforming the entire financial system, have no idea what an ATM machine is?

• Milwaukee Journal Sentinel - Banking lobbyists open up wallets for lawmakers

  Washington - Less than two months before a final House vote on a financial regulation bill late last year, lobbyists representing a foreign financial services company threw a Capitol Hill fund-raiser for Rep. Paul Ryan.

• NextGov - Data warehouse gets a facelift for its one-year anniversary

  The White House on Friday will unveil an upgraded online depot of downloadable federal statistics that is the equivalent of a YouTube video-sharing website for data analysts, according to federal Chief Information Officer Vivek Kundra.

• The Hill - Sunlight Foundation Live covers financial reform debate

  The deal is that Sunlight Foundation is all about government accountability and transparency, helping taxpayers get what they pay for.

• Congress.org - Watch financial bill debate with context

  As Senators wrap up debate over the financial regulation bill (S 3217 ), one group aims to expose the interest groups involved in the process.

• The New Mexico Independent - Sunlight to provide live transparency coverage of financial reform battle

  Want to get all the details about the battle over financial reform in Congress? Join the Sunlight Foundation online as its investigative reporters cover the event here: http://sunlightfoundation.com/live. The open government group’s reporters will provide real-time information about interest groups trying to influence the debate, as it happens.

• Wired - Sneak Peek: Obama Administration’s Redesigned Data.gov

  One year ago this Friday, United States chief information officer Vivek Kundra launched an ambitious website called Data.gov to make the government’s vast stores of data available to the public. The thinking behind the site then, as now, was to give app developers access to these rich, comprehensive datasets on all sorts of topics — health care, education, energy, the environment and so on — in the hope that they would create useful tools for analyzing a range of information, from air quality by county to crime statistics by neighborhood and foreign aid by nation.

• The Plain Dealer - Making congressional earmark information publicly accessible would be a plus: editorial

  Incumbents tout congressional earmarks as bacon brought home for the district. Challengers trash them as legislation by stealth -- until they take office and begin frying the bacon themselves.

• Wisconsin State Journal - Shine light on sneaky earmarks

  The best way to stop Congress from larding up federal spending bills with wasteful pet projects is to shine a bright light on any and all earmark requests - before they're approved. That's what the Earmark Transparency Act would do. Wisconsin's congressional delegation should strongly and unanimously support quick passage of this sensible bill.

• Las Cruces Sun-News - Our View: Proposed law would reveal earmarks request

  In a welcome show of bipartisanship, four U.S. senators and two members of the House - three Democrats and three Republicans - have introduced legislation that would make it easier for the public to get information on earmark requests.

• Government Technology - Transparency Has Become Another Unfunded Mandate (Opinion)

  "The art of the possible," a catchphrase among boosters of the modern transparency movement, may be running headlong into practical necessities.

• Bloomberg BusinessWeek - Cash to Congress Is Unabated as Banks Seek Influence (Update 1)

  May 17 (Bloomberg) -- As the U.S. Senate prepares to vote as early as this week on legislation rewriting the rules for Wall Street, the financial industry is holding fundraisers for lawmakers at a rate of almost one every business day this month.

• Mother Jones - Wall St. Cash Still Flooding Congress

  Here's a shocker: As lawmakers in Washington continue crafting a bill to crack down on Wall Street, their efforts to rake in donations from the financial services industry show no sign of stopping. Bloomberg News reports today that, in looking at fundraising calendars for House Democrats and Republicans and Senate Republicans, there have been at least 20 scheduled fundraisers for politicians held by finance lobbyists or organized with financial industry donors in mind. Lawmakers, then, are walking the finest of lines, claiming to support new financial reforms while wooing representatives of an industry fighting many of those same new rules.

• The Huffington Post - Goldman Sachs Publicly Supports Financial Reform, But Fights It With Lobbyists

  For all of Goldman Sachs' professed support for an overhaul of financial regulations, the megabank hasn't exactly withdrawn its army of lobbyists. Far from wearing out its welcome, the firm is busier than ever safeguarding its interests while a Wall Street crackdown takes shape in Washington.

• Standard-Examiner - OUR VIEW: Bill boosts earmarks transparency

  We're no fan of earmarks, little chunks of spending tucked into larger bills, but so long as they are part of our Congress, we want to make sure that voters know all about them. That's why we support a bipartisan bill in Congress to require Congress to have an online database where information on all congressional earmarks could be searched by interested parties.

• San Francisco Chronicle - Better government via a customer service approach

  Okay, I spoke at a Privacy Camp deal recently in San Francisco, decided to amuse myself, and must've said some useful things. (I should really listen to what I say.)

• The Syracuse Post-Standard - Local 'earmarks' run a stop sign

  Washington -- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi laid down the law this year: To prevent the appearance of Congress doing unethical favors for big campaign contributors, she told Democrats they could no longer steer federal money directly to corporations. The only "earmarks" members could seek in spending bills would be for nonprofits.

• El Paso Times - Earmarks: Legislation would reveal requests

  In a welcome show of bipartisanship, four U.S. senators and two members of the House -- three Democrats and three Republicans -- have introduced legislation that would make it easier for the public to get information on earmark requests.

• The Advocate - Our Views: Better rules for earmarks

  There are two things to like about a new initiative championed by U.S. Rep. Bill Cassidy, R-Baton Rouge, on the issue of earmark spending in the Congress.

• The Washington Post - Kratovil: Give members more time to read bills

  Rep. Frank Kratovil (D-Md.) has introduced a bill that would give excessively busy lawmakers what they need the most -- more time.

• CNN - Why is there no safety.gov - especially for oil?

  Fortune -- Even as BP races to somehow cap the spill from the wreck of the Deepwater Horizon in the Gulf of Mexico, it and the other major oil companies already have another mess to clean up: the status of their safety statistics.

• MSNBC - Wall Street Lobbyists Host Political Fundraisers

  MSNBC's Dylan Ratigan used data from the Sunlight Foundation's Party Time site to discuss recent political fundraisers by Wall Street lobbyists:

• Bangor Daily News - Following the Money

  Don't assume that a recent 5-4 Supreme Court decision has given corporations and labor unions a completely free hand to pump money into election campaigns. A bill introduced in the House and Senate would require them to tell exactly who is giving what and why.

• InformationWeek - Bills Propose Online Earmark Database

  Following up on a request made by President Obama in his State of the Union address in February, both houses of Congress Tuesday introduced bipartisan bills that would create an online database of all Congressional earmark requests. The House of Representatives and Senate bills, both titled the Earmark Transparency Act, would require Congressional administrators to launch, within six months of passage, a searchable Web site detailing all earmark requests by each legislator, including requested amounts of funding, associated bills for each request, and parties who had urged the requests' inclusion.

• FactCheck.org - Critz, Burns Swap False Charges

  Summary In the final days of the May 18 special election in Pennsylvania’s 12th congressional district, Democrat Mark Critz and Republican Tim Burns have escalated their attacks on each other in TV ads chock full of false and misleading claims.

• The New York Times - Net-Worth Obsession

  Joey Kincer is the kind of guy who likes to keep records. Kincer is a 32-year-old Web developer who lives in San Juan Capistrano, southeast of Los Angeles, and among the things he tracks on his personal home page at kinless.com are his collection of action figures based on the Mega Man video games (“Not for sale,” the site warns sternly), the piano awards he received as a child (“My mom kept track of them all,” he says) and a photo gallery of female celebrity crushes that he refers to as his Dream Team.

• Rutland Herald - Railroading taxpayers

  President Obama's vision for high-speed passenger trains racing through our state isn't sound transportation policy; it's a costly taxpayers' waste. His stimulus package included $8 billion, and Congress recently added another $4 billion for rail.

• The Huffington Post - Featured Doer: Ellen Miller

  Among a relatively small but influential coterie of online political thinkers in Washington, D.C., Miller is the reigning queen of transparency. And for good reason: As co-founder and executive director of the non-profit Sunlight Foundation, Miller has been a longtime advocate of government transparency and accountability -- a non-partisan movement that has attracted a growing following in the era of Google and Facebook, PDF files and iPhone apps.

• The Oregonian - Shine light on all political shadows

  Disclosure rules must be equally strict for corporations, advocacy groups and unions. If Congress is to repair campaign finance laws washed away by a Supreme Court ruling giving corporations and special interests free speech rights, it must not do so in a way that gives any side a political advantage.

• Missoulian - Openness bill should be approved

  Say you wanted to know when certain members of the executive branch of our federal government travel on the public dime, and when their travel expenses are paid for by third parties. Or say you wanted to take a look at specific personal financial documents filed by other government officials.

• The Billings Gazette - Gazette opinion: Court must aim for greater transparency

  In November 2008, the Montana Supreme Court denied a petition to make public the wrongdoing that had led the state lawyer disciplinary system to punish Moira d’Alton for misconduct in her duties as a Billings assistant city attorney with public censure, temporary revocation of her law license and two years of probation. The Gazette argued that a lawyer paid by and representing taxpayers should have no expectation of privacy for misdeeds related to her public office. The court sided with its disciplinary rules, which allowed the attorney to be promised confidentiality, saying that it would be unfair to change the rules after the case had been settled.

• The Washington Times - Coburn wants to certify bills are read

  Sen. Tom Coburn wants his colleagues to prove that reading is fundamental — at least when it comes to the dozens of bills that pass over their desks, often with nary a glance from lawmakers.

• The Spokesman-Review - Welcome bills push online public information

  The good thing about the federal Freedom of Information Act is that it declares the kind of clarity about government operations that citizens require if they’re going to make a constitutional democracy work. The worst thing about the federal Freedom of Information Act is that it’s administered by government personnel, who, no matter their personal character, are components in the system whose activities are subject to disclosure, inspection and accountability.

• Roll Call - Coburn Bill Targets Earmarks

  Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) and a bipartisan group of Senators will propose legislation Tuesday to create a new, centralized earmark database to provide the public with more consistent and accessible information on earmark requests.

• USA Today - Senators propose more sunlight for earmarks

  Remember the fight over the wooden arrows? The turtle tunnels in Florida? The "bridge to nowhere?" A bipartisan group of senators introduced legislation that aims to shine a little more light on similar congressional pet projects, commonly known as earmarks, and the proposal is receiving praise today from watchdog groups.

• Helena Independent Record - Demand open government

  A bill introduced last week by a Montana senator would go a long way in making our federal government more open and more responsive to its people, and as a result, put more trust back in our democratic process. Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., introduced the Public Online Information Act that would require the federal government to put documents already considered public onto a searchable free database on the Internet.

• The Huffington Post - Allure of the Hive: Experts on Connectivity, Social Networking and Social Change

  A distinguished panel of experts gathered Saturday at the Philoctetes Center for the Multidisciplinary Study of Imagination for a standing room-only roundtable on the many ways Facebook is changing how we live. The moderator was David Kirkpatrick, author of the soon-to-be-published The Facebook Effect: The Inside Story of the Company That is Connecting the World, and panelists included Sean Parker, co-founder of Napster, Plaxo, and Facebook, Nicole Ellison, co-author of the article The Benefits of Facebook Friends, and as well as Andrew Rasiej, founder of the Personal Democracy Forum.

• The Washington Post - Corporate money in politics

  THE SUPREME COURT'S ruling in the Citizens United campaign finance case opened a dangerous pathway for corporations to spend money in direct support of -- or in opposition to -- candidates for federal office. Under the decision, corporations -- and labor unions -- still can't give money directly to federal candidates, but they can spend unlimited sums in independent expenditures for or against them. Even more dangerous, because of preexisting gaps in campaign disclosure laws, the money can be spent, in effect, anonymously. The entity spending the money -- say, Americans for Really Good Government (ARGG) -- would have to register with the Federal Election Commission and report its activities, but ARGG would not have to disclose its donors. So Corporation A or Labor Union B could give unlimited sums to ARGG to run ads going after Candidate C -- and the public would have no clue. This troubling situation should be fixed in time for the next election.

• The Bend Bulletin - Disclosure law has its strengths

  While the DISCLOSE bill now before the U.S. Senate is far from perfect, it does have some elements that would surely do more good than harm. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., is responsible for one of them.

• The Washington Times - EDITORIAL: Obama fails the transparency test

  On the campaign trail, Barack Obama made the bold promise that his administration would be more transparent than his predecessor's. More than a year into his presidency, however, not much has changed. The list of complaints about openness is topped by the well-known failure to negotiate Obamacare in public. The president's new deficit-reduction commission has followed the same lead and is conducting most of its deliberations behind closed doors.

• Great Falls Tribune - Tester behind measure for open records

  WASHINGTON — Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont, has introduced a bill requiring the Obama administration to put more of its records online and give people easier access to public documents that often don't see the light of day.

• Helena Independent Record - Sen. Tester introduces bill to get more info to public on the Web

  Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., is pushing a bill that would put many government documents online in a big public database. “It would be a big step toward a more transparent, accountable government,” Tester told reporters Thursday morning in a conference call a few minutes after he formally introduced the bill, called the Public Online Information Act.

• The Billings Gazette - Tester: Leave no public document off the web

  HELENA — Sen. Jon Tester this morning sponsored a bill that would put most government documents online in a big, public database. Tester’s Public Online Information Act would make the federal government put documents that are already considered public on a searchable, free database so anyone with a computer could see them.

• NextGov - Senate's Public Online Information Act draws criticism

  A senator introduced a bill on Thursday that would require agencies to publish online future public records, including contracts and records belonging to federal suppliers -- a provision that has drawn criticism both from industry groups and transparency organizations.

• The Washington Times - 'Open government' hides transition data

  Top officials at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy say they're proud to promote a culture of open government, but by one measure, the agency is decidedly on the side of keeping information secret.

• The Huffington Post - John McCain Raises Money From Chamber Of Commerce During Wall Street Reform Debate

  Sen. John McCain stepped away from the Senate debate on Wall Street reform Thursday to raise a little campaign cash at the Chamber of Commerce's townhouse near the Capitol.

• New Mexico Daily Lobo - DREAM Act supporters host conference

  A conference on campus today addresses a Senate bill that would allow exceptional undocumented students a streamlined path to U.S. citizenship. The League of United Latin American Citizens and other organizations are hosting the two-day DREAM Conference to raise awareness about the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act.

• Governing Magazine - DISCLOSE Shines a Bright Light on Corporate Expenditures but Leaves Political Activities in the Shadows

  This article was written by Lisa Rosenberg, the Sunlight Foundation's Government Affairs Consultant. We couldn’t agree more with the name of the bill introduced today by Senator Schumer and Representatives Van Hollen and Castle: Democracy Is Strengthened by Casting Light On Spending in Elections (the DISCLOSE Act). The bill is the congressional response to address the flood of new corporate and union spending on elections unleashed by the Supreme Court when it decided Citizens United v. FEC.

• The Washington Examiner - Seven reasons not to vote for Democrats

  In a speech earlier this week, Democratic National Committee Chairman Tim Kaine gave a preview of the Democrats' 2010 national election message. "We have more accomplishments to run on than any party in a long time," Kaine said.

• NextGov - Group gives most open government plans mediocre marks

  An independent audit of agencies' plans to instill transparency into their missions ranked the Office of Management and Budget, which spearheaded the Obama administration's open government initiative, near the bottom and placed NASA at the top, according to a coalition of good government groups that released the results on Monday.

• Congress.org - Seven tips from Craig of Craigslist

  Craig Newmark is out to save the world using the Internet. The Craigslist founder believes social networks can help people work together and create change, whether it is tea parties organizing rallies or the Obama campaign recruiting voters.

• The Brownsville Herald - Senators should file campaign statements electronically

  On April 15, most citizens were frantically filing their taxes with the IRS, or patting themselves on the back for getting their filing done ahead of time. But for House and Senate candidates, it also was the deadline to file their campaign finance reports with the Federal Election Commission. These reports contain crucial information that lets us know what special interest, big-money lobbyist or out-of-state donor might be funding the candidate’s campaign.

• The Plain Dealer - Lawmakers and lobbyists working in concert at concerts: Stephen Koff

  Alicia Keys, the pop singer and pianist, put on an edgy performance, and her musical approach was unusually aggressive, a reviewer wrote. This audience at the Verizon Center, an arena a dozen blocks from the U.S. Capitol, was enthralled.

• Kalamazoo Gazette - 'Fun rock' from the land of freedom: Idaho trio Finn Riggins encourage interpretive dancing to its unique sound

  KALAMAZOO — Finn Riggins is a trio from a land of freedom — Idaho. Sure, there are cowboys and potato growers in the state, but also a few artsy DIY indie rock bands, too. “We’re not too stuck in the dark ages,” said Eric Gilbert, keyboards and vocalist for Finn Riggins.

• The Hill - The Transparency Caucus: Big step toward fixing Washington

  Turns out there's good news: A bipartisan group of congressmen have committed to letting taxpayers know a lot more about what's going on in the federal government, along with Sunlight Foundation.

• Mother Jones - Politicians, Disclose Thyself!

  This week, a group of senators and representatives introduced a measure dubbed the DISCLOSE Act to counteract the Supreme Court's Citizens United decision that opened the door for free-wheelin' corporate spending related to elections. The transparency-loving folks at the Sunlight Foundation note that the bill:

• NextGov - Corporate execs tell White House about benefits of contests

  Federal officials sat through an eight-hour workshop on Friday and discussed how to play games -- sort of. The White House brought in corporate executives to teach government policymakers how to solve the nation's problems by offering prizes to people and philanthropic projects with the best ideas.

• National Journal - Congress Daily: People

  SHINING LIGHT. With the formation of the Congressional Transparency Caucus on Capitol Hill, the openness-advocacy group Sunlight Foundation has formed an Advisory Committee on Transparency to support the caucus' basic mission. Daniel Schuman, policy counsel at the Sunlight Foundation, will be taking on an additional role as the advisory committee's director. Schuman has worked at nonprofit groups such as the Constitution Project and the membership organization American Constitution Society. Before that, Schuman was a legislative counsel with the Congressional Research Service. Earlier in his career, he worked as an aide to Rep. Corrine Brown, D-Fla. Schuman earned his law degree from Emory University in Atlanta. During that time, he did work for two distinctly different organizations: He was a law clerk for both the ACLU and Fox television stations. The Congressional Transparency Caucus is being headed by Reps. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., and Mike Quigley, D-Ill.

• Federal News Radio - Thursday Morning Federal Newscast - April 29th

  The Morning Federal Newscast is a daily compilation of the stories you hear Federal Drive hosts Tom Temin and Jane Norris discuss throughout their show each day. The Newscast is designed to give FederalNewsRadio.com users more information about the stories you hear on the air.

