- Salt Lake Tribune - Lawmakers tight-lipped on pet projects
WASHINGTON - Congressional budget leaders are sifting through tens of thousands of requests submitted this week by House members seeking taxpayer money for projects back home.
- CNN - Superdelegate Transparency Project & Congresspedia on CNN
CNN's Situation Room features a segment Congresspedia's Superdelegate Transparency Project. Abbi Tatton reports how citizen journalists, activists, and bloggers are working together to create a highly detailed tally of Democratic superdelegates.
- Wired - Sunlight Foundation Asks The Public For Ideas On A More Accountable Government
As has been documented repeatedly, President Bush has run one of the most secretive administrations in recent memory. For their part, members of congress haven't fared so well in public opinion polls either when it comes to openness and accountability. So perhaps it's not surprising that government transparency and accountability have become themes in this year's presidential campaign.
- Austin American-Statesman - Central Texans in Congress push for earmarks, sometimes out of public view
WASHINGTON - On the last day that members of the U.S. House could request federal funding for projects in their districts next year, they requested so many that the Web site collecting them could not function properly. On the last day that members of the U.S. House could request federal funding for projects in their districts next year, they requested so many that the Web site collecting them could not function properly
- Oregon Public Broadcasting - Walden's Earmark Requests Online, Bend Misses Out
Greg Walden is Oregon's first member of Congress to put his earmark requests on his web site - $46 million he hopes the federal budget will send to his congressional district. Central Oregon correspondent Ethan Lindsey reports that despite Walden's transparency, the city of Bend will lose out.
- Fredrick News Post - Fixing government
This looks like a worthwhile project for anyone who wants to change the way Congress does business, regardless of party affiliation or ideological leanings: Change-Congress.org.
- The Republican Herald - ‘Ed McMahon Syndrome’? Gilhooley, Holden voice differences over earmarks
Congressional earmarks have sparked a war of words between U.S. Rep. Tim Holden, D-17, and his likely November opponent, Republican Toni Gilhooley, who claims Holden may have a new, previously unheard of problem, something she called "Ed McMahon Syndrome."
- ABC 7 News San Francisco - Political link to the mortgage crisis
How much did big corporate money influence politicians, as the sub-prime mortgage industry took off, before the bubble burst? In 2005, homeowners were getting offers every week to refinance their homes or take out a mortgage, with payments that in the fine print, would balloon a few years later. The President and congress were not on top of those shaky mortgage practices. The President was talking up home ownership.
- Seattle Post-Intelligencer - Just Do It
Speaking of democracy, one key is public information. The administration has been a disaster, but Congress -- despite some improvements -- is not exactly a leader in openness and transparency. A good start would be for Congress to provide as much information on the Internet as a lot of the state legislatures do. The Sunlight Foundation (sunlightfoundation.com) is, among other things, pushing Congress to create one centralized schedule for all committee hearings. Gosh, how 20th century that would be. Sunlight's reform agenda also includes a call for electronic filing of campaign receipts and expenses, which would be released within 24 hours. Congress could do that in time for the next election -- assuming, optimistically, that members wanted to.
- Globe and Mail - There's a whole lot of misbehavin' goin' on
David Paterson had never expected to become governor of New York. But then Eliot Spitzer got caught having an alleged dalliance with a lady of the evening, and suddenly the affable lieutenant-governor was taking the oath in Albany.
- USA Today - House OKs independent ethics board
WASHINGTON - An independent ethics board created by the House of Representatives this week is meant to put some teeth into a self-policing process that has been all-but-dormant for years.
- Metro Times - Super duper site
It's looking more and more likely that Michigan Democrats will hold some sort of second nominating contest so that our state's delegates will be seated at the party's national convention in August, giving us a say in deciding whether it is Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton who gets to square off against John McCain come November.
- XM Radio - Conor Kenny Speaks about SuperDelegate Transparency Project on XM Radio
Conor Kenny, Managing Editor of Congresspedia, talks to Rebecca Roberts from XM Radio's POTUS 08 Channel 130 about The SuperDelegate Transparency Project.
- Village Voice - Obama Supporters in Brooklyn Warn the Superdelegates: 'Make Our Votes Count'
As a registered independent, Crown Heights resident Geoff Johnson didn't have a dog in the fight over the Democratic presidential nomination: "There isn't a Democrat who's left enough for me," he says. A 30-year-old Ph.D. candidate in history, Johnson had confined his political activity mostly to anti-war rallies. But when he heard that 796 "superdelegates"-party leaders and elected officials who have special voting rights at the Democratic National Convention-could swing the vote away from the will of the people, it just seemed wrong. So he dashed off dozens of e-mails to friends and neighbors, urging them to spam U.S. House members Yvette Clarke and Edolphus Towns into voting in line with their districts. Both Congress members had pledged their superdelegate support to Hillary Clinton months before their Brooklyn constituents voted in favor of Barack Obama.