Sunlight Foundation

Press Editorials

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January 2010

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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 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.