• The Hill - Transparency Caucus kicks off

  Twenty-six lawmakers kicked off a new caucus today dedicated to making government more transparent and accountable. The Congressional Transparency Caucus held its inaugural event today on Capitol Hill. It's chaired by Reps. Mike Quigley (D-Ill.) and Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), who said at the event today that the time is ripe for reform to make government more accountable.

• NextGov - House transparency caucus vows to regain public's trust in government

  Twenty-seven House Republicans and Democrats kicked off a congressional transparency caucus on Thursday with a panel discussion on how the government can earn back Americans' trust.

• The Washington Post - USA.gov is being redesigned to promote interaction

  The USA.gov Web site, which serves as a virtual front door for thousands of citizens accessing government services, is undergoing a comprehensive redesign to encourage more public interaction.

• The Washington Post - Columbia Rd. @ Conn. Ave blocked

  5:40 p.m. Update: The falling tree did damage to at least one car--that of Mayor Adrian Fenty spokesman Sean Madigan, according to the Washington Business Journal's Michael Neibauer. Combined with the harm inflicted by a high-rise office building's plummeting ventilation duct in Dupont this morning, it's shaping up to be a bad day for uncovered autos.

• FactCheck.org - Mis-Tweets on Twitter

  Summary Mis-tweet v. To use Twitter to mislead your followers. For providing false and misleading information, a 30-second TV spot crafted by a seasoned media consultant is still king. But there’s another medium this campaign year that makes the content of a TV ad seem like the Lincoln-Douglas debates. We’re talking about Twitter. By design, Twitter limits communication. It provides its users with 140 characters to make a point – enabling them to oversimplify and exaggerate. In politics, this is considered an asset, and both parties have taken to the social networking site that now claims to have more than 100 million users.

• The Washington Post - Ventilation shaft collapses in Dupont

  Fortunately, nobody was hurt when a ventilation shaft broke from the side of a building Wednesday afternoon near the 1800 Cafe in Dupont Circle, though some cars were damaged. Alert staffers at the Sunlight Foundation filmed it all, and the footage is pretty darn dramatic.

• The New American - Rangel Faces Opposition from Powell in Harlem

  Congressman Charles Rangel, Chairman of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, surrendered his chairmanship temporally on March 3 because of a number of ethical violations, which have historically required that the committee Chairman be stripped of his committee. Rangel’s problems were serious by any standard.

• NBC Washington - Vent Shaft Crash Caught on Video

  A ventilation shaft crashed down onto cars parked below in an alley in northwest D.C., and some quick-thinking Sunlight Foundation employees videotaped the whole thing.

• Fox News - Sunlight's Noah Kunin Captured Video of Falling Ventilation Shaft

  The Fox News affiliate in Washington DC, WTTG, covered the falling ventilation shaft captured on video by the Sunlight Foundation's Media Content Producer Noah Kunin

• ABC News - Caught on Tape: Giant Vent Topples in D.C.

  WASHINGTON - A large metal kitchen ventilation shaft toppled in D.C. Wednesday, damaging two cars and causing quite a fright -- and it was caught on tape. Employees of the Sunlight Foundation say they heard a strange noise Wednesday morning, and looked out the window to see a vent shaft swaying back and forth, then crash to the ground about 10:30 a.m.

• Fox News - Giant Ventilation Stack Falling To The Ground Is Caught On Tape

  WASHINGTON - A large metal ventilation shaft that towers seven stories crumbled to the ground Wednesday in Dupont Circle, damaging two cars. Workers at nearby office buildings watched the dangerous situation unfold and caught it all on tape.

• Fox News - Falling Ventilation Shaft Caught on Tape

  The Fox News affiliate in Washington DC continued to cover the falling ventilation shaft outside the Sunlight Foundation's office:

• Fox News - Vent Shaft Falls Near Sunlight Foundation's Office

  The Fox News affiliate in Washington DC covered the falling ventilation shaft outside the Sunlight Foundation's office:

• NBC Washington - Ventilation Shaft Collapses Near Sunlight Foundation Offices

  NBC 4 in Washington DC covered the ventilation shaft collapse near the offices of the Sunlight Foundation and interviewed Noah Kunin:

• NBC Washington - Giant Ventilation Stack Collapse Caught on Tape

  The NBC affiliate in Washington DC covered the collapse of a ventilation shaft caught on tape by of the Sunlight Foundation:

• NBC Washington - Sunlight's Foundation Footage of Ventiliation Shaft Collapse

  NBC Washington DC did a brief feature of the video filmed by the Sunlight Foundation of a collapse of a ventilation shaft near the Dupont Circle offices.

• NBC Washington - Ventilation Shaft Collapse

  NBC Washington used footage filmed by the Sunlight Foundation's Noah Kunin of a collapse of a ventilation shaft in Dupont Circle:

• MSNBC - Sunlight Foundation Footage Used on Down to the Wire

  MSNBC covered the ventilation shaft collapse using footage by the Sunlight Foundation during their "Down to the Wire" segment at the end of a broadcast.

• Fast Company - Women in Tech: Ellen Miller of the Sunlight Foundation

  Ellen Miller is the kind of political activist we need: She co-founded the Sunlight Foundation, a forward-looking, non-partisan (not bi-partisan, mind you; her efforts ignore both parties), and populist non-profit that's dedicated to using technology to provide transparency in government. Sunlight is the best disinfectant, after all.

• Roll Call - Want an Earmark? Mainers Make Video Requests

  Although House leadership requires Members to post all earmark requests that they send to the Appropriations Committee on their websites, one lawmaker is taking the practice a step further.

• Politico - Campaign bundlers shake money trees

  Bundlers are a relatively new breed of political animal, the unintended consequences of a 1974 law Congress passed to limit individual donations to campaigns.

• The Hill - Hockey player and motorcycle rider form bipartisan caucus

  A hockey player and a motorcycle rider teamed up recently to form a new caucus to encourage transparency in government — and after a month, it’s looking like a smooth ride for both of them.

• San Francisco Public Press - San Francisco gives Web users a peek at lobbyists’ work

  San Francisco has taken a big step toward shedding light on the dealings of lobbyists with local lawmakers, by taking information that was once relegated to filing cabinets and putting them up on the Web for everyone to see.

• The Huffington Post - HUFFPOST HILL - APRIL 26, 2010

  Wall-to-wall political theater today. Senate Dems scored a Machiavellian win by suffering a legislative setback on financial overhaul. Compounding the Republicans' lousy theatrics, Roger Wicker will appear on the stage tonight in "Will On The Hill." This is HUFFPOST HILL for April 26th, 2010:

• The Courier-Journal - What a stunner: Wall Street gives to politicians

  As Senate Democrats and Republicans head for a clash this week over whether it’s the right time to begin debating financial regulatory reform, the back story is that each party is trying to tar the other as being too close to Wall Street.

• The Houston Chronicle - Tracking the cash

  The Supreme Court's recent controversial ruling that corporations have the constitutionally protected right to use their money to influence elections has lawmakers from Texas to Washington scrambling to deal with the expected surge of cash into upcoming elections.

• The News & Observer - Solid gold skyboxers

  NORFOLK, Va. -- For a mere $2,500, I could have attended a recent Jon Bon Jovi concert in a luxury suite at the Verizon Center in Washington, assisted the re-election campaign of Rep. Robert Latta, R-Ohio, and spent the evening with people who would happily and repeatedly refer to me as a "rock star."

• The Washington Post - Undercover persuasion by tech industry lobbyists

  Why pay for a golf trip, dinner or full-page ad when you can tweet for free?

• The Hill - Senate GOP wants spotlight on White House-focused lobbying activity

  Senate Republicans have discussed putting greater scrutiny on lobbying activities focused on the Obama administration. The move would shift some attention away from the question of freezing congressional earmarks, an issue that has divided the Senate GOP.

• Reuters - Wall Street gives much to lawmakers in reform debate

  WASHINGTON - Democrats and Republicans in the U.S. Congress may want to look tough on financial reform in front of voters but that has not stopped them from filling their re-election war chests with plenty of Wall Street cash.

• Politics Daily - Transparency for Wall Street? Try Starting in Washington

  It wasn't quite Broadway, but Barack Obama did perform a memorable bit of political theater Thursday when he went to New York to deliver a tough-on-the-bad-guys speech about the need to reform Wall Street's reckless ways.

• Federal News Radio - DorobekINSIDER: A whole new World (Bank) of open data

  Regular listeners to Federal News Radio 1500 AM’s Daily Debrief with Chris Dorobek and Amy Morris got a preview of the announcement by the World Bank that they are opening up its treasure trove of data.

• Fox News - Fox and Friends: Sunlight Foundation mentioned in discussion of transparency

  Fox News' Fox and Friends show mentioned the Sunlight Foundation during a discussion of a proposed VAT and the transparency efforts of the Obama administration:

• McClatchy - What do both parties have in common? Wall Street donations

  WASHINGTON — Although painting Republicans as pawns of Wall Street is a cornerstone of the Democratic strategy to overhaul financial regulation, financial interests have given campaign money generously to both political parties for years.

• Mother Jones - Why Obama Needs To Name Names

  After President Barack Obama on Thursday delivered a speech on Wall Street reform in which he decried the "battalions of financial industry lobbyists descending on Capitol Hill, as firms spend millions to influence the outcome of this debate," I noted that the president had done "what too many politicians often do when they describe how special interests game Washington; he stayed vague." That is, he named no names. He didn't call out the specific firms, CEOS, or lobbyists trying to thwart the financial regulation reform legislation he's pushing. Today, ThinkProgress shows why it would be important if Obama did that: because, naturally, the lobbyists themselves refuse to out themselves.

• Government Computer News - Will you read the Open Government memo on an iPad?

  Adobe has been lauded and criticized for its role in enabling open government. So declares Adobe Director of Government Solutions, Rob Pinkerton. He is of course referring to volume of government information which remains difficult to discover wrapped inside Adobe’s ubiquitous Portable Document Format.

• The Huffington Post - HUFFPOST HILL - APRIL 23, 2010

  This weekend the president kicks back in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Dems battle over whether to reform Wall Street or follow Chris Dodd and the GOP. We celebrate the first week of our nutty newsletter as Montana celebrates its 6th Annual Testicle Festival (will YOU be there?). This is HUFFPOST HILL for April 23RD, 2010:

• Virginia Pilot-Online - Politicians love 'roadies' with checkbooks

  FOR A MERE $2,500, I could have attended a recent Jon Bon Jovi concert in a luxury suite at the Verizon Center in Washington, assisted the re-election campaign of Rep. Robert Latta, R-Ohio, and spent the evening with people who would happily and repeatedly refer to me as a "rock star."

• The Washington Examiner - Quigley, Issa head of new Transparency Caucus in Congress

  Just when it seems like there is nothing but bad news coming from Capitol Hill, here's some unexpected good tidings - Rep. Mike Quigley, D-IL, and Rep. Darrell Issa, R-CA, are the co-chairmen of the newly formed Congressional Transparency Caucus in the House.

• The Guardian - Financial market regulation is a mess

  On Wednesday, the Senate agriculture committee passed legislation to finally regulate and bring transparency to derivatives trades and, in particular, the credit default and currency swaps. These have been held up as examples of financial market excess, opacity and economically harmful practices in everything from the Greek debt crisis to the recent SEC charges against Goldman Sachs. But if you're wondering why the Senate committee on agriculture, nutrition and forestry (ANF) has any jurisdiction over the legislation designed to reform and re-regulate the financial markets, you've successfully identified one of the key problems with financial market regulation that the reform bill likely won't resolve: the dilution of regulatory authority over the financial markets.

• The New Mexico Independent - Sunlight Foundation looks at the good and bad in NM transparency

  The Washington D.C.-based Sunlight Foundation, an open-government group, took a look at New Mexico’s new campaign finance website and declared that “it looks pretty good and works even better.” Citing a study by The Independent, however, the Sunlight Foundation said that violations of the Open Meetings Act may be more widespread than even the study found.

• The Miami Herald - Ethical question forces Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen to cancel fundraiser

  WASHINGTON -- Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, the top Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, scrapped an upcoming fundraiser after a Capitol Hill newspaper questioned the invite that asked participants to join an advisory council -- for a $2,500 campaign contribution.

• New York Post - All the President's Goldman men

  While President Obama assails the culture of greed and recklessness practiced by the men of Goldman Sachs, his administration is infested with them. The White House can no more disown Government Sachs than Obama can disown Chicago politics.

• The Huffington Post - Trust, Factchecking, and the News Media Landscape To Come

  Okay, you hear me talking "trust is the new black" and that power and influence will shift dramatically to the people and groups with the best reputations and largest networks. The power and influence landscape in 2020 will look very different from now.

• NextGov - In ironic twist, Adobe takes on Apple for not being open government friendly

  Adobe Systems Inc., which was criticized last year for developing products that make it difficult to extract federal data, unleashed a salvo against Apple for blocking common programs used to share government information.

• Boise Weekly - Finn Riggins in DC, Baltimore, Philly and the Northeast

  headed to Boston right now for a show at Midway Cafe in Jamaica Plain. Day 56/80. just enjoyed a couple days mostly off with Lisa's family in New Hampshire. as the above photo reminds us, we were in the nation's capitol a week ago tomorrow. ran around the national mall trying to find the "massive" tea party protests... and despite what all the major new organizations seemed to report, they were pretty insignificant and hard to find. i engaged a few of them not far from the capitol and did my best to be cordial and ask fair questions... but they weren't too interested in discussing their beef. i asked them where they were during the Bush administration when all this national debt was being incurred and one lady simply said "raising kids" and walked off. uhhhhh.... ok.

• USA Today - Payday lenders lobby for loophole in regulation

  WASHINGTON — Payday lenders have stepped up their federal lobbying as Congress works on sweeping legislation to regulate banks and protect consumers from the risky financial practices blamed for the economic crisis.

• Roll Call - Ros-Lehtinen Scraps Fundraiser

  House Foreign Affairs ranking member Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.) canceled a planned fundraiser Monday after Roll Call raised questions about her invitation to lobbyists to join an advisory council that she would consult on foreign policy matters — in exchange for $2,500 campaign contributions.

• The Hill - Sen. Blanche Lincoln gets tough with Wall Street

  It's routine that people with money seek influence in Washington by contributing to politicians. It's not routine that a politicians stands up against contributors' interests.

• Citizens Voice - Stimulus bills spurs some of economy, but has flaws

  After receiving about $4.9 million in stimulus funds, the Scranton-Lackawanna Human Development Agency hired 10 people and expects to add seven more in the next two years.

• The Huffington Post - Government 2.0: Getting Naked is Harder Than It Seems

  The magazine stand at a grocery store can be an amazing gift at times for gauging public opinion, political controversies, business practices and shifts in intellectual direction. In 2007, a bright pink Wired cover caught my attention on the magazine stand. The cover of the magazine had a transparent overlay, bearing Jenna Fischer of NBC's The Office wearing a suit, holding a sign that read "Get Naked and...." In an effort to satisfy my curiosity, I peeled back the transparent cover to peer at what was underneath. It was Fischer, completely nude, holding another sign that read at the top, "...Rule the World." A series of articles within introduced a concept that has become very popular in the wake of the political climate over the last several years and the Wall Street Armageddon: transparency.

• NextGov - Adobe: Apple Bad For Open Government

  Apple's recent decision to block Adobe's video player on the iPad is an affront to open government, officials at the software company claimed on Monday.

• The Washington Post - Maryland's fake open government

  Throughout the world, democracy has more legitimacy than authoritarianism. That's why so many rulers profess more adherence to democratic norms than they practice. Classic illustrations include Russia, Iran and Venezuela, which political scientists characterize as "facade," "pseudo" and "fake" democracy. America lacks such blatant democratic fakery, but less obvious forms can still thrive.

• The Columbus Dispatch - Trains are a better deal than highways

  It's unfortunate to see fiscal conservatives resort to a double standard in claiming to protect Ohio's taxpayers from the imminent doom of the Cleveland-Columbus-Dayton-Cincinnati (3C) passenger-rail project.

• The Washington Post - Nearly two dozen congressional fundraisers held at D.C. Springsteen shows last year

  As Bruce Springsteen belted out working-class anthems on the floor of Verizon Center last May, Rep. Peter A. DeFazio (D-Ore.), chairman of the House Highways and Transit Subcommittee, was raising money in the privacy of a luxury suite overlooking the stage.

• Bucks County Courier Times - Entertainment a way for lawmakers, lobbyists to fundraise

  Skybox meet-ups between lawmakers and lobbyists that came under criticism during the Jack Abramoff scandal in 2004 still persist, according to a report ProPublica, a group that tags itself as “providing journalism in the public interest.”

• The Huffington Post - Washington Post Article Critical Of Lobbying Somehow Makes The Front Page

  Today's Washington Post has a story entitled "Nearly two dozen congressional fundraisers held at D.C. Springsteen shows last year", which reports right from the nexus of politics, influence-peddling and luxury entertainment for lawmakers. Right on the front page, even! But there's something that sets this piece apart from the stories of lobbyists and fundraisers that typically pervade the Post: it's actually critical! It's not a fawning, anthropological look at K Street at all!

• The Washingtonian - Where & When: What to Do This Weekend

  Thursday: Master Class, the third production in the Kennedy Center’s series of Terrence McNally plays about opera, closes this weekend. This performance is based on opera superstar Maria Callas and her time teaching at Julliard in the ’70s. It stars Tyne Daly as Callas in a performance our critic Sophie Gilbert calls “spirited, fearsome, and fun.” Tickets ($25 to $80) can be purchased here. 7:30.

• Boise Weekly - Finn Riggins US Tour day 50/80 — North Carolina // Virginia // headwounds // headed to Washington DC on tax day, today!

  yep. day 50. crazy. one month left. been LOVING the southeast... always love it here.... but our extended stay on this trip has spoiled us sufficiently and we're leaving kicking and screaming... ok, not that dramatic, but we are going to miss it... headed north now up the East Coast. played in Richmond, VA last night, we'll be in Washington DC tonight for a big show and fundraiser for the Sunlight Foundation to aid their efforts toward increased government transparency. very excited for the show and to be a part of their cause.

• TVO - Sunlight's John Wonderlich Discusses Open Government on The Agenda

  TVO's The Agenda with Steve Paikin had a panel discussion about the future of open government that included the Sunlight Foundation's policy director, John Wonderlich:

• Charleston Daily Mail - Focus now shifts to Massey probe

  CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A team of investigators from the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration arrived in Beckley on Monday but was unable to enter the Upper Big Branch mine, the site of last week's deadly explosion.

