Sunlight Foundation

NEWS ROUNDUP:

• Influence organizations avoid lobbying disclosure rules by adopting "grass-roots" strategies. For example, while working for the Retail Industry Leaders Association, the DCI group generated more than 30,000 constituent calls and connected small business owners with over 1,600 meetings with members of Congress but never had to disclose their activities. (Roll Call)
• A billionaire environmentalist is planning to move ahead with an expensive campaign against Massachusetts Senate hopeful Rep. Steven Lynch for his support of the Keystone XL Pipeline. The campaign is coming despite requests from Rep. Ed Markey, Lynch's primary opponent for the Democratic nomination, to stay out of the race.  (Washington Post)
• Mitt Romney just can't seem to shake the fundraising habit. He recently invited top donors and bundlers to a $5,000, four-day "summit" in Park City, Utah this June. (Politico)
• The Senate Intelligence Committee announced a rare ray of light last week. It will now disclose how Senators vote on bills and nominations in Committee markups. The panel has had a longstanding policy of withholding its vote counts.  (Roll Call)
• Rep. Steve Pearce (R-NM) has a novel idea to hold Congress more accountable, and keep them safe at the same time. Last week he introduced a resolution that would create a "virtual Congress", allowing members of the House to complete their constitutional duties via videoconferencing and other electronic means. (The Hill)
• The singularity might be far away for most of us, but President Obama keeps moving closer to becoming one with Organizing for Action, the supposedly independent "nonprofit" spin-off of his campaign. His official Twitter account is now under OFA's control and he's still going to tweet from it.(Washington Post)
• Mayors Against Illegal Guns, the anti-gun group chaired by Michael Bloomberg, is planning to spend $12 million targeting Senators who may be wavering on upcoming gun control votes.  (Politico, New York Times)
• Hallmark Cards is stepping up its lobbyist game to support Saturday mail delivery. They have registered their first in house lobbyist and are shifting their government affairs focus to Washington. (The Hill)

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NEWS ROUNDUP:

• Curtis Bostic, a former Charleston County councilmember who is likely to face Mark Sanford in a runoff for the GOP nod for an open South Carolina House seat, benefited mightily from Kentucky natural gas executive James Willard Kinzer. Kinzer donated the maximum to Bostic's campaign and funelled $30,000 to a super PAC supporting him. (Public Integrity)
• New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Comptroller John Lui announced that the Big Apple is going to be the first city in the country to launch a comprehensive subcontracting database to track payments made by primary contractors to subcontractors. (Tech President)
• Boris Bershteyn, the OMB general counsel and acting head of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, will be leaving his post at the end of the month. (The Legal Times)
• Salomon Melgen, the Florida eye doctor whose ties to Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) are drawing scrutiny from federal investigators, also tried to court other leading politicians including Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. (Politico)
• Asheville, NC, a city of 85,000, is taking small steps towards opening their data and getting inspired by the results. Asheville recently held its first hackathon-style event in October and the city is seeing fewer open records requests. (Government Technology)
• According to a new GPO report, designing official publications primarily for digital use has saved the country more than $16 million since the office started the practice in 1995. (National Journal)
• White House officials are indicating that they might be considering shifting responsibility for drone operations from the CIA to the Pentagon, where the program would be subject to different rules and, hopefully, some more sunlight. (Politico)

NEWS ROUNDUP:

• The House Ethics Committee is launching its first formal investigations of the 113th Congress. It is looking into allegations surrounding Reps. Don Young (R-AK) and Rob Andrews (D-NJ). (Politico)
• Russia is dropping its investigation into the death in custody of a Sergei Magnitsky, a whistleblowing lawyer, prompting outrage and accusations of a cover up. The Kremlin's human rights council has previously said that he was probably beaten to death in prison. Authorities still plan to move ahead with a trial of the dead activist on charges of tax fraud. (Trust Law)
• Former Rep. Mary Bono Mack, who lost her reelection bid last year, has landed a job at FaegreBD Consulting. She will join the group as a senior vice president and will work on legislative and regulatory advocacy around entertainment, media, and technology. (Roll Call)
• In the process of compiling their "drone census" of public agencies using unmanned aerial vehicles MuckRock and the EFF have found that universities and other public agencies are charging hefty sums for documents related to their research and testing of drones. (US News)
• A new report from the Center for Effective Government finds that agencies provided full and complete information in response to FOIA requests at a record low rate in 2012. (Fierce Government)
• Anti-bribery legislation languishing in Brazil's legislature could damage its standing could damage its standing with the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, which measures how well countries meet its anti-corruption convention. (Trust Law)
• Opinion: A new Congressional Watchdog Caucus will bolster congressional commitment to oversight. The Caucus has bipartisan support. (Politico)

NEWS ROUNDUP:

• This week, the Research Data Alliance is launching a major open data initiative and looking to facilitate scientific data sharing between institutions worldwide. (Tech President)
• Former members of Congress trying to walk through the revolving door to K street are facing a relatively week hiring market this year. With revenues continuing to decline, many lobbying shops can't afford the high salaries commanded and demanded by former members of Congress... (Roll Call)
• ...but some former members have still managed to score high profile gigs. Most recently, former Rep. Denny Rehberg (R-MT), who lost his senate bid to Sen. John Tester (D-MT) last year, is joining Mercury/Clark & Weinstock as a co-chairman. (The Hill)
• Last year, the Justice Department opened an investigation into allegations that employees working for the Wall Street Journal in China bribed Chinese officials for information. (Wall Street Journal)
• State legislatures often lack the effective rules or oversight necessary to stop legislators from acting or voting in their own interest. One expert noted that state legislators are often not paid well enough to discourage unethical behavior.  (Public Integrity)
• A new, internet focused, political party has sprung up in Argentina. The Partido de la Red takes many cues from the Pirate Party that has sprung up around Europe and is starting by aiming for seats in the Buenos Aires legislature. (Global Integrity)