2013 was a busy year for the Sunlight Foundation. The past 12 months were so jam packed that we couldn't contain everything to just a blog post (or email or video). Check out Sunlight's 2013 year in review.
Continue readingThe 12 Days of APIs (version 2.0)
‘Tis the season for application programming interfaces. We have the perfect present for the open data developer in your life: a Sunlight Labs API key! Here are our “12 days of APIs” for 2013; no singing required!
Continue readingRule behind the ‘Hobby Lobby’ case was the most commented
Today, the Supreme Court announced that it agreed to hear two cases around the contraceptive mandate in the Affordable Care Act. The SCOTUSblog writes:
The Court granted review of a government case (Sebelius v. Hobby Lobby Stores, 13-354) and a private business case (Conestoga Wood Specialties Corp. v. Sebelius, 13-356). Taking the Conestoga plea brought before the Court the claim that both religious owners of a business and the business itself have religious freedom rights. The Hobby Lobby case was keyed to rights under RFRA.Continue reading
How Congress Commemorates President Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address
It’s the Great Halloween Open House, Sunlight Foundation*
It was a dark and mild night as Sunlight welcomed a frighteningly awesome group of friends and supporters to our... View Article
Continue readingResources Tool Kit: McCutcheon v. FEC
Research Tool Kit: Immigration bills, lobbying, issue ads and more
Today, the U.S. Senate will consider the Comprehensive Immigration Reform bill and to mark the occasion, we put together a handy research guide on everything we have on immigration policy. Legislation Follow the bill on Scout, and get updates on all immigration bills around the U.S., congressional speeches and more. Check out an interactive timeline that covers 125 years of immigration policy and legislation in the United States. Q: Who said “immigration reform” the most in Congress? A: Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-CO) … even though he left office in 2009. Lobbying Since January, 61 people filed new registration forms, according to Sunlight’s Lobbying Tracker, with companies seeking more high-skilled foreign workers, led by the tech sector, driving the April and May uptick. This year already surpasses the 54 registrations from all of 2011 and 42 new reports from 2012 that reported immigration as an issue.
Continue readingThe Political Spending of 501(c)(4) Nonprofits in the 2012 Election
Throughout the 2012 election cycle, Sunlight followed the unlimited money. From super PACs and corporations to unions and “dark money” we collected, in real time, the political spending reported by these outside groups. With the 501(c)(4) social welfare nonprofits back in the news again (and the IRS’s enforcement of them), we wanted to take a closer look at how these organizations spent money to influence the 2012 election. We often use the term “dark money” to describe these groups since they can spend an unlimited amount on independent expenditures and electioneering communications yet they do not have to disclose their donors. For more information on how to track all types of federal campaign finance disclosures, check out this handy infographic. Overall, dark money groups reported $300 million in independent expenditures in 2012. Of the 50 groups who spent the most, 15 are 501(c)(4) nonprofits. Using our Follow The Unlimited Money tracker, Political Ad Sleuth, Ad Hawk and return on investment calculations, here is how they made an impact in the race for the White House and Congress.
Continue readingResearch Tool Kit: Gun Laws, Lobbying and Influence in the United States
With the U.S. Senate expected to take up gun legislation next week and recent passing of gun laws in Connecticut, Colorado and Maryland, we put together a tool kit on the issues around gun rights and gun control. For more information, you can follow the money, influence and news on the issue of gun control and gun rights in the U.S. at our resource page. Keep reading for information about state legislation, swing votes in the Senate, political spending by gun rights and gun control groups, details on how they lobby Congress and where they are airing TV issue ads.
Continue readingThe Issue Groups Taking to TV So Far in 2013
While it’s not at the volume of the Fall, our television screens are continuing to experience a case of “political ad fever.” From commercials about gun laws and tax rates to ads about alleged animal cruelty, issue groups took to the airwaves this winter. We reviewed the ad files in Political Ad Sleuth for the first three months of 2013 and mapped the trends among issue group advertisers in the nation’s top 50 media markets.
Sidebar: Don't let broadcasters shut down FCC political ad database over online ripoff
Broadcast TV stations in 32 media markets aired issue ads from at least 55 advertisers. The political ads were split pretty evenly between a local or national scope, covering 27 different topics. Three markets had a diverse selection of advertisers:- Washington, DC — 14 issue groups bought airtime, including four on the topic of gun control, three urging the Senate not to appoint Chuck Hagel and one supporting the U.S. postal service.
- Milwaukee — 7, with issue ads around candidates for the city’s judge circuit race being the majority of the ones we found.
- Los Angeles — 6, mostly centered on candidates in the LA mayoral race.
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