The man who really introduced me to the power of Internet (long story, see his explanation here) -- Gavin Clabaugh -- reminds us what shining a light into hidden corners of Washington, and mixing the data with a bit of technology and a handful of the Internet (with a little Miller and co-conspirator pixy dust thrown in) can do. He says that the combination may result in nothing short of the power to save democracy from itself. I promise you, Gavin was not sitting at the table when we hatched the idea for Sunlight (though his wife was my communications director when I headed the Center for Responsive Politics, so maybe there's something in the bloodline).
Continue readingNew Reports Shine More Light
Two new reports shine light on waste, corruption and the buying of influence in Washington.
Earlier this week, U.S. PIRG released a report showing how the federal government continues to waste tens of billions in the process of outsourcing work to private companies. "Forgiving Fraud And Failure: Profiles In Federal Contracting" reports on how the feds continue to work with companies that did shoddy work and or were found to have committed fraud.
Last year, the federal government spent $422 billion outsourcing work to private companies, a 100 percent increase since 2000, all with precious little oversight. U.S. PIRG reports that loose rules, lack of competition, and limited accountability are the problems. PIRG's suggestions: increase the disclosure of contract information; increasing competition among multiple bidders; and strengthening the screening of bad actors.
Our friends at POGO have been refining their "Federal Contractor Misconduct Database", a valuable tool for investigative journalists and citizens who want to see the rap sheets on companies our government hires. The fact that these contractors are also large campaign donors just rounds out the equation.
Continue readingAnd the FEC May Still Get Better
Last week it seemed almost inevitable that Hans Von Spakovsky, a nominee to the Federal Election Commission and former Justice Department employee with a track record of minority voter suppression, would sail through the Senate after he was reported out of the Rules and Administration Committee in a block with the other three FEC nominees. Sen. Mitch McConnell wanted the group of four voted on as a package in the full Senate as well and Majority Leader Sen. Harry Reid looked to be acquiescing to these demands.
The Unanimous Consent vote was expected to happen today but a group of Democrats, led by Sen. Russ Feingold and Sen. Barack Obama, has decided to throw a wrench into these plans. Feingold and Obama are not only demanding that Von Spakovsky receive a separate vote from the other FEC candidates -- much like Bradley Smith did back in 2000 -- but that he reach the 60 vote threshold that has become increasingly the norm in the Senate. Sources say that other Senators are joining this cause including Sen. John Kerry and Sen. Sherrod Brown. I wrote last week that we should "hope the Senate will try to restore some respect for the commission and find a way to block this nomination," and apparently some Senators are willing to do so. Good for them.
Continue readingAnd the Earmark Winner for Ohio and Kentucky Is….
The Cincinnati Enquirer shines a light on the federal dollars hauled in by Greater Cincinnati's nine-member House and Senate delegation. When it comes to delivering the pork, the paper found that Sen. Mitch McConnell is the area's most powerful member. McConnell, a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, hauled in $391 million in federal funding for local projects in budget bills being worked on in Congress, more than 1½ times the amount that the area's other eight lawmakers got -- combined.
In a dramatic contrast, House Minority Leader John Boehner is a teetotaller. He doesn't believe in earmarks and hasn't asked for any money for local projects in the 13 spending bills that make up the federal budget.
The Enquirer built their own search engine that allows readers to search what earmarks local members have gotten in spending bills that are pending in Washington. Update: It bears mentioning that the database shows just how lousy the new Senate disclosure requirements on earmarks is. There are no company names. Just a general description of what the money should be spent on. The Enquirer writes about Earmark Watch, a joint project of Taxpayers for Common Sense and the Sunlight Foundation.
Continue readingKudos to The Enquirer. Hopefully more papers will do the same and start following what their congressional delegation is doing with our money.
Washington Meets Facebook
Facebook is holding a seminar here in Washington, next Tuesday to teach politicians and other government types how to use the social web. We at the Sunlight Foundation say "Bravo!" The new Web's benefits to elected officials of every stripe are pretty obvious, allowing government officials to communicate directly with their constituents, bypassing both internal and news-based editorial control. What is equally apparent is how the Web encourages openness, accountability and transparency and how Facebook has become a place to be for presidential candidates.