• Federal News Radio - The DorobekINSIDER Reader: The open government policies and plans

  When there are big events, I like to pull together resources in one place — and, of course, this has been open government week — the Office of Management and Budget issued a series of policies, while agencies issued their open government plans.

• PBS - Frontline: Obama Launches His Health Reform Drive

  On March 23, 2010, after a bruising year of debate, negotiation and backlash, President Barack Obama finally signed the health reform bill that he had promised more than a year before. But at what cost to his popularity and to the ideals of bipartisanship and open government that he'd campaigned on?

• The Washington Post - Nightlife Agenda: Titus Andronicus, Black Tambourine, 88-Keys

  One of the most rocking weeks in recent memory features album-of-the-year contenders Titus Andronicus, the crushing noise of Pissed Jeans, tuneful pop from Title Tracks, and the debut of a new album by local Americana group Shortstack. But don't overlook salsa star Oscar D'Leon's intimate show at the Salsa Room, an '80s-themed prom and a party celebrating influential 1990s indie-pop band Black Tambourine.

• Medill Reports - Transparency bill would put earmarks, FOIA results online

  A proposed new law expanding transparency in government has been lauded by advocates of open government but criticized by a lobbying association. The bill, introduced by U.S. Rep. Mike Quigley, (D-Chicago), March 25, would increase the public’s ability to access information about lobbyists, Congressional committees and executive agencies.

• The Huffington Post - In The Public Interest: Following Your Money 2.0

  As Americans scramble to file their taxes this season, they can take heart in knowing that it's getting easier to track where the money goes.

• Politico - After Hours: Make Tax Day a Little More Fun

  The nonprofit Sunlight Foundation will have a fundraiser at Tabaq Bistro on U Street to support open government. The Finn Higgins band will perform, and Sunlight’s own Paul Blumenthal will DJ. There will be a one-hour open bar and a raffle for the chance to throw a pie in the faces of some Sunlight employees. (If you hate government transparency, this is your chance.) 1336 U St. N.W. 7 p.m. to 11 p.m.

• The Charleston Gazette - Sunlight Foundation calls for open mine probe

  Picking up on this morning’s Coal Tattoo post, the Sunlight Foundation — a group dedicated to government transparency — had this to say about the investigation of the mine disaster that claimed 29 lives in West Virginia last week:

• The Huffington Post - Upper Big Branch Mine Disaster: Should Investigation Be Public?

  Ken Ward Jr., who writes the 'Coal Tattoo' blog for West Virginia's Charleston Gazette, argued on Monday that the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration should break from its long history of conducting secret hearings when it probes last week's deadly explosion at the Upper Big Branch mine.

• The Huffington Post - Robert Rubin: Amoral, Blundering ... And Still Influential in Washington

  To call Robert Rubin an overpaid riverboat gambler would be to do a disservice to riverboat gamblers. To be sure, Rubin's salesmanship, arrogance, and cold lack of remorse fit the mold. But no card sharp ruined as many lives as the former Treasury Secretary and Citigroup executive has done, and nobody of that despised class ever had as much political influence - even now.

• The News Journal - New White House disclosure policy reveals Biden's visitors

  WASHINGTON -- Early on Dec. 11, Vice President Joe Biden corralled 10 moderate, Democratic senators and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner at his official residence to push legislation that would create a special commission to recommend ways to cut the deficit.

• The News Journal - 'Very long' list of visitors to Biden's Delaware home off-limits

  WASHINGTON -- Vice President Joe Biden said the Secret Service keeps a "very long" list of visitors to his home on four lush acres in Greenville. He described the visitors as "just the usual traffic." No heads of state or dignitaries. "People from the neighborhood come in, and the Secret Service -- they've been really flexible," he said.

• The New York Times - Big Money’s Alarming Political Edge

  Time is short for Congress to deal with the damage from the Supreme Court’s decision allowing corporations and unions to spend without limit in attacking or boosting candidates for federal office.

• Federal News Radio - Discussion of the iPad that mentions Clay Johnson

  Federal News Radio's Daily Debrief mentioned the Sunlight Foundation's Clay Johnson when discussing the iPad.

• NextGov - GSA's quest for free contest app may be fruitless, some say

  The government is asking industry and other interested groups for a free application that will let agencies launch online competitions, but developers who run such contests and some contracting specialists say the government may not get what it is looking for.

• The Huffington Post - Unemployed Friends: Jobless Find Support Online

  Unemployment can be lonely. "It's isolating to be unemployed and at home while most of the rest of the world is working," said Jennifer Hong, a mother of three in South Carolina. So she did something about it.

• National Review Online - Developments in Transparency

  Mark Hemingway of the Washington Examiner reviews the performances of President Obama's Open Government Initiative. It's not good, he says. That is the opinion of Ellen Miller over at the Sunlight Foundation, too. As the foundation's suggests, they're all about transparency, especially transparency in government.

• San Francisco Chronicle - Personal democracy Forum coming soon

  Hey, PdF is a really big deal, it's where a broad range of people get together to talk about making government work better and really serve citizens.

• The Washington Examiner - Obama’s open government initiative failing in a big way

  Yesterday, federal agencies were supposed to open up “high value data sets” to the public as part of the White House’s open government initiative. The Sunlight Foundation is not happy with the results:

• The New York Review of Books - The Money Fighting Health Care Reform

  It's chastening to think back to the predictions being made last summer about health care reform, and the assumptions that were widely shared in Washington at the time (certainly by me). Reform would face challenges, and it would never go as far or be as comprehensive as liberals wanted it to be. But some new law would pass by Thanksgiving or sooner. The stars that had defied alignment since the early attempts to pass national health legislation under Teddy Roosevelt were now fully in place.

• Federal News Radio - Open Government: what worked, what didn't

  The deadline has officially come and gone for agencies to meet a key White House open government mandate. Agencies had until Wednesday to publish their plans for improving transparency under the open government initiative. John Wonderlich, Policy Director at the Sunlight Foundation, takes a look at how agencies did.

• The Atlanta Journal-Constitution - One-stop shopping for federal and state campaign contributions

  A group called the Sunlight Foundation in D.C. today is launching something called TransparencyData.com, which merges all campaign contribution data at both the federal and state level.

• Time Magazine - Morning Must Reads: Just Getting Started

  --Obama and Medvedev signed the new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty today in Prague. The Senate will have to ratify it with 67 votes.

• Government Technology - U.S. Justice Department to Create Online FOIA 'Report Card'

  The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) will create a Web site that compares 92 federal agencies' compliance with the Freedom of Information Act -- in hopes that the virtual "report card" will encourage them to up their game in responding to the public.

• Boise Weekly - Finn Riggins monster sighted on the national mall!?!?!??!!!

  we're actually in friggin gorgeous North Carolina today. played in Athens, GA last night at Go Bar. great show. LOVE athens. wish we could go there wayyyy more often than we do.... sweet show in Atlanta the night before at The Drunken Unicorn and on Monday we played with fellow Northwesterners Past Lives (former Blood Brothers and much cooler than i expected!!) in Charlotte, NC at a cool pirate bar we played a couple times back in 2008 called Snug Harbor. it's a rad place. been a fun week of shows so far for sure. playing in Asheville, NC tonight and all the trees have exploded in bright greens since we were here two weeks ago. so pretty.

• The New Mexico Independent - Open gov’t initiative a disappointment, open gov’t group says

  Agencies in the federal government announced transparency initiatives yesterday and urged the public, including open government groups, to weigh in on the plans. Today, Ellen Miller, executive director of the Sunlight Foundation, said she was not impressed by what she saw, writing, “I feel like a disappointed parent.”

• The Nonprofit Quarterly - Open Government: Slow to Let the Light In

  One of the nation's most prominent advocates for openness in government is the nonprofit Sunlight Foundation. Its executive director, Ellen Miller, just posted a blog statement that expressed her disappointment in the sluggish response of the Obama Administration to fulfill its commitment to increased openness with government information. Her lead says it all: "Sigh. I feel like a disappointed parent."

• The Bellingham Herald - New Web site tries to create user-friendly way to search state, federal politics donors

  Helena, Mont.—The money trail just got a little bit easier to follow. Today’s launch of TransparencyData.com provides a new way to track the influence of political donors in state and federal campaigns. The public will be able to search through data about political donors, lobbyists, and lawmakers, and download nuggets of interest or whole sets of data that may illuminate policy discussions and legislative votes. The Sunlight Foundation collaborated with the National Institute on Money in State Politics, the Center for Responsive Politics, and others, to create TransparencyData.com.

• The Buffalo News - Douglas Turner: Legalized graft has corrupted D. C.

  WASHINGTON — “It was just like home,” the reporter ventilated: Buffalo wings, beef on weck, Bocce pizza and Polish sausage at a “Taste of Buffalo” party thrown by Rep. Brian Higgins, D-Buffalo, one night in March.

• Randolph County Herald Tribune - Sunlight Foundation apologizes for erroneous report on Rep. Costello

  Chester, Ill. - The Sunlight Foundation has changed their story with regard to Congressman Jerry Costello (D-Belleville) asking for $1.4 billion in earmarks for the Illinois 12th District.

• The Washingtonian - Biggest Congressional Spenders

  Perks come with being a member of Congress—among them, a million-dollar office budget for each member. As part of Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s push for transparency, the House for the first time has published its spending online—data that was then made searchable by the Sunlight Foundation. It’s now easy to know how Congress is spending the nearly $5 billion it allocates itself annually. The Senate is expected to follow suit next year.

• Federal Computer Week - Agencies release transparency roadmaps

  Federal agencies today released their plans to improve transparency, public participation, and collaboration. The Obama administration said the move was a major step forward for its push to improve transparency governmentwide. Agencies published their Open Government Plans to comply with a directive from the Office of Management and Budget.

• The New Mexico Independent - Federal government launches transparency initiative

  The White House on Wednesday announced a major open government initiative that includes increased access to information from Sandia and Los Alamos National Laboratories. The Department of Energy, which is heavily involved with Los Alamos National Labs and Sandia National Labs, launched a wiki page, OpenEI.org.

• Federal News Radio - DorobekINSIDER: Assessing transparency and open government

  Last weekend, open government advocates gathered in Washington, DC for the second Transparency Camp — an un-conference, which is one of these events where bright people come together and decide what they want to talk about. Read the Twitter feed from that event by checking out #tcamp2010 — and even the Washington Post wrote a story about the event this year.

• San Francisco Chronicle - Obama and the bosses: Taking care of the unions

  One day last fall, approximately 40,000 private day care owners in Michigan woke up to discover they had become members of a public-sector union. Most had no idea what was coming.

• The Leslie Marshall Show - Clay Johnson Discusses the Need for Government Data Transparency

  The Leslie Marshall Show had the Sunlight Labs' director Clay Johnson on to discuss citizen journalism and the role government transparency plays.

• Columbia Daily Tribune - Chamber cashes in with Craigslist founder

  The Columbia Chamber of Commerce wanted to do something special this year for its largest fundraiser, the annual Business Showcase, and decided to bring in Craigslist.org founder Craig Newmark. The move paid off — literally.

• The Idaho Statesman - Idaho legislative candidates rank low in spending

  It’s still relatively cheap to run for Idaho’s part-time Legislature, according to a new study of the 2008 election by the Montana-based National Institute on Money in State Politics. The average Senate race in Idaho cost $43,877, sixth least expensive in the country. The average Idaho House race cost $33,952, seventh cheapest.

• The Washington Post - A hotbed of techie agents of government transparency

  Monitoring your elected officials and keeping track of your government's spending? There's an app for that, as it turns out. Or such was the theme of the second annual TransparencyCamp, held at George Washington University last weekend, an event aimed at bringing programmers and activists together to mingle and talk shop about how to mine government data in clever ways.

• The Patriot-News - Saying 'no' to bridges to nowhere: Earmark reform

  It’s “bridge to nowhere” season in Washington. Congressional earmarks were due a day after the health care bill passed the House, somewhat comedic timing. While earmark requests were quickly lost in the “big deal” reaction to health care, they are worth a closer look.

• Fox News - The Perfect Storm

  There was a perfect storm in Washington last week. It was the confluence of the health care reform bill, earmarks, wavering lawmakers, a respected Congressional watchdog group, misplaced decimal points and journalists searching for a story. And this perfect storm demonstrates how a simple mistake and a healthy skepticism about lawmakers’ motives can go awry.

• Belleville News-Democrat - Costello gets apology: Group now says health care vote and earmark requests not connected

  A Washington, D.C., think tank said it erred last week when it reported U.S. Rep. Jerry Costello, D-Belleville, and other pro-life House Democrats increased their earmark requests shortly after the health-care reform bill passed in the House.

• The Texas Tribune - Sun on the Horizon

  A small but growing number of state officials are warming to the idea of greater transparency and open access to raw government data, following a budding trend across the country.

• NextGov - Agencies to unveil open government plans under president's directive

  The release next week of new agency rules and plans for using technology to create a more honest, accountable government could be the pinnacle of President Obama's commitment to transparency, say government watchdogs.

• The Press Democrat - PD Editorial: Wish lists

  If it’s spring, it must be earmark season — that time of year when congressional representatives all over the country make their annual appeals for the things they want funded in their districts.

• The Daily Caller - Sunlight Foundation corrects ‘Stupak 11′ story

  I linked to a blog post by the frequently reliable Sunlight Foundation last week about earmark requests made by Rep. Bart Stupak and other pro-life health-care holdouts. Turns out, it contained a few errors:

• Pine Bluff Commercial - Know the truth about politics

  Editor, The Commercial: The scriptures, in John 8:32, tell us "Then ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free". But when it comes to Mike Ross, 4th District congressman, just what is the truth about him? Is he a Democrat in name only (a DINO), or a Republican disguised as a Democrat?

• The Herald-Sun - Public records? Post them online

  This editorial appeared in The Washington Post:

• Nature Medicine - FDA initiative may crack wall of secrecy

  Much of the information gathered by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) from pharmaceutical companies is ultimately not published. But this data can provide insight into drug efficacy and safety, and thus many people have called for greater access to it. The agency is now mulling over whether to release more information from unpublished clinical trials as part of its ‘Transparency Initiative’, the first phase of which was unveiled on 12 January.

• The Hill - Advocates: Earmark database needed

  Congressional appropriators aren’t meeting the White House’s goal of creating a searchable earmark database, according to transparency advocates.

• The Press Democrat - $864 million earmarks sought

  North Coast Reps. Lynn Woolsey, D-Petaluma, and Mike Thompson, D-St. Helena, have requested more than $864 million in federal spending, known as earmarks, mostly on projects within their districts.

• Silver City Sun-News - Their view: A sensible step for increased access to public information

  The following editorial appeared in the Washington Post: In the last scene of "Raiders of the Lost Ark," a clerk wheels the crated Ark of the Covenant into a cavernous government warehouse, destined to be lost among endless rows of nondescript boxes. The film's protagonist, Indiana Jones, mutters: "Fools, bureaucratic fools. ... They don't know what they've got there."

• The Boston Globe - Campaign finance: Disclose corporate, union ads

  The Supreme Court decision letting corporations and unions spend unlimited amounts touting political candidates — or trashing those they oppose — could make officeholders more beholden to special interests. The least Congress can do is require full disclosure of such expenditures and insist that shareholders or union members approve them.

• Fox News - Sunlight Foundation's Bill Allison on America Live to discuss earmarks

  The Sunlight Foundation's editorial director, Bill Allison, appeared on Fox News to discuss research of earmarks surrounding the 'Stupak 11':

• Roll Call - HOH’s One-Minute Recess: Let It Rock

  With Congress out of town, at least two Congressional campaigns are letting their hair down and readying to rock out — all in the name of raising some campaign cash.

• Fox News - Pro-Life Democrats Who Switched Vote for Health Bill Request Billions in Earmarks

  The 11 House Democrats led by Rep. Bart Stupak who dropped their opposition to health care reform legislation mere hours before the final vote have requested $3.4 billion in earmarks -- and one watchdog group wants to know whether the money represents business as usual or political payoffs.

• The Washington Examiner - Mark Hemingway: Stuffing union coffers with taxpayer cash

  One day last fall, approximately 40,000 private day care owners in Michigan woke up to discover they had become members of a public sector union. Most had no idea what was coming.

• Culpeper Star-Exponent - Cantor No. 3 highest spender among Va. congressmen

  Of the 11 congressmen from Virginia, U.S. Rep. Tom Perriello, D-Ivy, was the most frugal with taxpayer money in 2009, newly released office expenditure records show.

• The Charlottesville Daily Progress - Perriello wins high marks in frugality

  Of the 11 congressmen from Virginia, U.S. Rep. Tom Perriello, D-Ivy, was the most frugal with taxpayer money in 2009, newly released office expenditure records show.

• Fox News - Sunlight's Bill Allison discusses Earmarks on Happening Now

  The Sunlight Foundation's editorial director, Bill Allison, appeared on the Happening Now show on Fox News to discuss research of earmarks surrounding the 'Stupak 11':

• Denton Record-Chronicle - Other Voices: Sensible step toward greater transparency

  In the last scene of Raiders of the Lost Ark, a clerk wheels the crated Ark of the Covenant into a cavernous government warehouse, destined to be lost among endless rows of nondescript boxes. The film’s protagonist, Indiana Jones, mutters: “Fools, bureaucratic fools. ... They don’t know what they’ve got there.”

• Fox News - The Sunlight Foundation's Bill Allison on Bulls and Bears

  The Sunlight Foundation's editorial director, Bill Allison, appeared on Fox News to discuss research of earmarks surrounding the 'Stupak 11':

• Fox News - The Sunlight Foundation's Bill Allison on Fox Report with Shepard Smith

  The Sunlight Foundation's editorial director, Bill Allison, appeared on Fox News to discuss research of earmarks surrounding the 'Stupak 11':

• Napa Valley Register - Key data, just a click away

  In the last scene of “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” a clerk wheels the crated Ark of the Covenant into a cavernous government warehouse, destined to be lost among endless rows of nondescript boxes. The film’s protagonist, Indiana Jones, mutters: “Fools, bureaucratic fools. ... They don’t know what they’ve got there.”

• The Washington Post - Sunshine online

  IN THE LAST scene of "Raiders of the Lost Ark," a clerk wheels the crated Ark of the Covenant into a cavernous government warehouse, destined to be lost among endless rows of nondescript boxes. The film's protagonist, Indiana Jones, mutters: "Fools, bureaucratic fools. . . . They don't know what they've got there."

