Sunlight Foundation

January 26, 2012 — WASHINGTON, DC – A new analysis prepared by the Sunlight Foundation shows that wealthy financial sector donors gave $178.2 million in political contributions in 2010, more than ten times what they gave 20 years ago. More than any other industry, individuals from the finance, insurance and real estate (FIRE) sector, particularly those in securities and investments, are the key drivers of the overall growth of elite donors, or what Sunlight calls The Political One Percent of the One Percent.

January 18, 2012 — The funding of American politics is entering a new era—the likes we have never seen before. How did we get here? Two years ago this week, the Supreme Court paved the way for a radical change in how political campaigns operate, opening the door to an unfettered, unregulated influx of money into elections from corporations, labor unions and wealthy individuals.

January 17, 2012 — WASHINGTON, DC — When the House of Representatives heads back to work on Tuesday, offices will be slightly leaner than they were a year ago. As Congress tightens its budgetary belt, it’s having a direct effect on office staffing and technology, according to new analysis from the Sunlight Foundation. In January 2011, the House voted 410-13 to slash its operating budget by 5% (or $35 million), and Sunlight’s analysis of House disbursement data shows some immediate effects: a loss of 1,000 staff positions, and major cutbacks in computers and office supplies. With House offices facing another 5.2% percent cut (6.4 % for committees) for FY 2012, more cuts in both staff and salaries can be expected as personnel compensation accounts for more than half of all House expenditures.

January 13, 2012 — The Advisory Committee on Transparency (ACT), a project of the Sunlight Foundation, will host a panel discussion on the role of super PACs in the 2012 election on Monday, January 23. The event is the first of eight ACT is hosting throughout the year that will address important and wide-ranging transparency policy issues with those in Congress, think tanks, the media and other experts.

December 12, 2011 — WASHINGTON, DC – The Sunlight Foundation today announced Kathy Kiely as the new Managing Editor of its award-winning team of journalists, the Sunlight Foundation Reporting Group. She will be responsible for overseeing Sunlight’s daily and long-term investigative journalism projects on money in politics, government transparency and corporate accountability, and will oversee the production of content, journalist trainings, databases and multimedia projects.

December 12, 2011 — WASHINGTON, DC – The Sunlight Foundation today launched its revamped Capitol Words, a website that lets you easily research the most popular words and phrases spoken in Congress since 1996. Using data from the Congressional Record, Capitol Words allows watchdogs and journalists track turns-of-phrase by politician, date or state.

November 30, 2011 — WASHINGTON, DC – The Sunlight Foundation announced today nearly $560,000 in new contributions and grants received to advance our work in opening and digitizing legislative and government influence data. “These generous gifts are testament to the philanthropic community’s commitment in recognizing how technology can help shine light on our government and support greater civic engagement across the country,” said Ellen Miller, co-founder and executive director of the Sunlight Foundation.

November 10, 2011 — In just a couple of weeks, the Super Committee faces its deadline for submitting recommendations to cut the federal deficit by at least $1.2 trillion. This is no typical committee. Its recommendations will go immediately to the floor for an up-or-down vote without amendments, and its structure undermines the usual process of open deliberation through congressional hearings and floor debate. The committee’s concentration of power has shut Americans off from a public conversation about the economic future of our country. This is hardly a democratic, participatory process.

November 9, 2011 — Tonight at 8:00 p.m. EST, the Sunlight Foundation will provide live reporting alongside the CNBC GOP presidential debate in Rochester, Michigan. The eight leading candidates will be discussing the economy while Sunlight's investigative team keeps them accountable with live fact-checking, relevant lobbying figures and campaign finance information.

November 1, 2011 — This afternoon at 1:30 p.m. EDT, the Sunlight Foundation will cover the Super Committee's hearing on previous debt proposals. The rare public event features testimony from former Senator Alan Simpson, former White House Chief of Staff Erskine Bowles, founding director of the Congressional Budget Office Dr. Alice Rivlin and former Senator Pete Domenici. These experts all served on high-profile commissions that put forth plans to achieve fiscal sustainability. Sunlight's award-winning team will bring a non-partisan perspective to the discussion with expert analysis and real-time fact checking.

October 27, 2011 — The congressional committee tasked with cutting at least $1.2 trillion from the federal deficit is playing an important role in determining our country’s fiscal future. However, this “Super Committee” has conducted the majority of its work behind closed doors and without any public oversight since having its first meeting in early-September. The Sunlight Foundation thinks that’s some pretty scary stuff as this video shows.

October 26, 2011 — Today at 10:00 a.m. EDT, the Sunlight Foundation will cover the Super Committee as it holds a rare official hearing. Sunlight's award-winning team will bring a non-partisan perspective to the discussion with expert analysis, photographs of the crowd and real-time fact checking. This morning's event is entitled "Overview: Discretionary Outlays, Security and Non-Security” and comes amid mounting criticism that the committee is not sharing its work in public. While Sunlight is pleased to see the Super Committee have a public hearing, the truth is it has kept the public in the dark while holding closed-door meetings to accomplish the majority of its work.

September 20, 2011 — Tomorrow at 2:00 p.m. EDT, the Sunlight Foundation will provide live coverage and analysis of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights as they investigate the business practices of Google featuring testimony by chairman Eric Schmidt. The hearing includes a number of business rivals and groups critical of the search engine powerhouse, which will surely make for a lively afternoon.

September 19, 2011 — WASHINGTON, DC – Today, the Sunlight Foundation releases its latest Clearspending report, a website and scorecard that analyzes how well U.S. government agencies report their spending data on USASpending.gov. The analysis is a follow-up to last year’s inaugural report, and covers federal spending for fiscal year 2008 through FY 2010.

September 13, 2011 — Today at 10:30 a.m. EDT, the Sunlight Foundation will continue coverage of the Super Committee as it holds the first official hearing. The award-winning team will bring a non-partisan perspective to the debate with expert analysis, photographs of the crowd and real-time fact checking.