The organizers promise a lively seminar about how social media can be an integral part of any campaign and constituent strategy. In an effort to accommodate schedules and keep the sessions smaller, Facebook has scheduled two sessions on October 9, one in the morning and the other in the afternoon.
Hat Tip Jeff Jarvis.
Getting Serious About Earmarks
Looks like our colleagues over at Taxpayers for Common Sense are getting fed up about earmarks. In the case of Rep. Don Young’s $10 million earmark to benefit a Florida political contributor, they have filed a complaint with the House Ethics Committee. TCS raises the question over how the earmark found its way onto the 2005 transportation bill after it had passed both houses of Congress.
Continue readingThe Power of Video
Rumors that Texas lawmakers are a different breed are legend, and pillars of progressive journalism like Ronnie Dugger and the late, great Molly Ivins made careers covering the shenanigans and sleaze that goes on in Austin. Even reports of multiple voting have circulated. But the power of video makes this story come alive like nothing else. And this 'report' will not be thrown out with yesterday's newspapers. (I received 5 copies of the video over the weekend and saw it posted several places.)
Hat tip: Doc Searls where I saw it first.
Continue readingEven the FEC Deserves Better
It looks like a leading champion of "voter integrity" (read "voter suppression") and the Bush Administration's chief operative on voting rights, Hans von Spakovsky, will survive the Senate confirmation process, and will be confirmed as an FEC Commissioner. The Senate Rules Committee was considering four appointments, three noncontroversial nominees as well as the highly problematic Spakovsky. The fight over Spakovsky's nomination bottled up the process for 18 months, with Sen. Mitch McConnell blocking a vote (he certainly makes a habit of that!) on the other three FEC nominees until von Spakovsky was considered as well. Spakovsky would likely survive a vote on the four collectively, but his chances to prevail on speparate votes is not good. It appears McConnell has prevailed. On Wednesday, the Rules Committee advanced the four nominations to the Senate floor for a vote without the committee's approval or disapproval. Rules Committee Chair Sen. Dianne Feinstein said it was "doubtful" there'd be a chance that the votes would be taken separately.
Continue readingPresidential Records In the Dark
It's interesting to watch what happens in Congress when "because that's the way we've always done it" no longer becomes an option. For years, Senators have put secret holds on bills they wanted to block. These anonymous objections have been used by both parties to bring to a screeching halt legislation that has the support of a majority of the Members. Sunlight has long-championed putting that tired tradition to rest. A provision we lobbied for in the recently-enacted Honest Leadership and Open Government Act does that, more or less, by requiring Senators to come clean about their holds after five days. Ironically, we've seen the results of this provision on two important transparency related measures.
Paul Blumenthal blogged about Senator Ensign's hold on S. 223, the Senate Campaign Finance Disclosure Parity Act, earlier in the week. We have reason to wonder whether the hold was Ensign's doing all along. Similarly, Senator Jim Bunning now has an objection to moving forward with HR 1255, the Presidential Records Act Amendments of 2007. The bill would overturn an outrageous Executive Order that would keep presidential records hidden from public view indefinitely.
Continue readingRate of Return: Defense Contractors
A new bill is in the hopper aiming to increase oversight of defense contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan. Sponsored by Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va) and 21 Democratic co-sponsors, the "Commission on Wartime Contracting Act" (S. 1825) would create an eight-member panel that would review contracting procedures in the war zones, and report back to Congress on their findings within two years.
If the bill becomes law, the panel will certainly have their job cut out for them -- and not just in detecting waste, fraud and other contract abuses. Many of the contractors are generous political contributors, and have been for years.
How generous? A quick review of the 43 companies that won $1 billion or more in federal contracts during fiscal year 2007 -- most of them defense contractors -- shows they've given more than $117 million in federal campaign contributions since 1990.
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