• El Paso Times - Transparency: Sunlight Foundation forms key committee

  During the contentious debate over health-care legislation, it became obvious that not only did Democrats wish to exclude Republicans from the deliberations, but they also wanted to exclude the American public from the process.

• Belleville News-Democrat - Report: Costello asked for $1.4 billion in earmarks after switching health-care vote

  A government think tank Friday cited Rep. Jerry Costello, D-Belleville, and other anti-abortion House members for having dramatically increased their earmark requests after passing the health care reform bill earlier this week.

• USA Today - Opposing view: 'Earmark' isn't a dirty word

  On the surface, the recent decision by the House of Representatives to ban all congressional earmarks directed to private companies might appear to be in the public interest. In reality, such a move would only empower the executive branch and shift the attention of lobbyists from Congress to unelected bureaucrats, who have no accountability to the taxpayer.

• The Daily Caller - After voting ‘yes’ on health care, ‘Stupak 11′ requested $4.7 billion in earmarks

  The Sunlight Foundation comes through with a dagger of a story: A day after Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., and ten other House members compromised on their pro-life position to deliver the necessary yes-votes to pass health care reform, the “Stupak 11″ released their fiscal year 2011 earmark requests, which total more than $4.7 billion–an average of $429 million worth of earmark requests for each lawmaker.

• Federal Computer Week - Lawmaker wants more technology for transparency

  A House bill that a lawmaker drafted based in part on public input via a transparency advocacy group would require increased use of new technologies and more disclosure from lobbyists and lawmakers.

• Russia Today - Jake Brewer discusses political climate on Russia Today

  Russia Today's The Alyona Show had the Sunlight Foundation's engagement director, Jake Brewer, on to discuss health care and other major political issues of today:

• Capitol News Connection - Nebraska Companies Spend Thousands on Heath Care Lobby

  Many Nebraska companies are hiring health care lobbyists to get their voices heard in Washington. Matt Laslo reports on why critics say that raises red flags.

• Free Press - Media Minutes: March 26, 2010

  A new bill has been introduced in Congress that would require all public information from most federal agencies to be made available online. And mainstream media's reporters could learn something from aggressive celebrity paparazzi.

• The Daily Caller - Short-lived adventures in bill-reading

  I am what you might call completely average. By that I mean I watched the health-care debate come to life, heat up, and start to cool off. I listened to commentary by “journalists” and talk show hosts on everything from CNN to MSNBC to Fox; read pieces in The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, on The Huffington Post and here on The Daily Caller. Oh, on Facebook, too.

• The Hill - Design for America contest from Sunlight Foundation

  The folks at the Sunlight Foundation's Sunlight Labs just announced the Design for America competition.

• St. Petersburg Times - National, local Republicans raise cash for C.W. Bill Young

  U.S. Rep. C.W. Bill Young is ramping up the fundraising with events in Washington and St. Petersburg as he seeks to keep his 40-year lock on District 10 seat with big-name support (not that the GOP was exactly standing in his way against Democrat Charlie Justice).

• The Huffington Post - Reps. Quigley, Issa, and 18 Others Form 'Congressional Transparency Caucus'

  Representatives Mike Quigley and Darrell Issa announced the creation of the bipartisan "Congressional Transparency Caucus" today. This historic move provides an exciting new way for Members of Congress to work together in support of open government initiatives.

• The Hill - Some Dems use votes on healthcare bill for new fundraising push

  Some vulnerable Democrats are using their controversial vote in favor of the healthcare bill to raise money before the first-quarter reporting deadline.

• The Huffington Post - Celebrating Transparency Heroes on Ada Lovelace Day

  What better celebration of Ada Lovelace Day -- celebrating the achievements of women in technology -- could we have than to honor the women who are key to the government transparency movement to which technology is so key? These women are using technology to pry open the doors of government, and are creating a new style of transparency powered by the Internet. By either making more political and spending data available online, facilitating others to do the same, addressing questions that arise in the age of technology or by creating new tools and context to help all of us connect the dots and understand what the data has to tell us, these women are empowering all of us to hold our government accountable in ways we never could before. As I look around to my colleagues, I see a remarkable number of us - too many to really mention in one column. So here are a few:

• The Huffington Post - GOP Senators Refusing To Work Past 2PM, Invoking Obscure Rule

  Senate Republicans fuming over the passage of health care reform are now refusing to work past 2 p.m. -- a tactic they can employ by invoking a little-known Senate rule. On Wednesday, the Judiciary Committee was forced to cancel a hearing as was the Senate Armed Services Committee.

• The Huffington Post - Congressional Fundraising Hits Quarterly Climax: Guess How Many Events Today!

  Congressional fundraising hit its climax for the quarter on Wednesday, with 67 events crammed into 24 hours, according to data compiled by the nonpartisan Sunlight Foundation -- possibly a single-day record. There are at least 153 events in total this week.

• MSNBC - Rachel Maddow uses a clip of Sunlight's Ellen Miller

  MSNBC's Rachel Maddow Show included a clip with the Sunlight Foundation's Ellen Miller when discussing the stoppage of Senate business after 2 pm:

• Government Executive - Senate Grinds To A Halt

  It's hard to get more ironic than this. A Senate hearing on federal financial management and transparency in government was shut down early yesterday because of an obscure Senate rule which says the chamber cannot conduct hearings after 2 p.m. without unanimous consent. Republicans refused to consent to continuing the hearings.

• The Colorado Independent - Pouting GOP taking off at tea time in DC, furthering gridlock

  Republicans lawmakers in DC are really mad that they lost the battle on health care. So for the last two days they have invoked a rule held over from ye olde colonial times, perhaps, that says all parliamentary business that would push the day beyond 2 pm tea time must be agreed upon unanimously. In a funk, Republicans will no longer agree to any such thing. Tea time will definitely be observed!

• CSPAN - John Wonderlich speaks at Center for American Progress

  The Sunlight Foundation's policy director, John Wonderlich, speaks at the Center for American Progress during Sunshine Week alongside Norm Eisen and Jim Harper.

• The Pantagraph - Don't give up trying to reform earmark process

  The U.S. House of Representatives took meaningful steps earlier this month to curtail earmark abuse. It is a pity that the Senate did not follow in its footsteps. Instead, on a 68-29 vote, with 15 Republicans joining 43 Democrats, a proposal to freeze spending earmarks for a year failed Tuesday. Sens. Dick Durbin and Roland Burris opposed the reform measure.

• The Daily Record - Earmark reform: Not much impact in N.J.

  WASHINGTON — An attempt to reform the earmarking process in Congress is not expected to have a major impact on money for New Jersey. Democratic leaders in the House have banned earmarks — money for special home-district projects that lawmakers have routinely inserted in spending bills — that would benefit for-profit companies such as defense contractors.

• The Courier-Post - Earmark rule not making impact

  WASHINGTON — An attempt to reform the earmarking process in Congress is not expected to have a major effect on money for New Jersey. Democratic leaders in the House have banned earmarks -- money for special home-district projects that lawmakers have routinely inserted in spending bills -- that would benefit for-profit companies such as defense contractors.

• Des Moines Register - Late add-ons to Iowa budget bills receive little public view

  The final days of the legislative session could bring last-minute budget amendments that change Iowa law and increase spending with little or no public input. That's the view of multiple open-government advocates, lobbyists and politicians.

• Federal Computer Week - Federal 100: Clay Johnson

  Clay Johnson Director of Sunlight Labs Sunlight Foundation

• The Charlottesville Daily Progress - Earmarks need transparency

  What to do about earmarks? Public condemnation of lawmakers’ practice of personally sponsoring large awards of tax money to questionable projects has produced some reforms. The process is now a bit more transparent, and — hopefully as a result — there have been some small declines in the amount of money awarded.

• Capitol News Connection - Health Care Lobbyists Outnumber Maryland Delegation

  Lobbyists for Maryland health groups out number the state’s Congressional delegation by about 23 to one. The number is a tad misleading because many national organizations are based in the suburbs outside Washington, but it does provide a snapshot of life on Capitol Hill for Maryland lawmakers.

• Pacific Daily News - Put all public information on Internet

  Every day, the federal government releases vast amounts of useful information about every aspect of our nation and how government works. This public information has a deep impact on almost every aspect of American life. Some of it can be used to hold our elected officials accountable for their actions, or have a profound effect on health, economic development and commerce.

• The McPherson Sentinel - The good, the bad and the ugly of earmarks

  McPherson, Kan. — Congressman Jerry Moran recently joined with other House Republicans in a push for a one-year moratorium on earmarks. “(This is) the first step in regaining the taxpayers’ trust, and this effort wouldn’t have been successful without Congressman Moran’s leadership,” said Congressman Jeff Flake (R-AZ), an advocate of earmark reform. Moran added, “Spending is occurring at an alarming rate – our country is broke. This is a step to ending business as usual in Washington, D.C.”

• The Echo Press - Editorial - Open government records to Internet

  Every day, the federal government releases vast amounts of useful information about every aspect of our nation and how government works. This public information has a deep impact on almost every aspect of American life. Some of it can be used to hold our elected officials accountable for their actions, or have a profound effect on health, economic development and commerce. The problem is, much of this government information is too often hard to find, difficult to understand, expensive to obtain in useful formats, and available in only a few locations.

• The St. Louis Dispatch - Earmarks: The pork that defies reform.

  Here’s an issue the United States Senate had no trouble mustering a filibuster-proof majority for: earmarks.

• NextGov - Agencies must be the engines behind sustained transparency push

  A top administration official on Friday said federal agencies and the public, more than the White House, are accountable for sustaining open government. The day after taking office, President Obama committed himself to an open government agenda that would improve transparency, citizen participation and public-private interaction, in part by applying new technologies to agency operations.

• National Journal - White House's Eisen Reports on Transparency

  All 17 government executive agencies have "made concrete changes" to their transparency standards since President Obama issued his Open Government Directive last December, according to Special Counsel to the President for Ethics and Government Reform Norm Eisen, who spoke today in detail at the Building Transparency panel hosted by the Center for American Progress.

• The Denver Post - Sen. Bennet slips between worlds of reform, fundraising

  WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet has settled on the persona of a Washington reformer as the best way to steer his election bid through the choppy waters of 2010, touting an ambitious 'fix-it' agenda in his first campaign ad this week.

• The Californian - Editorial: Improve access to city leaders on the Web

  Open government. It's a phrase getting a lot of attention these days, especially this week during Sunshine Week. Sunshine Week is an annual call for more transparency in government; it is devoted to encouraging public access to government information and inspiring more citizens to go after it.

• The National Law Journal - Supreme Court Unveils New Web Site Design

  The Supreme Court's long-awaited Web site redesign was unveiled Thursday at supremecourt.gov, bringing the site into the 21st century only a few years late.

• The Casper Star-Tribune - Bill enhances goals of Sunshine Week

  Sunshine Week is an important event in newsrooms around the country, including the Star-Tribune's. But it should be just as noteworthy to every American, since it focuses on the public's right to know. The week, which officially ends Saturday, is an initiative that's been spearheaded by the American Society of News Editors since 2005. Its goal is to educate the public about the importance of open government and the dangers of excessive and unnecessary secrecy.

• National Journal - An Upgrade For FOIA

  The Freedom of Information Act needs an upgrade befitting the ease and access of the Internet era, according to Rep. Steve Israel, who has introduced a bill promising just that.

• Federal News Radio - Sunlight Labs debuts 'Design for America' contest

  You might remember Apps for America, the contest by Sunlight Labs that awards ideas to help make Congress more transparent.

• Seattle PostGlobe - Had trouble getting info from the government? Tell it to the Datamine project

  I heard about this cool project in which the Center for Public Integrity and the Sunlight Foundation are asking citizens to contribute to their Datamine project for Sunshine Week. So instead of a longer post, here’s the text of a post I made to the Society of Environmental Journalists’ SEJ-Talk listserv:

• IDG News Service - Sunlight Foundation wants more government docs online

  The Sunlight Foundation has launched a campaign to pressure all levels of government in the U.S. to put more information online. The foundation, a nonpartisan advocate for open government and transparency, launched the Public=Online campaign Thursday at Google's Washington, D.C., office. About 100 people attended the event, and they came from a wide range of the political spectrum in the U.S., said Jake Brewer, engagement director at the foundation.

• TruthOut - New Legislation Will Bring Light to Government's Dark Spaces

  On Tuesday, Rep. Steve Israel (D-New York) introduced a banner piece of legislation to create greater governmental transparency by making public government information available online. The bill, the Public Online Information Act (POIA), directly confronts the problem that massive quantities of government data and documentation are still largely inaccessible because they are difficult to find and difficult to read, despite being designated as "public,"according to Israel.

• Glen Falls Post Star - Editorial: Good, bad news on sunshine front

  Halfway through Sunshine Week, we're getting some positive news and some not-so-positive news about the public's right to know. Let's start with the most pressing news, which happens to be negative. Really negative.

• Summit Daily News - Editorial: Let the sunshine in

  Those with an interest in government transparency know that, even in today's broader and more scattered media landscape, newspapers are typically at the forefront of pressing government to keep the books open. This is “Sunshine Week,” a time of year promoted by the American Association of Newspaper Editors to remind Americans what we have a right to know, and it's a good time to underscore the fact that even a small community like Summit County is not immune to breaches in the Freedom of Information Act — as well as what can be maddening examples of information roadblocks both deliberate and unintentional.

• The Newport Daily News - Sunshine Week: Today, accessible means online

  Every day, the federal government releases vast amounts of useful information about every aspect of our nation and how government works. This public information has a deep impact on almost every aspect of American life.

• Advertiser-Tribune - The time has come for online disclosure

  Today's guest column supplied by Sunlight Foundation argues for the federal government to "proactively" disclose public information online. The state of Ohio has taken a helpful step toward that goal by not only publishing Ohio's open government laws, but a companion Sunshine Laws Manual - and making both available online.

• Advertiser-Tribune - Online, public accountability is ultimate goal

  Every day, the federal government releases vast amounts of useful information about every aspect of our nation and how government works. This public information has a deep impact on almost every aspect of American life. Some of it can be used to hold our elected officials accountable for their actions, or have a profound effect on health, economic development and commerce.

• Coshocton Tribune - It's time to create online, public accountability for government

  Every day, the federal government releases vast amounts of useful information about every aspect of our nation and how government works. This public information has a deep impact on almost every aspect of American life. Some of it can be used to hold our elected officials accountable for their actions, or have a profound effect on health, economic development and commerce. The problem is, much of this government information is too often hard to find, difficult to understand, expensive to obtain in useful formats and available in only a few locations.

• Roll Call - K Street Files: Banking Backlash

  The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is ginning up support among its big-business members to lobby against several measures in Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Chairman Chris Dodd’s (D-Conn.) recently introduced financial regulatory reform bill.

• The Hindu - Helping others help

  eBay founder Pierre Omidyar started Omidyar Network with the aim of enabling organisations, both for-profit and not-for-profit, generate social impact through philanthropic activity. Now, the company has started its India operations, with its national headquarters in Mumbai, becoming, as it claims, the first philanthropic investment firm in the country.

• The Huffington Post - Help Us Liberate Government Records During Sunshine Week

  As part of Sunshine Week, March 14-20, The Center for Public Integrity and the Sunlight Foundation are looking for help with The Data Mine, a new online series identifying inaccessible or difficult to use information from the federal government.

• MSNBC - A Call for Government Transparency

  Ellen Miller, the executive director of the Sunlight Foundation, on MSNBC's Morning Meeting with Dylan Ratigan to discuss the recent Public Online Information Act alongside Rep. Steve Israel:

• CSPAN - Senator Inouye quotes the Sunlight Foundation on the Senate floor

  Senator Daniel Inouye made a statement against an amendment to eliminate earmarks on the floor of the Senate and quoted the Sunlight Foundation's editorial director, Bill Allison.

• Capitol News Connection - Redefining “Freedom of Information” in the 21st Century

  Today Rep. Steve Israel, D-N.Y., will introduce the Public Online Information Act. Sunlight Foundation Executive Director Ellen Miller says the bill reflects a new formula for transparency: public equal online.

• The Huffington Post - Is Senator Graham Looking for an Excuse to Bail on Climate Legislation?

  Kate Sheppard asks if the passage of health care legislation will hurt or hinder progress on climate legislation. But the underlying question is whether or not Senator Graham is looking for an excuse to bail on climate negotiations. The answer to that question might just be yes. His rhetoric hints at the possibility, and he's willing to distort the truth about reconciliation without hesitation while huffing and puffing that it leaves him no choice but to bail on unrelated legislation. If Senator Graham does end up using the passage of health care reform as an excuse to give up on climate talks, his lack of integrity will be readily apparent for all to witness.

• The Desert Sun - Government information should be online and free

  Every day, the federal government releases vast amounts of useful information about every aspect of our nation and how government works. This public information has a deep impact on almost every aspect of American life. Some of it can be used to hold our elected officials accountable for their actions or have a profound effect on health, economic development and commerce. The problem is, much of this government information is too often hard to find, difficult to understand, expensive to obtain in useful formats, and available in only a few locations.

• The Washington Post - Obama weighs in on 'Sunshine Week'

  It's Sunshine Week, an annual attempt by good government groups and news organizations to promote better access to government information. The week started with a critical report suggesting the Obama administration's first year of efforts to improve access to government information have yielded mixed results.

• NextGov - Bill would require agencies to post public documents online

  A House member unveiled a bill on Tuesday that would redefine executive branch public information as content that is available on the Internet and searchable, requiring agencies to post all future public records online within three years.

• The Hill - ‘Sunshine Week’ highlights transparency

  Democrats and Republicans have tangled over whether efforts to pass healthcare reform are benefiting from backdoor deals and questionable parliamentary maneuvering. On Tuesday, however, there was some indication of a growing bipartisan consensus for the need to increase government transparency and openness, as Sunshine Week dawned on Washington.

• The Hill - Fixing Washington: The Public Online Information Act

  The deal is to tell us what's really going on, how things work, where the money goes. A lot of documents reveal that, but if they're on paper only, they might as well not exist. This new proposed law would require that all executive-branch government stuff be online and searchable. (It's a start.)

• The Huffington Post - "Dotcom" Turns 25: My Predictions for What Comes Next

  Yesterday marked the 25th anniversary of the Internet designation ".com." To commemorate the occasion, VeriSign is hosting a conference today in Washington. I'm taking part, along with Bill Clinton, Fareed Zakaria, Aneesh Chopra, Mo Rocca, Fred Wilson, Kara Swisher and many others.

