Sunlight Foundation Press Release Archive
Press Releases for December 2008
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2008 Top Congressional Fundraiser Party Spots
WASHINGTON, DC – A new analysis by the Sunlight Foundation's Party Time project of the top partying spots for congressional fundraisers in 2008 shows that, in addition to party-operated venues, a handful of pricey restaurants and private townhouses are the site of most of the festivities. Top restaurants included Johnny's Half Shell, with 120 events (chosen by Gourmet Magazine in 2000 as one of "America's Best Restaurants); Charlie Palmer Steak, with 83 (named by Washingtonian as one of the best 100 restaurants in 2008); and Bistro Bis (also in Washingtonian's top 100), with 79. The top 20 list is online here.
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Energy Tops Congress’ Most Commonly Used Words in 2008
WASHINGTON, DC – Energy, health and service were the hotbed issues for Congress in 2008, according to the Sunlight Foundation’s Capitol Words, a site that converts the statements of members of Congress in the Congressional Record into data.
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New Sunlight Foundation Tariff Bills Database Shows Who's Giving and Getting Tax Breaks
WASHINGTON, DC – In the 110th Congress, 116 members of the House introduced more than 800 bills to cut taxes on some imported goods, requested by at least 120 companies and organizations, a new experimental, work-in-progress Sunlight Foundation database of tariff suspension records shows. The bills, which would have cost the Treasury an estimated $1.1 billion in 2009 by reducing or eliminating tariffs on everything—from unicycles to storage batteries for hybrid cars and from fibers from the coats of the rare vicuna to chemicals for making rodent poison—were supported by 65 of the beneficiaries, who hired in-house or outside lobbyists that listed specific bills of tariff duty suspensions as issues they sought to influence. The database is accessible here.
