Sunlight Foundation

NEWS:

• It's official, reported lobbying by firms dedicated to the task was down almost 4% during the first quarter of 2013. Overall, lobbying appears to be down slightly more than 1% over the fourth quarter of 2012. (Roll Call)
• There has always been a healthy traffic flow between high level Washington operatives and high paying jobs on Wall Street, but recently volume has picked up significantly. Major banks including Goldman Sachs, Credit Suisse, Citigroup, and more are turning to Washington for talent, reversing a trend that often saw policy makers looking to Wall Street for economic understanding. (POLITICO)
• There is a progressive revolt being staged against Facebook. A number of liberal groups are upset with the way that Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg's political group, FWD.us, is approaching the immigration debate and are pulling their ads from Facebook to show their disapproval. (Tech President)
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NEWS:

• The Information Technology Industry Council just picked up two high profile members. Samsung and Facebook join Apple, Google, Microsoft and more as members of the group, which will likely lobby on privacy, cybersecurity, and more for the companies. (The Hill)
• Lobbyists have been deregistering in waves over the past couple of years and there are a number of reasons why. Planning, PR, grassroots lobbying, and buying TV ads have all become more common place and don't have to be reported. Meanwhile, the Obama administration's open disdain for lobbyists has driven some more into the shadows.  (NPR)
• Lobbyists like to build up their contributions to help build their relationships with members of Congress. The trend is apparent with a number of freshman and their lobbyist bank-rollers. (Roll Call)
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NEWS ROUNDUP:

• President Obama is notable for his sports watching habits and recently influencers may be taking those predilections into account. Media strategists are offering clients who are looking to target White House officials ESPN as a prime spot for their advertising dollars. (POLITICO)
• After months of speculation President Obama tapped Chicago business baron and major campaign supporter Penny Pritzker to serve as the next secretary of commerce. Pritzker, who is worth north of $1 billion, has helped raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for the President's campaigns. (NPR)
• President Obama's FCC nominee is hearing some criticism from Senators over his past life as a cable and wireless company wireless and blog posts suggesting urging broad regulation in exchange for allowing the, failed, AT&T + T-Mobile merger to proceed. (The Hill)
• The White House released the first version of its We The People API to the public earlier this week. Every petition that garners more than 15o signatures will have its data made available in read-only format. Meanwhile, several interesting projects using We The People data emerged from the same hackathon that launched the API. (Fedscoop, Fedscoop)
• Florida passed the first major changes to its state ethics laws in nearly three decades this week. The state also passed new campaign finance regulations. Both moves can be seen as responses to the Sunshine State's low grades on the State Integrity Investigation. (Public Integrity)
• There are, hopefully, only a few more days of headlines from the wacky race to fill an empty South Carolina House seat. Yesterday held more good news for Elizabeth Colbert Busch, who is the beneficiary of more than $100,000 in late ad spending from the House Majority PAC. The PAC has now spent roughly $400,000 on the race. (Roll Call)
• Meanwhile, the newly minted Republican candidate for the open Massachusetts Senate seat has reaffirmed his opposition to "the peoples pledge" which aims to curb the influence of third party spending. Despite signing the pledge, and asking nicely for him to stop, Democratic candidate Ed Markey was the unwanted beneficiary of major outside outlays by a billionaire environmentalist. (Washington Post)

NEWS ROUNDUP:

• USAID is releasing a number of new datasets as well as usaid.gov/developer which will host APIs and datasets. (Fedscoop)
• Lobbyists and corporate interests, including AT&T and Amway, have spent more than $7.5 million supporting the Bush presidential library and other George W. Bush initiatives since the former president left office. (The Hill)
• Ed Markey won the primary to occupy the Democratic line in the upcoming Massachusetts special election to replace John Kerry in the Senate. He had some unwanted outside help from billionaire environmental activist Tom Steyer, who spent big to attack his main competition's support of the Keystone XL pipeline. (Washington Post)
• Despite overwhelming public support for a least a little new gun regulation, the NRA and it's money still hold enough power in Washington to effectively block action. (Public Integrity)
• FWD.us, Mark Zuckerberg's foray into politics, has yet to disclose how much money it has raised or where it's funds have come from. FWD.us is registered as a 501(c)(4) and might never have to divulge it's donors, although many big names have publicly backed the group. (K Street Cafe)
• San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee is keeping his foot on the technology and open government pedal. In addition to naming a new CIO, Lee signed open legislation that codifies the duties assigned to the city's future Chief Data Officer and updates San Francisco's existing open data law. (Government Technology)
• Opinion: Rich Americans and corporate interests are able to exert outsized control on the political process. New legislation could help fix this problem by amplifying the power of small political donations. (POLITICO)

NEWS ROUNDUP:

• YouTube is now doing its part to help members of Congress provide live access to their constituents. Thanks to a deal struck between YouTube and the House and Senate Administration committees, lawmakers can now host live-streamed events for free. We wait with baited breath to see if this will bring the bar low enough to convince the House Appropriations Committee to join in the fun. (The Hill)
• Bill Gates is teaming up with the Nation's top farmer and leading tech geek to promote both open data and food security. The Microsoft billionaire joined Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack and Chief Technology Officer Todd Park to introduce a new database that helps farmers, ranchers, scientists, and policymakers access public information. The leaders hope that promoting open data will help improve global nutrition and food security. (Washington Post)
• Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington spent less than $5,000 on lobbying in the first quarter, and filed a "termination report." While they don't intend to stop lobbying, this may be an indication that they are scaling back their work or have decided their activities no longer meet the requirements for reporting. (Roll Call)
• The head of one of Washington's most prominent technology trade groups is stepping down. Rey Ramsey is leaving as CEO of TechNet, which represents companies like Google,. Facebook, and Yahoo, after three plus years at the helm. (The Hill)
• National Journal did the tough job of roundup three depressing stories that came out yesterday. First, the Washington Post tackled President Obama's lack of any real interest in campaign finance reform; then news broke that, after leaving office in disgrace, former Congressman and noted sexter Anthony Weiner is making big bucks in the private sector; finally, the FBI is investigating the cozy, and possibly illegal, relationship between Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell and a wealthy donor. (National Journal)
• San Francisco named its new Chief Information Officer last week. Marc Touitou will also serve as the Director of San Fran's Department of Technology. Touitou has a 30 year history in IT in the private sector including long stints with two European companies. (Government Technology)
• Despite opposition that has so far proven weak, at best, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is taking to the airwaves this week with more than $1 million worth of ads. The buy is in the expensive New York and Philadelphia markets. (POLITICO)