• The Daily Caller - Why an earmark ban won’t stop the pork

  The ever amazing Sunlight Foundation argues for comprehensive earmark reform instead of the ban:

• The St. Joseph News-Press - Our opinion: Openness requires access

  Unless you are among the handful of folks living “off the grid,” government is a big part of your life. You pay taxes, rely on government to keep the peace and ensure the safety of what you eat, and tolerate everything from Census questionnaires to airport screenings.

• The Huffington Post - Happy 25th Birthday, dot.com!

  Technology moves so fast that history, too often, gets buried in the digital dustbin. Was it just last month that Facebook celebrated its 6th birthday? Just a few days ago that Twitter marked its 10 billionth tweet?

• The Buffalo News - Douglas Turner: President has made a mess of health reform

  WASHINGTON — A year ago President Obama strolled confidently into the garden of good and evil, bit deeply into the apple and created the mess he and congressional Democrats are in now concerning health insurance reform.

• InformationWeek - GAO Faults Federal Spending Site

  The government needs to do a better job tracking contracts and grant awards on USAspending.gov, its primary federal spending transparency Website, according to a report from the Government Accountability Office, the government's internal auditing agency.

• NextGov - Audit blames OMB's lack of guidance for shoddy contracting data

  The Office of Management and Budget has improved the transparency of federal spending but has limited tools to improve data quality and mandate agency compliance, according to observers.

• The Hill - The Big Question: Should Republicans back financial reform?

  Some of the nation's top political commentators, legislators and intellectuals offer their insight into the biggest news burning up the blogosphere today.


• The Week - Will health care pass this week?

  Best Opinion: OpenCongress, Milton Wolf, Time Confident Dems are claiming they'll get the votes to pass their health care reform bill, with White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs going so far as to say it will be "the law of the land" by next Sunday. Meanwhile, Republican leaders are promising to do "everything" in their power to make passage "difficult" or even "impossible." Which side is doing the most blustering? (Watch THE WEEK's Sunday Talk Show Briefing on health care's chances of passing)

• Baxter Bulletin - Government needs online accountability

  Every day, the federal government releases vast amounts of useful information about every aspect of our nation and how government works. This public information has a deep impact on almost every aspect of American life. Some of it can be used to hold our elected officials accountable for their actions, or have a profound effect on health, economic development and commerce. The problem is, much of this government information is too often hard to find, difficult to understand, expensive to obtain in useful formats, and available in only a few locations.

• Nashua Telegraph - Unlocking data in Washington

  During the presidential campaign of 2008, it was not usual for then-candidate Barack Obama to talk about transparency and the importance of open government. So it shouldn’t have come as much of a surprise that on his first full day in office, the president issued a memorandum to the heads of all executive departments restoring the original presumption of disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act, a reversal from the previous administration.

• The Plain Dealer - Sunshine Week is good time to remember that a democratic government needs to open its records and proceedings to the people in whose name it exists: editorial

  The start of the decennial census, noted elsewhere on this page, is a reminder that governments collect a lot of information about almost every aspect of American life -- from basic demographics and health data to details about foreign trade and the activities of lobbyists. Some of this information is proprietary; others of it bear on the national security and can't be widely shared.

• Asheville Citizen-Times - Ah, spring; sunshine, statistics, and a whole new ballgame

  Spring draws nigh. This year, one thing is certain: We'll feel like we earned it, after the beating we took this winter.

• The Bemidji Pioneer - Pioneer Guest Editorial: Open government records to Internet

  Every day, the federal government releases vast amounts of useful information about every aspect of our nation and how government works. This public information has a deep impact on almost every aspect of American life. Some of it can be used to hold our elected officials accountable for their actions, or have a profound effect on health, economic development and commerce. The problem is, much of this government information is too often hard to find, difficult to understand, expensive to obtain in useful formats, and available in only a few locations.

• The Desert Sun - Openness in government is crucial to our nation's future

  This week is Sunshine Week, dedicated to freedom of expression, open meetings, open records and transparency in how the government spends your money. The Desert Sun will take a long look at the campaign for openness today and share the views of others throughout the week.

• Nashua Telegraph - Information is not truly public until it is on the Internet

  Every day, the federal government releases vast amounts of useful information about every aspect of our nation and how government works. This public information has a deep impact on almost every aspect of American life. Some of it can be used to hold our elected officials accountable for their actions, or have a profound effect on health, economic development and commerce.

• Evansville Courier & Press - Internet has changed expectations of open government

  (Editor's note: The following commentary is from the Sunlight Foundation, and was provided by the American Society of Newspaper Editors in recognition of Sunshine Week, which begins today. The week recognizes the need for a free and open press.)

• Arizona Central - Where to get information online on your lawmaker

  It doesn't take a trip to Washington to get to know your lawmaker. Here are 10 things you can learn online:

• Democrat and Chronicle - Freedom of Information Act creates more open government

  Why is the federal Freedom of Information Act important? It allows people to request information — printed and electronic documents and communications, including cell phone text messages and e-mails — from the United States government. Anyone, including citizens and foreign nationals, as well as interest groups and associations, can file a FOIA request. Each state also has its own open records laws.

• The Arizona Republic - Barack Obama brings records access, yet obstacles remain

  WASHINGTON — At a time when the Obama administration is struggling to advance major policy initiatives on health care, energy and banking, it is getting high marks for progress in one area: government transparency.

• The Reporter - Let the sun shine

  EDITOR'S NOTE: Sunshine Week, which begins today, is a national initiative to open a dialogue about the importance of open government and freedom of information. Participants include print, broadcast and online news media, civic groups, libraries, nonprofits, schools and others interested in the public's right to know. Sunshine Week is led by the American Society of News Editors.

• The Star Press - Public data should mean online data

  Every day, the federal government releases vast amounts of useful information about every aspect of our nation and how government works. This public information has a deep impact on almost every part of American life. Some of it can be used to hold our elected officials accountable for their actions, or have a profound effect on health, economic development and commerce.

• National Journal - K Street Paradox

  At last month's White House health care summit, John McCain accused his 2008 presidential rival of cutting a shady deal to get a reform bill passed.

• The Portales News-Tribune - Public has right to information

  Every day, the federal government releases vast amounts of useful information about every aspect of our nation and how government works.

• Boise Weekly - New Mexico // Wash DC poster

  just rolled in to the village of Mesilla, NM (right next to Las Cruces)... really cute little downtown plaza... looks literally like "new mexico". small streets. plaza. we're playing at a good sized cantina called El Patio tonight with locals Alister M and our tour buddy Boy Eats Drum Machine. nice and warm out. love it.

• Star-Gazette - Your guide to public records

  WHAT FOIL CAN DO FOR YOU Here are some examples of ways citizens can use Freedom of Information Law to obtain information to assist you in your daily life.* Challenge your property assessment: Use FOIL to obtain information on assessments on any and all properties in your community to determine if it's worth challenging your assessment to try to reduce your tax bills.*

• The Day - How Pfizer CEO Jeffrey Kindler earned his $14.9 million

  I think one of the more curious parts of Pfizer CEO Jeffrey Kindler's $14.9 million 2009 pay package, the subject of much chatter this week on the Pharma blogs, is the $10,000 he got for financial consulting services, presumably to help figure out the best way to sock away all that money.

• Arkansas Times - Clean air, dirty hands

  Environmental and good government groups continue to probe relationships that help explain lawmakers' positions on important legislation.

• Kansas Reporter - KDOT looks at Amtrak expansion

  TOPEKA, Kan. - The Kansas House voted 115 to five Thursday to give Kansas Secretary of Transportation Deb Miller the ability to prepare for expanded rail service in the state. That same day, Amtrak released a study concerning the feasibility of such passenger rail service, which was presented to the House Transportation committee.

• Gannett News Service - Obama gets high marks for transparency push

  At a time when the Obama administration is struggling to move forward with major policy initiatives affecting health care, energy and banking, it is getting high marks for progress in one area: government transparency. Watchdog groups applaud President Obama for using the bully pulpit to demand that government be more open, an effort the White House calls "Government 2.0."

• Arkansas Times - Friends of Mike

  WASHINGTON — Arkansas members of Congress, especially Rep. Mike Ross, continue to benefit from fund-raisers where corporate lobbyists are either the hosts or main guests, according to listings posted by the Sunlight Foundation, a watchdog group.

• Roll Call - Earmark Advocates Skeptical of Ban

  Just days after House Democrats and Republicans began floating the idea of a one-year moratorium on earmarks, K Streeters seem convinced that there is no appetite in Congress to shut off the spigot for lawmakers’ pet projects.

• Federal News Radio - Clay Johnson of the Sunlight Foundation Mentioned

  A mention on Federal News Radio of "Clay Johnson over at the Sunlight Foundation."

• Russia Today - Crossing the Line

  Russia Today had the Sunlight Foundation's engagement director, Jake Brewer, on their Alyona Show a week or so back, and soon we'll have the cropped clip to enjoy via our YouTube channel:

• Politico - Where Real Business Occurs

  For all the digital networking you can accomplish right on your BlackBerry, nothing compares to meeting in person — especially in Washington. And that may just explain the growing popularity of happy hours dubbed “Hack and Flack,” which bring together reporters and spokespersons.

• Centre Daily Times - Site tracks big spenders

  What’s it cost to run a congressional office these days? Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., racked up $1.5 million in expenses over the past year in running her office. The House minority leader, John Boehner, R-Ohio, spent about $1.2 million.

• Victoria Advocate - Con: Having an official language would push back progress

  Rosie Gonzales, of Refugio, grew up learning Spanish at home and English at school, but believes adopting a bill that would make English the official language could bring animosity toward immigrants.

• News & Record - Richard Burr on the Party Blog

  The Sunlight Foundation's "Party Blog" features Sen. Richard Burr, a Winston-Salem Republican running for re-election, in a recent entry.

• The New York Times - Massa Says Health Care Stand Contributed to His Resignation

  Representative Eric Massa, Democrat of New York, who is resigning from Congress amid allegations that he sexually harassed a staff member, now says he believes that House Democratic leaders wanted to force him out of office because he voted against the Democrats’ health care legislation.

• The Huffington Post - Sen. Richard Burr: Playing Politics in Right Field

  The North Carolina Democratic Party is taking Senator Richard Burr to task on his right-wing, anti-jobs agenda in a new video released this morning. The video challenges Burr for skipping a crucial vote on the jobs bill to attend a campaign fundraising, siding with Jim Bunning while voting against unemployment benefits, and promising voters that...

• NextGov - All About Apps

  Many in government consider the phrase killer apps to be an oxymoron. Federal software typically comes with an extensive list of requirements and takes years to write. By the time applications reach the end user, the technology often is old news. That's why White House officials have spent the past year emphasizing that government must become more nimble and creative in its development approach.

• Bristol Herald Courier - Boucher’s $140,000 franked mail tab in 2009 was the seventh-highest in House

  A new public radio station. A cultural heritage center for Bristol’s Birthplace of Country Music. A veterans cemetery that would be the first in Southwest Virginia. U.S. Rep. Rick Boucher has made all of those projects possible by securing $10 million in federal money, and he wants his constituents to know.

• Rails Podcast - Luigi Montanez of Sunlight Labs

  A developer from Sunlight Labs talks about using Ruby to deliver open government data in the United States.

• The Washington Times - GOP fundraising invite may violate rules

  A Republican fundraising invitation circulated last week includes a decorative seal that some say could be a violation of Senate ethics rules. The National Republican Senatorial Committee's invitation to an "Armed Services Industry Roundtable" with Sens. Saxby Chambliss of Georgia and John Thune of South Dakota included the committee's seal, a round symbol that includes an eagle clutching an olive branch and arrows.

• The Guardian - More on actual reconciliation history

  Paul Blumenthal of the Sunlight Foundation has produced a useful piece of work, tracking the actual history of the "controversial" and "little-used" reconciliation process.

• Times-Argus - Reconciliation: Its use and history

  As Democrats move forward to pass health care reform, attention has focused on a key piece of Senate rules known as budget reconciliation. Since 1990, the Senate has used reconciliation to pass 13 key pieces of legislation. Ten of the efforts were pushed by the Republican party; three uses of reconciliation were by Democrats. More often than not, the votes fall along party lines, but in a few cases the reconciliation vote has either garnered wide bi-partisan support or exposed ideological rifts within the minority party.

• PBS - Online Health Care Reform Tools

  Critics called the President's bi-partisan summit on health care "political theater," a "charade" and an opportunity for partisan grand-standing. The same could be said for the media coverage of the summit — with the usual suspects lining up in favor or opposed to the proposals and the dialogue. But one group's innovative live coverage of the summit is being called "a game changer" by media watchers.

• The Washington Times - Treasury fails on transparency rules

  In one of his first official acts as Treasury secretary, Timothy F. Geithner promised to make sure the public knew what lobbyists were up to when contacting his department about the bailout of troubled financial institutions. But by one important measure, the lobbyists appear to be the more transparent.

• Politico - White House says access is not Smoot's point

  To the big donors who financed President Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign, the decision to make his chief fundraiser the gatekeeper for White House social events is a promise of access to come. To good government groups, it’s a cue to start checking on who’s sleeping in the Lincoln Bedroom.

• Manitowoc Herald Times Reporter - Feingold, Kohl: Abuses, not rules, thwart progress

  WASHINGTON — Hall of Fame baseball pitcher Jim Bunning has ended his solo blockade of legislation to extend several federal programs set to expire, but the Kentucky GOP senator's tactic reignited a longstanding debate over Senate rules. Reform advocates say it is unconscionable that one lawmaker can impede progress on legislation that affects millions by using Bunning's tactic of a filibuster or the "hold," a senator's request that leadership delay action on a matter.

• Appleton Post-Crescent - Kentucky Sen. Jim Bunning's stand calls Senate rules, senators' actions into question

  WASHINGTON — Kentucky Sen. Jim Bunning has ended his solo blockade of legislation to extend several federal programs set to expire, but the Republican lawmaker’s tactic reignited a longstanding debate over Senate rules.

• Fond du Lac Reporter - Senators Russ Feingold, Herb Kohl bash rule abuse in Senate, triggered by actions of Kentucky Sen. Jim Bunning

  WASHINGTON — Hall of Fame baseball pitcher Jim Bunning has ended his solo blockade of legislation to extend several federal programs set to expire, but the Kentucky GOP senator's tactic reignited a longstanding debate over Senate rules.

• The Washington Post - Reconciliation and partisanship -- in graph form

  The Sunlight Foundation released a great graphic this morning showing the partisan breakdown of recent reconciliation votes. It's a bit big to repost here, but take a look for yourself. Contrary to what some Republicans are saying, those blue and red bars don't overlap very often. But it's interesting to note that they overlapped a lot more frequently in the Clinton years than in the Bush years.

• Chronicle of Philanthropy - The Problems Caused by Americans' Lack of Understanding of Grant Makers, and More: Thursday's Roundup

  Foundations should be concerned by a recent survey that showed even the best-informed Americans still have little understanding of what grant makers do, says Joel Orosz, a professor of philanthropic studies at Grand Valley State University. His views appear on the Center for Effective Philanthropy's blog.

• The Baltimore Sun - Guess Who's Coming to Dinner with Cardin?

  Sen. Ben Cardin of Maryland is listed as one of five hosts at Tuesday evening's fund-raising dinner at the Washington estate of Sen. John D. Rockefeller IV.

• The Washington Post - Casualties of the reconciliation process

  All hail OpenCongress.org, which has produced a list of the provisions that have been struck from reconciliation bills over the years. It should give you a sense of why it would be difficult to run the whole health-care reform bill through reconciliation, as opposed to the few tweaks and fixes that the Democrats actually plan to pass through the process.

• The Huffington Post - Profiting From Recession, Payday Lenders Spend Big To Fight Regulation

  The influential $42 billion-a-year payday lending industry, thriving from a surge in emergency loans to people struggling through the recession, is pouring record sums into lobbying, campaign contributions, and public relations - and getting results. As the Senate prepares to take up financial reform, lobbyists are working to exempt companies that make short-term cash loans from proposed new federal regulations and policing. In state capitals around the country, payday companies have been fighting some 100 pieces of legislation aimed at safeguarding borrowers from high interest rates and from falling into excessive debt.

• Mediaite - Is Sunlight Foundation’s Health Care Summit Coverage a Gamechanger?

  While many people were yawning their way through the news networks’ coverage of the White House’s Health Care Summit, a government transparency advocacy group turned the event on its head and used social media and streaming technology to possibly become the next C-SPAN, PolitiFact or Nate Silver’s FiveThirtyEight.com.

• Politics Daily - Watchdogs: From Medicare Waste to Dirty Money, Helping Readers See the Connections

  The Senate Subcommittee on Federal Financial Management, Government Information, Federal Services, and International Security . . . Yes, there's still some of the world they don't cover.

• Arkansas Times - Speaking of Blanche Lincoln

  Paul Barton has an interesting report on how Sen. Lincoln is mining Texas for campaign cash. Democrats there are throwing money into a losing cause by backing Democrats there, apparently, so they've looked elsewhere. Barton's report also reports Lincoln's first report of "bundled" PAC contributions -- Wal-Mart and hedge funds have packaged chunks of cash for her.

• Government Executive - ANALYSIS: Managing Technology Powering Down

  Many in government consider the phrase killer apps to be an oxymoron. Federal software typically comes with an extensive list of requirements and takes years to write. By the time applications reach the end user, the technology often is old news. That's why White House officials have spent the past year emphasizing that government must become more nimble and creative in its development approach.

• Ventura County Star - Your letters: February 28, 2010

  Concerned owner This is an open letter to James Lentz, president and CEO, Toyota Motor Sales, USA., Inc.

• The Huffington Post - DC Hubbub and What it Means For the Climate Bill

  As I sit here writing, I have the White House Health Care Summit running in the background. This is the meeting where President Obama invited Congressional leaders to sit down at the table in front of the American public and talk about how to find common ground over what has become a very divisive, political debate about healthcare.

• The Economist - A special report on managing information The open society

  FROM antiquity to modern times, the nation has always been a product of information management. The ability to impose taxes, promulgate laws, count citizens and raise an army lies at the heart of statehood. Yet something new is afoot. These days democratic openness means more than that citizens can vote at regular intervals in free and fair elections. They also expect to have access to government data.

• The New York Times - Another Way to Watch

  There will be a plethora of ways to follow the health care meeting today and talk back live — from cable television and C-Span to live blogs and social networking sites. But there is a new entry into the media cacophony that hopes to offer something a little different. The Sunlight Foundation, which advocates transparency and open government, is entering the field with an online venue called Sunlight Live.

