2Day in #OpenGov 9/24/2012

by

NEWS ROUNDUP:

Government

  • DoJ issues transparent guidance: New FOIA guidance issued by the Department of Justice should make the process more transparent. According to the guidance, agencies will have to disclose the number of times they apply exemptions and include educational information about the exemptions when they respond to people making requests. (OMB Watch)
  • White House sells innovation fellows in Silicon Valley: A number of White House officials, including US CTO Todd Park and CIO Steve VanRoekel, traveled to the Silicon Valley headquarters of Code for America to tout the White House Innovation Fellows program. During the event, San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee announced that the city will launch a similar program. (Fed Scoop)
Campaign Finance
  • Ad spending piles up… With more than a month until election day TV ad spending has already topped two-thirds of a billion dollars, including almost $50 million in the past week. So far, Mitt Romney and his Republican backers have spent slightly more than President Obama and the various Democratic groups. (National Journal)
  • …While Democratic PACs gain ground: According to FEC filings released late last week, Democratic super PACs had one of their best fundraising months yet in August. Priorities USA Action, the main pro-Obama super PAC, brought in more than $10 million out-raising Restore Our Future, it’s main Romney backing rival, but around $3 million. (Public Integrity)
  • Bopp v. campaign finance regulation: Once a little known lawyer with a small practice based in Indiana, Jim Bopp Jr. has become possibly the single most influential figure pushing the deregulation of money in politics over the past decade, winning four of six cases he has presented to the Supreme Court (National Journal)
International
  • The best of corruption, 2010-2012: The past two years have seen some significant corruption related convictions in America and around the world. Highlights include former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich’s 14 year sentence and arms dealer Viktor Bout’s, played by Nic Cage in the movie, 25 year stint. (Wall Street Journal)
  • Happy Birthday OGP: The Open Government Partnership was launched a year ago last week. While significant progress has been made by the United States and other participating nations, there is still a long road ahead to success. (OMB Watch)
  • Bipartisan effort to keep Internet control out of international hands: Both the House and Senate have passed legislation denouncing efforts by foreign countries to hand significant control over the Internet to the UN backed International Telecommunications Union. (Politico)

RELEVANT BILLS INTRODUCED:

  • None

HAPPENING THIS WEEK 9/24-9/28:

JOB OPPORTUNITIES:

  • None.

Do you want to track transparency news? You can add our feed to your Google Reader, or view it on our Netvibes page. You can also get 2Day in #OpenGov sent directly to your reader!