• PBS - How Mobile Apps Are Revolutionizing Elections, Transparency

  The importance of social media in politics was made clear by Barack Obama's 2008 presidential run. But there is a new frontier of Web 2.0 technologies that politicians and political groups are slowly starting to embrace: the smartphone app. These apps have the potential to reshape how politicians communicate, raise money and get out the vote.

• The Seattle Times - Patty Murray's Facebook friends: public option now

  WASHINGTON -- If Sen. Patty Murray listens only to her friends, here is what the Washington Democrat should do: Forget working with Republicans and pass a public option now. That was the overwhelming response when Murray asked her Facebook friends what they wanted out of the bipartisan health-care summit President Obama is hosting Thursday. The six-hour event is the Democrats' last major outreach to the Republicans before finally forging ahead with Obama's stalled domestic priority. (The Sunlight Foundation is live blogging the summit with health policy experts.)

• The Nation - Obama's Health Summit Faces Transparency, Twitter

  President Obama promised transparency in the bipartisan health care huddle at Blair House, and one open government group is doubling down on the offer. The Sunlight Foundation, a webby, nonpartisan transparency organization, announced it will route around the traditional media to provide its own interactive broadcast of the proceedings, with information that many TV channels can't (or won't) share. Jake Brewer, the group's engagement director, says that as each politician speaks, Sunlight's website will compliment video footage with "campaign contributions that the person speaking has received, their connections to lobbyists and industry, personal finances, and key votes that the leaders have made on health care in the past." Like C-SPAN meets Common Cause.

• The Atlantic - Summit Watching

  The NYT, Sargent, Frum and TPM are live-blogging. Cohn and Ezra Klein are live-tweeting. White House live-stream after the jump (Or you can watch over at the Sunlight Foundation, which is displaying politicians' health care donations as they speak):

• The Daily Caller - GOP calls on Obama to ‘renounce’ reconciliation: Live-blogging the health care summit

  5 p.m. – Boehner passes on a final statement. Obama makes his, saying it will take 10 minutes. It took 20. “This has been hard work,” the president said.

• The Hill - Sunlight Foundation live-blogs the White House healthcare summit

  I think we all want to see some accountability coming from the summit, and I'm hopeful, since we've seen that disinformation like "death panels" can be openly confronted. Also, we'd like to see where lobbyist and related money goes and what happens with it. That's the whole transparency thing the current White House and the Sunlight Foundation are about. (Disclaimer: I'm on their board.)

• The Huffington Post - Sunlight on the Health Care Summit

  We're trying something a little different today, and we hope you'll join us. As Republican and Democratic leaders have started debating health care in a televised forum today, the Sunlight Foundation is providing an alternative to the mainstream media's coverage with something we're calling Sunlight Live

• Time Magazine - Pretty Cool

  The Sunlight Foundation is streaming this health care summit. Every time someone speaks, Sunlight shows their top donors. Check it out here.

• San Francisco Chronicle - Sunlight Foundation live blogs the White House health care summit

  I think we all want to see some accountability coming from the summit, and I'm hopeful, since we've seen that disinformation like "death panels" can be openly confronted. Also, we'd like to see where lobbyist and related money goes and what happens with it. That's the whole transparency thing the current White House and the Sunlight Foundation are about. (Disclaimer: I'm on their board.)

• The Hill - Adequate disclosure rules: myth the high court bought

  In the recent Supreme Court decision Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, which allows corporations and unions to spend unlimited amounts on political advertisements supporting candidates in elections, there was only one issue that all but one of the justices agreed upon: the importance of disclosure. In the majority opinion, Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote: “With the advent of the Internet, prompt disclosure of expenditures can provide shareholders and citizens with the information needed to hold corporations and elected officials accountable for their positions and supporters.”

• The Hill - Nye, Clay raise bucks at Black Eyed Peas concert; aide Reggie Love stays out late

  The Verizon Center rocked with the hip-hop sounds of the Black Eyed Peas on Tuesday night, and two hip House members used the concert as an opportunity to raise some cash.

• The Huffington Post - Transparency in New Mexico: The 2010 Legislature

  This year brings a landmark for the Sunlight Foundation. We've been hinting for some time that we're going to make a serious play in state government, and New Mexico is one of the first where we'll focus those efforts. As my colleague Noah wrote earlier this month, the state's House of Representatives has voted to expand the presence of webcams in its proceedings. It was an early sign during the 2010 legislative session that New Mexico's lawmakers are beginning to take open government seriously. It was a also welcome sign, but when the session ended last week it was clear that open-government advocates will remain busy in the 2011 session.

• The New York Times - Introducing Version 3 of the Congress API

  In the year since we released the Congress API, we’ve learned a lot from how people have used it and from general reactions. We’re proud that various developers have used it to help build Web sites and Facebook and mobile applications, while others have created libraries for Ruby, Python and R (among others) for interacting with the API. We’ve also contributed member dates of birth to the Sunlight API.

• The Tribune-Star - STEPHANIE SALTER: An image to make one wonder: The Rx drug industry and White House in bed

  TERRE HAUTE — While politicians and the news media focus on the fate of President Obama’s version of health care reform, a fascinating (and oh-so-revealing) historical element of the proposal begs for attention: A veiled and very expensive negotiation process led to some extraordinary agreements between the White House and the pharmaceutical industry that were included in the final congressional versions of the overhaul.

• The Washington Examiner - Too early to judge Obama administration on transparency?

  President Obama has promised to make the federal government more transparent to citizens than it has ever before been, and his administration has launched a number of initiatives in the executive branch designed to achieve that goal.

• Auction Bytes - Craigslist Founder Craig Newmark Talks about Customer Service

  Craig Newmark is founder of craigslist.org and is its most famous customer service representative. In this interview, we asked Craig about customer service to see if he had advice for online sellers, and to find out more about the man behind the online-classifieds giant.

• National Public Radio - Connecting The Dots Between PhRMA And Congress

  Earlier this month, former congressman Billy Tauzin announced that he would step down from his position as president of the pharmaceutical industry's main lobbying group, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America — known by the shorthand PhRMA.

• The Huffington Post - New White House Health Care Proposal May Destroy PhRMA Deal

  Sunlight Foundation: This morning the White House released a new health care proposal that may be used as a blueprint for a compromise between House and Senate versions of reform. This new proposal will likely not find a receptive audience at the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA)-the chief lobbying arm of the pharmaceutical industry.

• PBS - The Future of News: Digital Democracy

  The Sunlight Foundation's executive director Ellen Miller appeared on PBS during a special about the future of news and the role of technology. She appeared alongside the Chief Technology Officer of the United States, Aneesh Chopra, during a taping at the Newseum in Washington, DC.

• Federal News Radio - OMB's Zients sets out steps to key productivity boom

  Office of Management and Budget chief performance officer Jeff Zients didn't sway too far from his stump speech about the core components of the Obama administration's management agenda Thursday. The strategy includes cutting or reducing programs that don't work, focusing on a handful of priorities and promoting an open and transparent government. But what Zients did differently during his speech at the Center for American Progress in Washington was peg the ability of the government to save money and improve productivity to three "unsexy" agency functions-acquisition, technology and workforce.

• Merced Sun-Star - Our View: Reform earmarks back to 1994

  U.S. Rep. Tom McClintock, a Republican who represents a district that stretches from Sacramento to Lake Tahoe and the Sierra Nevada to the Oregon border, has been nothing if not consistent on earmarks, those funds that members of Congress request for specific projects.

• McClatchy - Senate 'holds': Where just one senator makes a majority

  WASHINGTON — The shadowy practice of Senate "holds" — the power of one lawmaker to block nominations or legislation indefinitely — is a big reason that the Senate is gridlocked. In an age when information flies across the Internet instantly, the Senate continues to conduct crucial business with this throwback to a time when gentlemen's agreements were the chief currency of the legislative process. In fact, holds appear to be more popular than ever.

• The Irish Times - US public rightly sceptical of Obama's suggestion box

  GENERALLY SPEAKING, government bureaucrats aren’t particularly motivated to provide data on their actions to the outside world – especially not in a form that computers in general, and the internet in particular, can understand. Most prefer to keep their data, as the immortal Douglas Adams had it, “on display in the bottom of a locked filing cabinet stuck in a disused lavatory with a sign on the door saying ‘Beware of the Leopard’ ”.

• Roll Call - HOH’s One-Minute Recess: Making a Weekend of It

  Sadly, the Presidents Day recess is nearly over, but some Members of Congress will spend those last few days before returning to Capitol Hill raising campaign cash in some pretty fun ways. Rep. Ron Kind (D-Wis.) is scheduled to kick off a “ski and spa retreat” on Friday at the Canyons Resort in Park City, Utah, according to the Sunlight Foundation’s Party Time blog. Campaign donations — $2,500 for individuals and $5,000 for political action committees — benefit Kind’s Badger PAC, according to the event invitation.

• Federal News Radio - Sunlight Foundation wants to take open government to the next level

  President Barack Obama shortly after his inauguration issued a memo on open government and transparency. The Sunlight Foundation has been following federal agencies and examining issues surrounding the Open Government Directive. Jake Brewer is campaign and engagement director at the Foundation and said both government and private citizens need to get on board in order to take full advantage of transparency and openness.

• PBS - New Tools for Mapping News

  Want to illustrate a story by displaying data on a map? Don't have a team of whiz kids at your fingertips? One good option has long been IBM's Many Eyes. Their maps, however, stop at the state level. Not especially helpful if you cover local politics!

• The Bristol Press - OUR VIEW: The political secrets of a group with money

  You’ve seen the commercials: U.S. House Bill 4173, already passed in the lower chamber, now headed for the U.S. Senate, is going to lead to another bailout for the fat cats. Really?

• The Washington Post - Two Democrats' remedy for the high court's campaign finance ruling

  THERE IS no simple legislative fix to the Supreme Court's unfortunate recent decision allowing corporations to spend money directly advocating the election or defeat of federal candidates. The court's 5-4 decision was grounded in the First Amendment; consequently, the congressional response is inevitably limited. Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) unveiled an important proposal last week designed to address the most fixable aspects of the ruling in time for the 2010 election.

• Time Magazine - Follow The Bouncing Ball: Barack Obama and The PhRMA Deal

  Paul Blumenthal, over at the Sunlight Foundation, has done a deep dive into public records detailing the close relationship between the White House and PhRMA, the drug lobby powerhouse that Obama used as Example A of what was wrong with politics in 2008. As is the habit of modern Internet work, he introduces his journalism with an overview video.

• The Huffington Post - Michael Bennet, Betsy Markey Scheduled To Benefit From Lobbyist's Fundraisers

  Party Time Blog: Louis Dupart, a lobbyist who has successfully sought earmarks from Colorado politicians, will host a fundraising breakfast on Feb. 24 for Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., the second event for a Colorado lawmaker he's scheduled this month.The event occurs in the middle of earmark season -- the time of year when members of Congress decide on their funding requests for the next fiscal year and submit them to the two Appropriations Committees. House requests have to be submitted by March 19.

• Las Vegas Sun - Obama’s Las Vegas visit to include DNC fundraiser

  WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama's visit to Las Vegas this week will include a fundraiser that aims to raise $1 million for the Democratic National Committee, according to a source familiar with the event. Obama is expected to touch down in Las Vegas on Thursday and head to a fundraiser that evening for the DNC. The president will stay overnight in Las Vegas.

• The Sacramento Bee - Editorial: Earmark reform is a worthy cause

  Rep. Tom McClintock, a Republican who represents the congressional district that stretches from Sacramento to Lake Tahoe and from the Sierra Nevada to the Oregon border, has been nothing if not consistent on earmarks. These are funds that members of Congress request for specific projects. McClintock signed a "no earmarks" pledge in 2008, and he has kept to that.

• Times Union - A few checks on influence

  Now that the U.S. Supreme Court has opened the floodgates on political spending by corporations and unions, the challenge is to find a way to live with the new law of the land. State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli and U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer seek to do that in separate proposals that at least would force companies to fully disclose how much they spend on elections, and to whose benefit.

• New Haven Register - LETTER: Dodd hypocritical on campaign financing

  I can’t believe the hypocrisy of U.S. Sen. Christopher J. Dodd, D-Conn., in wanting to amend the Constitution to prohibit the funding of political campaigns from various groups.

• The New York Times - The Early Word: Open for Business

  The federal government will open two hours late this morning, after its longest continuous closing since the late 19th century. Still, with limited Metro service, many of the 270,000 federal employees won’t return until after the President’s Day holiday, on Monday, when there could be more snow, according to the National Weather Service. Already this year’s snowfall — 55.9 inches — has shattered the record set in 1898-99.

• San Francisco Chronicle - Harry Reid coming to SF for fundraiser...and LIBERALS may demonstrate outside

  Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is facing some serious re-election trouble in Nevada this year, with everybody from the Tea Party to the RNC targeting him for a takedown.

• National Journal - Tracking Billy Tauzin's Influence

  Given the announcement that PhRMA CEO and former Rep. W.J. "Billy" Tauzin, R-La., was stepping down in June, I thought I'd point our readers to an interesting and informative Sunlight Foundation report. The Foundation's Paul Blumenthal delved into the White House visitor logs, lobbying disclosure forms and campaign finance documents to track the influence of PhRMA as Tauzin worked on health care reform over the past year.

• Salon - How the drug lobby snared Obama

  Billy Tauzin, Washington's epitome of the legislator-turned-lobbyist, resigned from his job as PhRMA’s chief hustler this week. According to the New York Times, Tauzin surrendered his lavish expense account and $2 million salary because his bosses in the pharmaceutical industry believed he had somehow failed to safeguard their interests sufficiently while killing real healthcare reform...

• Time Magazine - UPDATE: Billy Tauzin Out at PhRMA

  News broke overnight that Billy Tauzin, the Democratic congressman turned Republican turned lobbyist, was stepping down as head of the the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America. Tauzin led the group when it struck a mid-2009 backroom deal with President Obama and the chair of the Senate Finance Committee. The deal, according to published reports, would have limited the pharmaceutical industry to $80 billion in losses over 10 years under Democratic health care reform. In exchange, drug companies agreed to support reform and the lobby spent some $100 million on a pro-reform push that included lots of television advertisements. What Democrats really got in exchange for the deal with Tauzin, however, was a promise from PhRMA not to oppose reform.

• The New York Times - More Tools for Sifting Through Government Data

  In a blog post on Wednesday, Clay Johnson, director of Sunlight Labs, discussed the “data flood” coming out of Washington and the need for more applications to deal with the new era of government information. Sunlight Labs is part of the Sunlight Foundation, a nonprofit organization with a goal of digitizing government data and building Web sites to help make the current data deluge more manageable. The foundation hopes to help solve some of these data overload problems with new tools, including a Web site they are currently testing: nationaldatacatalog.com. It will organize government data sets and try to give more context to this information.

• National Journal - Snow = Less Campaign Cash?

  Sunlight Foundation's Political Party Time asks a fun question related to our epic snow fall this week: Will the snow cut into lawmakers' fundraising opportunities? People often joke about the birth rate going up nine months after a big storm like Washington, DC's snowmagedden. But what about congressional fundraising? Will we see a dip in campaign contributions for this week, when candidates report them to the U.S. Federal Election Commission all too long from now?

• National Journal - She's Got A Pocket, A Pocketful Of Sunshine

  Ex-NV GOP ChairSue Lowden(R) is up with a new TV ad, produced by Strategy Group for Media Full script, "Creating Opportunity":

• USA Today - Thanks to telecommuting, snow days are no longer fun

  With more snow expected today, some businesses are extending teleworking plans. At Adaptive Marketing, an Internet marketing services company based in Norwalk, Conn., employees have been told to call a toll-free number to find out if the office will be open. If not, they can use their work-provided laptops to log in and do business from home.

• Time Magazine - Snow Day, Schmo Day. Get to Work!

  Schools are closed. Flights are cancelled. The federal government is shut down. But you? You're still expected to get your job done, just at home rather than the office. For many workers, a fun little perk—which used to come in the form of an unexpected vacation day due to a big snowfall—is long gone thanks to telecommuting. Gotta love technology.

• The St. Lucie Times - Republicans want Oompa Loompa NOW

  Much like Veruca Salt in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, who has everything she could possibly want and hope to get, the Republicans want their Oompa Loompa now. Its not good enough that their core “common-sense” ideas are included in the Senate health care bill, they want to start over. At some point, it will be increasingly difficult to not look at our Republican politicians on the Hill as the spoiled brat Mr. Willy Wonka saw in Veruca.

• The Change Log - Episode 0.1.3 - Civic hacking with Luigi Montanez and Jeremy Carbaugh from Sunlight Labs

  Adam and Wynn caught up with Luigi Montanez and Jeremy Carbaugh from Sunlight Labs and discussed their Python and Ruby projects, government transparency, and civic hacking - open source contributions as activism.

• WNYC - Government Transparency Online

  The Obama administration has mandated that federal agencies adhere to certain standards and deadlines for providing searchable data online. US Chief Technology Officer Aneesh Chopra and Beth Noveck, head of the White House Open Government Initiative discuss the efforts - and the pitfalls - when it comes to making government more transparent.

• The Sheboygan Press - Editorial: Let's shed more light on earmarks

  When Barack Obama campaigned for the presidency in 2008, he promised that his administration would be transparent to the American public. He has made some strides in this regard, but most notably let taxpayers down when he didn't insist that the talks between House and Senate leaders on a compromise health care bill be televised by C-SPAN.

• PBS Newshour - Getting Government Data Out to the Public: Data.gov

  Getting data out of government agencies can be difficult. It can involve FOIA requests and weeks -- sometimes months -- of waiting for a response, along with fees starting at $25. As it stands, there is a "presumption of needing to be asked for information," says Clay Johnson, director of the Sunlight Foundation's Sunlight Labs.

• NextGov - Open government site hasn't sprouted teeth yet, observers say

  A White House Web site for tracking compliance with a 2009 open government directive is not an adequate enforcement tool yet, some open government advocates said after its launch last weekend. The directive, issued to agencies by the Office of Management and Budget, established several tight deadlines for initiatives intended to make government more transparent, collaborative with industry and user-friendly for the public. The site Open Government Dashboard, was one such assignment due on Feb. 6.

• The Huffington Post - Harry Reid's CA Fundraising Blitz

  California Watch: As our friends at the Sunlight Foundation have noted in their Party Time blog, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is getting ready to embark on a California fundraising blitz, which will take him down the Pacific Coast, from San Francisco to Bel Air, early next week.

• National Journal - White House Isn't Done With Lobbyists

  Having thoroughly ticked off the K Street crowd with a string of controversial lobbying restrictions last year, President Obama has signaled that he's not done yet -- either with anti-lobbyist rhetoric or with complex new rules.

• ABC News and ProPublica - Congressional Fundraising Stays Out of the Limelight at Super Bowl

  Was it the two feet of snow that blanketed Washington during the days leading up to the Super Bowl? Or was it the unintended consequence of our Super Bowl Blitz [1], a two-week telephone survey that ProPublica conducted with the help of its readers, trying to find out which members of Congress would be attending this year’s big game?

• Newsday - Find Info Gold at Data.gov

  Inspection scores for the Glen Cove public housing projects. The number of railroad retirees living in each congressional district. The kinds of housing discrimination cases filed in Suffolk County. A trove of data recently published online by the federal government can provide numbers like these, for those with access to the Internet and the ability to use a program such as Microsoft Excel.

• Los Angeles Times - Harry Reid to hit up California for cash

  Congress may not be in the mood to do much to help California out of its budget mess, but that isn't stopping prominent lawmakers from looking to the state to keep their campaign coffers full.

• Government Technology - Online Data Sets Could Spur Innovation in High-Tech Northwest

  Following in the digital footsteps of major cities like San Francisco and New York, King County, Wash., might start publishing public data online, giving citizens access to transit information, county park events, crime data and more.

• The Mountineer - Shuler’s pork projects bypass Haywood

  Earmarked budget appropriations of more than $26 million in the past two years and key votes against eliminating pork-barrel spending and earmarks earned fiscal conservative U.S. Rep. Heath Shuler, D-Waynsville, a “hostile” rating from the Council Citizens Against Government Waste.

• Federal Computer Week - Agencies on track to meet open gov deadline

  Most agencies will meet tomorrow’s deadline for creating an open government Web page and securing technology for engaging with the public, as required by President Barack Obama’s Open Government Directive, a General Services Administration official told Federal Computer Week. According to the Sunlight Foundation, as of Feb. 5, 10 out 20 agencies have posted open government Web pages leading up to the Feb. 6 deadline. Independent governmental organizations, such as the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, are exempt from the directive, although many of those organizations are volunteering to participate.

• The Economist - Of governments and geeks

  You might think that Clay Johnson, a campaigner for transparency, would be pleased to see a ferret, with a deerstalker hat and magnifying glass, pop up on his screen. This creature is the mascot for BetaDataFerrett, an online application offered by America’s Census Bureau.

• The Detroit News - Rep. Conyers hosting $5,000 Super Bowl party

  Politics is often considered a sport, so it's not surprising that during sport's biggest showcase -- the Super Bowl -- politics can be found on the sidelines. Rep. John Conyers , D-Detroit, is hosting a $5,000-a-ticket fundraiser in Miami.

• Federal Computer Week - Open gov't. groups ask for improvements in Data.gov

  Data.gov is the relatively new Web site that lists so-called "high value datasets" from agencies. But it faces criticism from open government groups, which say that the agencies are posting low-hanging fruit, not high-value data.

• The Washington Examiner - Sunlight memo to Congress: Here's how to do earmark disclosure

  President Obama's remarks during last State of the Union address included an admonition to Congress to change the way it discloses earmarks, by putting all of the information about every earmark on one web site that is easily accessible to the public.

• The New York Times - What Price Politics?

  A binge of special interest money seems inevitable unless Congress acts quickly — before this year’s election — to repair the damage from the Supreme Court ruling that ended restraints on campaign spending by corporations and unions.

• WAMU - Campaign Finance - What Next?

  Last month, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down campaign finance rules it said violated the free speech of corporations. President Obama warned the decision would "open the floodgates for special interests" in Washington. Others hailed it a repudiation of flawed, Constitutionally-dubious regulations. We examine possible legislative responses, and the role of money in American politics.

• KUOW - Obama: President 2.0

  President Obama took questions from voters in a live YouTube chat earlier this week. Some open government activists applaud the administration for using new technologies to create a dialogue with the public. But others say the administration isn't going far enough to uphold campaign promises of transparency. Critics point to closed–door meetings and administrative foot–dragging as examples of business–as–usual politics. One year after inauguration day, how well has the Obama administration kept its promises? Can YouTube and Twitter really make government stronger, or is it just a way to make the masses feel like they have a voice? What do you think of the Obama administration's use of social media? Do you feel more plugged–in? Or left out in the cold?

• Victorville Daily Press - Let the Internet shine

  “The legislative process is one of horse trading and compromises. If you put that all on camera all of the time, nothing would get done.” -Ellen Miller

• The New American - Foreign Handouts: More Harm Than Good

  Item: Writing in his blog for the New York Times on January 6, Nicolas Kristof discussed Clinton’s remarks: “She talked about partnerships with local countries, and consulting them rather than dictating to them.”

• The Institute for Southern Studies - VOICES: A corporate full-body scan

  The one redeeming feature of the abominable Supreme Court ruling on corporate electoral expenditures is the majority's retention of the rules on disclaimers and disclosure. While opening the floodgates to unlimited business political spending, the Court at least recognizes that the public has a right to know when a corporation is responsible for a particular message and a right to information on a corporation's overall spending.

• The Knoxville News-Sentinel - Bringing Sunlight to campaign contributions

  One of seven proposals from the Sunlight Foundation: All information should be online, searchable, sortable, downloadable and machine-readable.

• The Courier-Journal - Local health care companies Humana and Kindred spend big on lobbyists

  WASHINGTON — As the health care reform debate raged last year in the nation's capital, Louisville-based Humana Inc. and Kindred Healthcare pumped more than $2.1 million into their congressional lobbying operations in an effort to influence the outcome.

• Los Angeles Times - Obama's transparency record appears cloudy

  Reporting from Washington - One casualty of President Obama's first year in office: the notion that he would transform a political system mired in gridlock and secrecy, opening a window to the legislative process. That hasn't happened. Instead of healthcare negotiations broadcast on C-SPAN, as candidate Obama famously promised, the fate of the landmark bill is being hashed out in private on Capitol Hill. And recent polls indicate that the public has lowered its expectations about the prospect of a more open government.

• Savannah Morning News - Support mounting for disclosure for newly legalized corporate and union electioneering

  Support is building for more disclosure in the wake of a major U.S. Supreme Court decision on campaign finance. The high court ruled Jan. 21 that corporations and unions may spend money to elect or defeat candidates for federal office. Corporations and unions are still barred from donating directly to candidates' campaigns or coordinating their spending with them.

• Las Vegas Sun - Open government is a promise seldom kept

  Carson City — Transparency is the kissed baby of political rhetoric, an unassailable position for politicians. President Barack Obama, state legislators, Gov. Jim Gibbons and his campaign opponents — Democrats and Republicans — all have promised to swing wide the shutters so the public can see how their tax dollars are haggled over and the future of the state and nation are shaped.

• Detroit Free Press - Super Bowl time means party time for Conyers

  The Super Bowl is a week away, and that must mean U.S. Rep. John Conyers, a Detroit Democrat and chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, is getting ready to party. The Sunlight Foundation reported last week that for $5K, you and a friend can lunch with Conyers, below, at Joe's Stone Crab in Miami, plus get a ticket to the game. For $1K, you get just the crab. Conyers is famous for on-location Super Bowl parties to benefit his America Forward Leadership PAC. Poli-Bites is betting that the chairman is pulling for the Saints.

• National Public Radio - The Pros And Cons Of A YouTube Democracy

  Right now, thousands of people on YouTube are deciding what question they would most like to ask President Obama. He'll answer a few of them Monday as part of a project called CitizenTube. The questions cover the usual topics, such as health care, the economy and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. And then there are a number of users who want to know how the president feels about UFOs and Scientology.

• National Journal - Wild West On K Street?

  The controversial Supreme Court ruling on campaign advertising has shoved aside Massachusetts Republican Scott Brown's surprising Senate win as the hottest topic of conversation on K Street.

• Fox News - Transcript: Fox News Watch Saturday

  Transcript of Fox News Watch from Saturday, January 30th, 2010 at 6:30 pm: SCOTT: Well, despite Candidate Obama's pledge that his administration would be the most transparent ever, there have been more lawsuits against the government for failing to release federal records during President Obama's first year in office than there were during each of the last two years under the Bush White House.

• The Hill - White House looking to expand lobbying registration requirements

  The White House is looking to expand lobbying registration requirements to those who spend less than a fifth of their work time lobbying. The Obama administration wants to close a “loophole” in the 1995 Lobbying Disclosure Act (LDA) that allows individuals to avoid registering as lobbyists if they spend less than 20 percent of their time lobbying.

• San Francisco Chronicle - Letters to the Editor: Obama must lead people to health care solution

  In his State of the Union address, President Obama said about health care: "The longer it was debated, the more skeptical people became. ... With all the lobbying and horse-trading, this process left most Americans wondering what's in it for them."

• The St. Louis Dispatch - High-speed wail: A bridge to the 19th century

  Amid great fanfare, the Obama administration last week announced plans to spend $13 billion in “seed money” for 13 high-speed rail projects around the country — $8 billion in stimulus funding now with a promise to seek $5 billion more over the next five years. Among the projects being funded is the St. Louis-to-Chicago route, which will receive $1.1 billion. A relative pittance of $31 million went to Missouri to upgrade service between St. Louis and Kansas City.

• Federal Computer Week - Congress must revamp campaign finance online reporting, watchdog says

  Congress must act quickly to set up a robust electronic online reporting system to track campaign donations in the wake of the recent Supreme Court decision allowing unlimited corporate and labor union donations to political campaigns, a nonprofit citizen watchdog group recommended today.

• Mass High Tech - Government agencies lure iPhone app developers with free data

  Public agencies are hurrying to push data stored in government databases out to software developers, in hopes techies will create applications for Apple Inc.’s iPhone and the web, improving government service without costing taxpayers a dime.

• Cato@Liberty - Larry Lessig and the Lunching Libertarians

  Outside the realm of copyright, Cato folk (and libertarians generally) don’t often see eye-to-eye with left-leaning cyberlawyer and Harvard prof Lawrence Lessig. Nevertheless, I wasn’t too surprised when Lessig signaled his interest in opening a dialogue with Cato scholars about his Change Congress project and his research on political corruption. After all, we’ve long argued that an expansive state will inevitably attract moneyed interests eager to feed at the public trough or co-opt well-intentioned regulation to stifle competitors. And as Lessig argues, legislators may come to see growing government as a means of creating supportive constituencies.

• The Journal Star - Now require quick, full disclosure

  Now that the U.S. Supreme Court has loosened restrictions against political advertising by corporations and unions, the need for quick, timely reporting on political contributions and spending has become even more imperative. The Journal Star Editorial Board figuratively threw up its hands a year ago, frustrated with the continuing failure of laws that attempt to limit campaign spending.

• The Washington Post - Info released under Obama transparency order is of little value, critics say

  Transparency advocates and good-government groups rendered a mixed verdict this week on the Obama administration's recent release of hundreds of sets of government data, arguing that many federal agencies chose to release obscure or outdated facts and figures at the expense of long-standing requests for more relevant, sensitive information.

• The News Journal - Delaware people: Lewis a champion for journalism

  Investigative journalism is the cause, mission and life work of Delaware native Charles Lewis. In his 30-plus year career, he produced segments of "60 Minutes" for CBS, founded or co-founded three nonprofit organizations to support investigative journalism, and lectured around the world on the subject. He is a tenured professor of journalism at American University and is known internationally as an authority on the free press.

• Glen Falls Post Star - Editorial: Earmarks need easier access

  As President Obama spent more than a hour trying to sell Congress on his plan to rein in government spending, perhaps one paragraph of his speech could have the biggest impact on citizens learning how their tax dollars are actually being spent. The president on Wednesday called on all members of Congress to post their earmark requests online, in a single place, so that the citizens can easily find out what kind of projects their representatives are seeking federal tax money for.

• Los Angeles Times - Obama's State of the Union wasn't that funny, but the tweets were

  President Obama made his State of the Union address tonight. Sure, it was on practically every channel and live-streaming on the Internet and on iPhones. But who needs to watch when a legion of little Twitter reporters are tweeting all the good parts in bite-sized lines of text?

• San Francisco Chronicle - Elusive pledge of U.S. government transparency

  Transparency, it turns out, is anything but transparent. President Obama is finding it embarrassingly hard to live up to his open-government pledges.

• The New Mexican - Measures tally up House votes online

  In 2007, the state Senate passed a resolution that required the Legislative Council Service to post roll-call votes on the Legislature's Web site within a day of the vote. As reported in this very column, the measure's sponsor, Sen. Rod Adair, R-Roswell, joked that he carried the legislation so he could find out how he voted on various bills the day before.

• The Huffington Post - Obama and Transparency: What Happens Next?

  When President Barack Obama took office a little over a year ago, he put transparency in government front and center on his agenda. On his first full day on the job, he issued a memo directing executive branch agencies to come up with concrete plans to make government more transparent, participatory and collaborative. How well has he lived up to his promises? Though it is still too soon to assign him a grade on overall performance, we have undoubtedly witnessed some of the most substantive efforts to open the White House to the public than we have in decades, if ever. That said, while we applaud the strides taken during President Obama's first year in office, what we've seen so far can mostly be categorized as laying the groundwork for transparency, rather than tangibly making the executive branch transparent to the public.

• Federal Computer Week - Groundwork is laid to create a transparent government, official says

  Although the groundwork has been laid to make the federal government more open and transparent, few tangible results exist, according to a column published today on the Huffington Post by Ellen Miller, the executive director of the Sunlight Foundation.

• Federal News Radio - Open Government bears first fruits

  In the name of transparency, and under the Open Government Directive, federal agencies all over government have released new data on programs they consider to be of high-value. But is the information posted on data.gov really useful or did agencies just repackage it to make it look new? The Sunlight Foundation has scoured the information. And joining us with the findings is Bill Allison, the Foundation's Editorial Director.

• BuzzFlash.com - The Preposterous Notion That the Supreme Court's Decision on Corporate Campaign Financing Won't Affect American Politics

  When Robert Weissman, president of the advocacy organization Public Citizen, told reporters last Thursday that "today is a day to shed a tear for our democracy," hyperbole was not on my mind.

• Chambersburg Public Opinion - Editorial: By all means, go ahead and keep an eye on them

  At a time when many people remain hyper-sensitive to tax increases and government spending, we can't imagine a better use for the Internet than the Sunlight Foundation's online database that tracks the spending of all members of the U.S. House of Representatives. The foundation, a nonpartisan nonprofit, hosts the searchable database at http://sunlightfoundation.com/projects/2009/expenditures.

• The Billings Gazette - MSUB professor, former executive to face Rehberg

  HELENA— A.J. Otjen, a self-described Teddy Roosevelt Republican, filed Tuesday to challenge five-term Republican Rep. Denny Rehberg for Montana’s lone seat in the U.S. House. Otjen, 52, is a political newcomer from Laurel who said she represents the state’s moderate and independent voters.

• CBS News - Is Washington More "Open" Under Obama?

  Since taking office a year ago, the Obama administration has released more than 25,000 names of White House visitors, made available more than 118,000 federal datasets, uploaded more than 700 videos on YouTube and accrued more than 7 million fans on Facebook.

• Roll Call - HOH’s One-Minute Recess: On the Ball

  Basketball-loving President Barack Obama will honor the 2009 NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers at the White House today — and when the team heads to the Verizon Center on Tuesday night to take on the hometown Washington Wizards, several leading Members of Congress will be on hand to raise some campaign cash.

• InformationWeek - 'High Value' Government Data Made Public

  With the release of almost 300 "high-value" data sets on Data.gov on Friday, the federal government made the first deliveries on the Obama administration's Open Government Directive. The multi-pronged directive to increase government transparency, developed on orders from President Obama, required agencies last week to identify and publish online at least three high-value data sets that had not been previously available online or in a downloadable format and to register those data sets on Data.gov, the government's open data Website.

• Federal News Radio - Lessons learned from two Apps for Democracy contests

  More and more citizens are getting involved with open government data and using that information to create useful apps for other members of the public. Federal News Radio first told you about the Apps for Democracy contest last summer -- and we also brought you the results of who won.

• Chambersburg Public Opinion - Public able to track expenses of Bill Shuster, other members of U.S. House of Representatives

  U.S. House members spent more than $150,000 of taxpayers' money on bottled water in the third quarter of 2009, and Rep. Bill Shuster, R-Hollidaysburg, paid $790 for bottled water. House members spent more than $145 million from July through September to run their offices in Washington, D.C., and their home districts. Shuster spent $313,477.

• Sunday Business Post - Distributing classified information

  Craig Newmark is not a household name, but he has achieved many things. He smashed the print media's monopoly on classified ads, he revolutionised online advertising, he was appointed as a special adviser on technology to Barack Obama and, along the way, he became one of the world's most important internet entrepreneurs, alongside Google's Sergei Brin and Larry Page, Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg and Twitter's Jack Dorsey.

• The Huffington Post - Bringing Local Government into the 21st Century

  "Working in Government is like running a marathon. Blindfolded. Wearing Sandbags" That's a quote from Katie Stanton, who is now in the Office of Innovation at the State Department after transitioning from Google (with a little stop as White House citizen participation director in between). It speaks remarkably well to the feeling many smart, talented folks seem to feel as they make the transition from the private or nonprofit sector to serving their country from within the government - especially at a federal level.

• The Associated Press - Government posting wealth of data to Internet

  WASHINGTON – The Obama administration on Friday is posting to the Internet a wealth of government data from all Cabinet-level departments, on topics ranging from child car seats to Medicare services.

• The Tennessean - Other Views

  Another aspect of the health-care debate in the wake of the Massachusetts special election is how health-care negotiations were handled. Following are excerpts from the nonprofit Sunlight Foundation about the process:

• The New York Times - Put Your Money Where Your Politics Are

  McCain-Feingold, that Quixotic attempt to turn money and politics into oil and water, was lanced by the Supreme Court on Thursday in a 5-4 decision based on the idea, espoused by Justice Anthony Kennedy, that “If the First Amendment has any force, it prohibits Congress from fining or jailing citizens, or associations of citizens, for simply engaging in political speech.” To some extent, most of us would agree on the “citizens” point — it’s that “associations” bit that’s the fly in the ointment for many.

• Salon - This Week in Crazy: Clarence Thomas

  In his remarkably undistinguished 20-year stint as a Supreme Court justice, Clarence Thomas has rarely called attention to himself for original jurisprudential thinking. But if Thomas had had his way with Citizens United v. the Federal Election Commission, in which the court decided this week to remove critically important limits on campaign financing, an already horrible decision would have been made far, far worse. Crazy worse.

• The Colorado Independent - Hugo Chavez’s state-owned Petroleos Corp set to spend on your U.S. election

  Blogging on the Citizens United Supreme Court ruling is more of what we love about the web. It’s the kind of typical collective dissection we have now come to expect but that never really existed before: serious, speculative, arcane, funny, brilliant, baked, etc. The Sunlight Foundation blogging is predictably good. Paul Blumenthal dips into the multinational dimension of the new “corporation as full citizen-person” framework, drawing on blogging going on at Newsweek and the Center for Public Integrity.

• MSNBC - Ellen Miller on Dylan Ratigan's Morning Meeting

  Ellen Miller, the executive director of the Sunlight Foundation, on MSNBC's Morning Meeting with Dylan Ratigan to discuss the recent Supreme Court decision and the effects on corporate spending in political campaigns:

• Government Technology - Does Your City Need a Web 2.0 Makeover? Act Now

  What if a city government had a Web site where citizens could report problems and view the status and priority order of those problems in real time?

• NextGov - Dense federal regulations grow more accessible

  In keeping with the Obama administration's push for a more open government, the Government Printing Office and National Archives' Office of the Federal Register are putting the complete body of federal regulations online in a searchable and convertible format.

• The Washington Post - Quake mobilizes D.C. area to help Haiti

  Residents created online groups, gathered en masse in borrowed meeting spaces and spearheaded clothing and food drives within hours of the earthquake that devastated Haiti last week.

• Arkansas Times - Ross gets ‘energized’

  WASHINGTON — Rep. Mike Ross received close to $80,000 in contributions from energy, mining and related interests close to the time of his vote earlier this year against sensitive climate-change legislation, Federal Election Commission records show.

• The Associated Press - Reaction: Supreme Court's campaign finance ruling

  Reaction to the Supreme Court decision Thursday that corporations may spend freely to support or oppose candidates for president and Congress.

• The Huffington Post - Your request is being processed... For 'Sunshine Week,' Nominate A Local Hero Of Open Government

  In anticipation of its third annual "Sunshine Week" in March, the American Society of News Editors is sponsoring an award for "Local Heroes" of open government. "There's a lot of attention on Washington, but open government at the local level is really important," said ASNE's Richard Karpel. "We want to highlight somebody who hasn't gotten the publicity they deserve."

• Mother Jones - What Did Harold Ford Do at Merrill Lynch?

  What did Harold Ford Jr. do at Merrill Lynch? The former Democratic congressman has been working for the giant investment firm ever since losing his 2006 Senate bid in Tennessee. Recently, Ford took a 30-day leave of absence to explore another Senate run—this time for the New York seat currently held by Kirsten Gillibrand. But Ford won't explain what he has done for the investment bank during his three years on Wall Street. In that time, Merrill Lynch nearly collapsed, was bailed out by US taxpayers, and went through a troubled merger with Bank of America.

• The Herald-Dispatch - Thumbs down: Partisanship limits openness

  Ideally, when the U.S. Senate and U.S. House pass different versions of legislation with the same intent, a conference committee with representatives from each chamber works out the differences, with those discussions occurring in public.

• InformationWeek - Tech Volunteers Aiding Haiti Relief Efforts

  They might not be able to pick up rubble and carry away bodies, but software developers and tech-savvy individuals around the world are beginning to organize to help with the Haiti relief effort Among those taking the lead is a grassroots effort called the CrisisCommons, which hosted several hastily organized events last weekend in several cities where developers and others came together to, among other things, layer current information on collaborative maps of Haiti and develop a Craigslist-style online exchange to identify and solve relief needs on the ground.

• American Public Media - Marketplace: A lot of value in free government data

  The White House has ordered that some high-value government data be made available online by the end of the month at data.gov, and Brett Neely reports with the right spin, tech heads can find a lucrative business.

• The Associated Press - INSIDE WASHINGTON: Secret bill-writing on the rise

  WASHINGTON - The civics books say the House and Senate produce a final bill by sitting around a table where the public can watch them work out their differences. It's a quaint idea, but a different modern reality has been on display this month. Democrats are refusing to open to the public the end-stage negotiations on how the government is going to change the delivery of health care.

• Roll Call - It’s Another World to the Influence Industry

  With its global reach, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee attracts as wide a swath of special interests as any on Capitol Hill. Lobbyists for countries as tiny as Liechtenstein and large international relief groups such as Oxfam all try to make their case before Members and staff.

• The Hill's Pundits Blog - Volunteers do tech to help out Haiti

  Hey, really cool stuff is happening across the US, where technology people worked together to people useful tech for the people of Haiti.

• The Wall Street Journal - Changes to your retirement plan are coming

  BOSTON (MarketWatch) -- The financial crisis dealt a huge blow to U.S. retirement savers' 401(k) accounts -- a hit from which many investors have yet to recover despite the market's rally -- and now lawmakers and others are pushing for new retirement-plan rules and policies.

• Politico - Lobbying the SFRC

  Roll Call reports on lobbying the Senate Foreign Relations Committee being a more high brow, less partisan affair than with many other committees:

• The Associated Press - New tech tools help Haiti quake relief

  Hundreds of tech volunteers spurred to action by Haiti's killer quake are adding a new dimension to disaster relief, developing new tools and services for first responders and the public in an unprecedented effort.

• American Public Media - Marketplace: Devising aid programs on their laptops

  For most people, giving money is the only way to help the people of Haiti. But some tech-savvy folks have found another way to give. Brett Neely reports.

• United Press International - Some avoid registering as lobbyists

  WASHINGTON, Jan. 18 (UPI) -- Tighter U.S. regulations on declared lobbyists are prompting advocates to forgo registering to avoid more paperwork and stiffer penalties, some lobbyists say.

• The Daily Courier - Obama takes several actions to open government info

  The Obama administration has taken numerous actions to open up government information before its first anniversary in office occurs Wednesday. President Barack Obama let the public know that open government was one of his top priorities when he issued a Memo on Transparency and Open Government during his first full day in office.

• The New York Times - Law to Curb Lobbying Sends It Underground

  WASHINGTON — Ellen Miller, co-founder of the Sunlight Foundation, has spent years arguing for rules to force more disclosure of how lobbyists and private interests shape public policy. Until recently, she herself registered as a lobbyist, too, publicly reporting her role in the group’s advocacy of even more reporting. Not anymore.

• The Huffington Post - Craig Newmark: Volunteers do tech to help out Haiti

  Hey, really cool stuff is happening across the US, where technology people worked together to people useful tech for the people of Haiti.

• CNN - Techies unite to brainstorm help for Haiti

  Call it Techies for Haiti. On Saturday, groups of programmers, Web developers and other assorted technophiles will meet in Washington and other cities to brainstorm ways computer technology can help in the aftermath of the Haiti earthquake.

• The Washington Post - All things Congress -- there's an app for that

  Want to get the latest tally on Congressional votes while on the fly? Wish you could tap into a calendar for markups and find out who is backing which bills? There's now an app for that.

• Federal News Radio - New app from Sunlight Foundation tracks Congress for you

  What is Congress doing?

• The Huffington Post - Civic Hackers for Haiti

  Tomorrow morning, software developers from around Washington, D.C. will come together at the Sunlight Foundation in order to find the best ways to use data and create solutions for aid workers to assist the relief efforts in Haiti. These CrisisCamps, (an idea which arose out of Transparency Camp '09), or "Hackathons for Haiti" will also take place in Silicon Valley and London.

• The Washingtonian - Helping Haiti: How to Make a Difference While You’re Out and About

  The International Red Cross estimates that more than 3 million people in Haiti—one of the poorest nations in the world—have been affected by a devastating earthquake that hit Tuesday. Washington restaurants, bars, businesses, and organizations are doing their part to help. Here’s our list of relief efforts you can join.

• St. Petersburg Times - PolitiFact: Visitor logs, but not much else so far

  During the campaign, Barack Obama promised that in his administration, "Communications about regulatory policymaking between persons outside government and all White House staff [will be] disclosed to the public."

• Roll Call - Senate Web Site Offers No Clear Route to Contracts

  When Ted Clark heard rumblings last year about an upcoming Senate contract to develop an information management system, he had high hopes — his 3-year-old company, THEO Inc., performs just that type of work.

• Roll Call - Campus Notebook: Convenient Transparency

  Staffers and reporters became slaves to their smart phones long ago, but Congress has lagged in producing an application that provides real-time updates on the House’s and Senate’s proceedings.

• Columbia Journalism Review - Administration says Open Gov Directive on track

  With about a week to go before their first deadline, the Obama administration is saying that the Open Government Directive, the keystone effort to increase online access to government data, is on schedule.

• San Jose Mercury News - It's official: Tom Campbell leaves governor's race to run for U.S. Senate

  There were few surprises Thursday when Tom Campbell announced he was dropping his bid to become California's next governor to enter the race for U.S. Senate.

• Glen Falls Post Star - Final version of health care bill to get pre-vote posting

  The final version of health care reform legislation will be posted on the Internet for 72 hours before it is voted on, Democratic leaders in the U.S. House of Representatives announced Thursday.

• Cato@Liberty - White House, Unions Reach Deal on Taxing Insurance Coverage

  The Washington Post reports that the White House has reached a tentative agreement with labor leaders to tax high-cost health insurance policies.

• The Atlantic - Great New iPhone App From Sunlight Foundation

  It's been a good day for the Sunlight Foundation, a non-profit that lobbies for transparency on the Hill and in Washington. Not only did House leaders agree to post the final health care negotiation language on the web 72 hours before a vote, but they've launched a fantastic and helpful new iPhone App that allows reporters, citizens and lobbyists to get real-time floor updates, documents, CRS reports, whip notices and news updates -- for free.

• St. Petersburg Times - PolitiFact: Rating Obama's promises at the 1-year mark

  President Barack Obama, the candidate who promised change, has made substantial progress in his first year in office, but some of his proposals have stalled as he struggled with the cold reality of Washington.

• Washington City Paper - Black Cat, Busboys & Poets Will Hold Haiti Benefits

  Some local events, announced today, that will raise money for victims of the earthquake in Haiti—a catastrophe that the Red Cross says may have claimed 50,000 lives:

• The Daily Caller - Barack Obama’s pledge to bring transparency to the White House gets A for intention, but a lower grade for implementation

  President Obama has been pounded recently (even by Jon Stewart) for failing to honor his pledge to televise health-care negotiations on C-SPAN. He has been dogged by the White House’s inability to post all of their legislation online five days before he signed it, as promised.

• ReadWriteWeb - Sunlight Brings Congress to Your iPhone

  The nonprofit Sunlight Foundation announced today the availability of its Real Time Congress iPhone app. The app displays an up-to-the-minute feed of updates from the House and Senate floors, Whip notices, hearings scheduled and key government documents as they are released.

• The Huffington Post - The Pulse of Congress At Your Fingertips

  In order to most effectively make one's voice heard in Congress, it's crucial to have up to date information about what's happening on Capitol Hill. It's that simple. People get up there all the time to talk, but the ideas or perspectives that truly move are the ones pushed by people that are in touch with the pulse of Congress' workings and use that information to their advantage. It's not often pretty, but it's true.

• The Nation - Obama at One

  Looking back at President Obama's first year in office, what do you think the high point has been? And what has been your sharpest moment of disappointment? On this occasion, that's what The Nation asked members of our community, and beyond.

• Jackson Citizen Patriot - Political Notebook: Jackson Area Manufacturers Association representative in D.C.

  Today, Accubilt employee Joe Lienhart will be in Washington, D.C., seated at a table with U.S. Sens. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, and Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, and others to discuss a bill that would support worker retraining programs.

• ComputerWorldUK - The future is wide open

  Here we are, at the front of a new year and decade. For open source software, the refined fuel that has enabled many of the incredible information technology happenings of the previous decade, the future is, well, wide open.

• ars technica - Logs don't lie: Which tech execs have the White House's ear?

  Who has the ear of the White House when it comes to tech issues? Judging from the White House visitor logs, President Obama and his team have a soft spot for FCC Chair Julius Genachowski, who visited 48 times between June and September. Not that it was all business; Genachowski checked in to use the White House bowling alley and to attend a poetry reading.

• The New Republic - Transparency and Sausage Making

  When the Democrats announced that they would be forgoing conference committee proceedings and negotiating a final health care reform bill informally, critics pounced on President Barack Obama for violating his promise of greater transparency in government. And I, for one, had no great urge to defend him.

• Milwaukee Journal Sentinel - Foreign interests spend $87 million lobbying in U.S.

  Washington — Over the years, Rep. Gwen Moore has grown so passionate about helping Liberia that she championed legislation to speed delivery of U.S. foreign aid to the West African nation. Her measure - which became law as part of a federal spending bill in 2007 - was a major victory for the Liberian government.

• The Courier-Journal - Notes From Washington - Tallying words, the currency of Congress

  Think of this: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., spoke for an entire day last year on the Senate floor.

• The Day - Report: Data about safety, efficacy of top drugs is tough to access

  Information from regulators about the safety and effectiveness of more than a third of America's top-selling drugs is not readily accessible to doctors or the general public, according to a report released Friday by the nonpartisan Sunlight Foundation.

• The Huffington Post - Congress shocker! Actually spending time to do their job

  Sunlight Foundation, the gov't accountability and transparency leaders, got the scoop in Welcome Back, Congress:

• USA Today - Congress burns the midnight oil in '09

  Does the "do-nothing" label still apply to Congress? Turns out, lawmakers worked more days in 2009 than any year since 1995, according to an analysis by the Sunlight Foundation. Congress, racing through a packed agenda that included the economic stimulus and President Obama's health care legislation, wound up logging 191 days in the Senate and 159 days in the House, according to the foundation's analysis of a recent report on congressional activity.

• Sphere News - Congress Hard at Work, Records Show

  Despite routine accusations that they are lazy, ineffective and overpaid, members of the U.S. Congress put in more hours on the floor of the House and Senate in 2009 than in any year since 1995, newly released records show.

• The Washington Post - Busy bees

  According to a document review conducted by the Sunlight Foundation, Congress spent more days in session in 2009 than in any year since 1995. The Sunlight Foundation sells this as "working harder," and maybe it is, though many members of Congress would argue that time spent in the home office, fact-finding trips, constituent meetings and much else should count as "work." Either way, Congress spent more days in 2009 doing the nation's business than in any year since 1995.

• The Nonprofit Quarterly - White House Visits from the Nonprofit Sector

  On December 30th, the White House released additional names of its visitors through the end of September. Some 26,000 visits are in the latest spreadsheets made available to the public.

• Cato@Liberty - On C-SPAN: What’s a Little Promise Among Friends?

  My, oh my. Transparency is getting defined down to excuse a breaking campaign promise. At the Center for American Progress’ “Think Progress Wonk Room” blog (or whatever it’s called), Igor Volsky makes the case against allowing C-SPAN cameras into negotiations about the health care bill. Recall that President Obama promised on the campaign trail to have health care negotiations broadcast on C-SPAN.

• The Blue Ridge Times-News - Politicians under election fire

  Days after the confetti was swept into dust bins and champagne bottles tossed in recycling bins, the 2010 election season is grinding into gear. The year began with Sen. Richard Burr and Rep. Heath Shuler under fire for fundraising efforts.

• The Washington Times - Law firm on both sides of Fed loan program

  One of the law firms hired to provide legal work for the Treasury Department on a multibillion-dollar federal loan program also lobbied Congress for a private client pushing to expand the same government initiative, records show.

• The Chronicle of Philanthropy - Episode 14: Using Twitter to Keep Connected With Supporters

• The Blue Ridge Times-News - Burr named top partier

  North Carolina Sen. Richard Burr was given a dubious honor - he was named the “Top Congressional Partiers” for 2009 by the Sunlight Foundation for his numerous fund-raising events.

• The Huffington Post - Lobbying's New Frontier: 'Not Lobbying'

  Brien Bonneville and Larry Mitchell have officially deserted the lobbying profession. Lobbyists have become too despised and stigmatized, are banned from certain government jobs and subject to all sorts of onerous disclosure requirements. Bonneville and Mitchell needed out.

• Federal Computer Week - Web mashups put transparency to the test

  A cornerstone of the Obama administration’s vision for a more open and accountable government rests on making government data easily accessible to the public. However, that’s only the first step. From there, people and interest groups must be able to analyze or package the data in ways that make it more useful to others.

• Metro Times - Ten years after

  At the end of another decade we asked a cross-section of locals — as in, once you're tied to this area, you're always tied to this area — about their experience of the last decade. What mattered? What did we learn? What gives hope for the future? What follows is a sampling of the responses.

• The Washington Times - Making progress on pork busting

  Rep. Jeff Flake went to the floor of the U.S. House 48 times last year to offer amendments to strip pork-barrel spending projects from the annual spending bills. And 48 times, he walked away having suffered a stinging defeat.

• The Wall Street Journal - Health-care bill may bypass conference process

  WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Democratic leaders in the House were planning to meet Tuesday to discuss plans for stitching their health-care bill together with a Senate-passed version, but the bill may not go through the usual conference committee process, congressional aides said.

• NextGov - Mashup Probes White House Visitors

  Less than a week after the White House began releasing visitor logs on a regular basis, watchdog groups already are linking the names of people doing business there to campaign finance stats online for all to see.

• The Hill - Mash-up makes sense of White House visitors log

  Sunlight Labs, and arm of transparency advocate Sunlight Foundation, has created a mash-up to let people get a better idea of who is actually visiting the White House.

• Columbia Journalism Review - Report Card

  In the year since President Obama took office, he has made significant progress on transparency and access issues. Still, there have been plenty of missed opportunities and much work still to be done.

• The Frederick News-Post - Frederick Watchdog — Charting House members' spending

  In late November, the U.S. House of Representatives took a quantum leap forward in accountability, for the first time releasing quarterly Statements of Disbursements online. Congress has been required to gather and report all receipts and expenditures of its members, committees, officers and offices since 1964. Each quarter's reports come in three volumes of about 3,000 pages.

• The Washington Examiner - New Media leader exposes myth of Obama's 'bottom-up' Internet-driven 2008 campaign

  End-of-year media pieces tend to be boring rehashes but occasionally a thoughtful person will use the opportunity for some genuinely original and useful thinking about the most recent past. Such is Micah Sifry's powerful and significant post on Personal Democracy Forum's Tech President, "The Obama disconnect: What happens when myth meets reality."