Sunlight Foundation

NEWS ROUNDUP:

• Special interests ranging from defense contractors to university professors and everything else in betweent lobbied against the sequester, which looks more and more likely to go into effect at the end of this week. (Roll Call)
• Georgian officials charged Tblisi mayor Gigi Ugulava with money laundering and misusing state funds. It is the latest in a string of charges levied against allies of President Mikheil Saakashvili. (Wall Street Journal)
• Nearly five months after passing legislation mandating it, San Francisco has not hired a chief data officer and isn't showing signs that they are in any hurry to do so. (GovFresh)
• The Supreme Court decided to limit the number of campaign finance cases they will consider this year. Yesterday they declined to take up a chalenge to the ban on direct corporate contributions to candidates and parties. They are expected to rule on a challenge to individual donation limits in the coming term. (Roll Call)
• White House press secretary Jay Carney denied that access to President Obama was for sale following reports that he would hold quarterly meetings with major donors to Organizing for Action, the new nonprofit rising from the ashes of his reelection campaign.  (Politico)
• Al Jazeera continues to add lobbyists to its bench as it ramps up its US operations. The network added the Law Offices of George R. Salem, PLLC to a roster that already includes DLA Piper, Global Policy Initiatives, and TCK International.(Public Integrity)
• New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg vetoed campaign finance legislation that passed the New York City Council 47-1 recently. The legislation would have weakened disclosure rules related to internal labor and corporate political messaging. His veto can be overruled by a two-thirds majority. (Lobby Comply)

NEWS ROUNDUP:

• New York Governor, and assumed 2016 presidential candidate, Andrew Cuomo is planning a series of huge dollar fundraisers. He already has more than $22 million in his campaign account and no major challenger in his 2014 race for another term in the New York state house. (Politico)
• The leaders of Organizing for Action, the Obama campaign spin off that is looking to promote issues at federal and state levels, appear to be coordinating with just about everyone from Hollywood executives, to former members of the campaign's finance team, to the President himself as they plot their fundraising and action strategy. (Washington Post)
• Wireless company Qualcomm has agreed to ramp up disclosure of its political spending following a law suit filed by the New York State Common Retirement Fund. In exchange for the suit being dropped Qualcomm will post its political contributions and expenditures online. It will also disclose the money it spends to influence ballot measures. (The Hill)
• The White House released a memo directing federal agencies to create plans to provide free public access to the results of federally funded scientific research. The memo, which was released in response to a petition on the White House's We the People platform, is parallel to legislation that has been introduced in the House. (Politico)
• South Korea is one of the most technologically advanced countries in the world. Unfortunately, there is a strong culture of government censorship and little has been done to use technology to increase transparency. A nascent group of NGOs is trying to change that. (Tech President)
• A top energy adviser to Mitt Romney's 2012 campaign is taking a lobbying job with a major natural gas company. Rebecca Rosen, who also previously worked on the Senate's energy committee, will join Devon Energy Corp. as vice president of federal government affairs. (The Hill)

NEWS ROUNDUP:

• A bill being floated in the Kentucky Senate would prohibit lobbying during legislative sessions. If passed, lobbyists would face a $500 fine for each violation.(Lobby Comply)
• Photographer Misha Friedman was approached by the Institute of Modern Russia, a pro-democracy group, to shoot a series exploring corruption in Russia. The resulting photographs highlight the countries history, institutions, and ground-level realities. (Huffington Post)
• This week the Supreme Court heard arguments in McBurney v. Young, a case questioning whether states should be made to provide equal treatment to citizens and companies from other states with respect to public records laws. (Politico)
• Microsoft is looking to Washington for strategy, and personnel, in its battle against rival Google. They recently signed up Jonathan Collegio, who worked for conservative group American Crossroads during the last election. Indications are that he has been working to plant stories that are critical of Google. They also hired Mark Penn, a former Hillary Clinton strategist, to lead a $90 million negative ad attack against the company. (Politico $)
• Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA), the front-runner to replace John Kerry in the Senate, expressed his support for a constitutional amendment to reverse the Citizens United decision this week. (Washington Post)
• Los Angeles is one of the last major American cities to have its own mobile app, announced earlier this month, but city leaders are confident that it will be one of the best around. The release of the app will coincide with a major overhaul to LA's website. (Government Technology)
• Opinion: The revolving door between banks and the government agencies and legislators tasked with regulating and overseeing them is as strong as ever. Recent staff changes at the Securities and Exchange Commission, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and on the staff of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid illustrate the trend. (New York Times)

NEWS ROUNDUP:

• David Axelrod, former Obama chief campaign strategist and current NBC News talking head, went on a twitter rant against money in politics that implied he would support unlimited, disclosed donations to candidates if it meant the end of super PACs and other outside groups. (Politico)
• It seems that Newt Gingrich has joined the Tea Party's war against Karl Rove and other pragmatic Republicans. Gingrich attacked the idea of using super PACs and other unlimited spending groups to promote more moderate, electable candidates saying "we don't want to become a party in which a handful of...bosses gather up money from billionaires in order to destroy the candidates which they don't like." (Washington Post)
• As the Supreme Court prepares to consider another case that could continue to erode limits on campaign giving, National Journal explores the possible implications of a decision in favor of the RNC and donor Shaun McCutcheon.(National Journal)
• The Department of Justice and Securities and Exchange Commission have dropped a probe into allegations that Minessota-based 3M violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. The company had disclosed, and investigated, possible violations at a subsidiary in Tureky. (Wall Street Journal)
• Oakland, CA is doing its best to out due its neighbor San Francisco in the open government arena, even if San Fran does have better PR. Oakland has a growing and robust open government community and is getting buy in from the local government. (Govfresh)
• The race to replace disgraced Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., who plead guilty to campaign finance violations, has attracted almost $3 million in outside spending, most of it from New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg's super PAC. (Public Integrity)

NEWS ROUNDUP:

• The video game Minecraft is being combined with open data to allow citizens to "hack" their cities. Real-life locations can be created and edited within the game. (Tech President)
• The International Budget Partnership recently released the latest edition of their Open Budget Survey, tracking spending transparency around the world. 77 out of 100 countries failed to meet the survey's standards. (Huffington Post)
• The Supreme Court has agreed to consider a case challenging the limit on how much an individual can donate to political candidates or parties over the course of an election cycle. The Republican National Committee teamed up with a wealthy Alabama donor, Shaun McCutcheon, to bring the case. (Roll Call)
• It appears Rufus Gifford, who led President Obama's mammoth reelection fundraising efforts is going to rewarded for a job well done. Obama is rumored to be considering tapping the longtime fundraiser and gay rights advocate to serve as ambassador to Denmark. (Washington Post)
• Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington is suing the IRS, claiming that the agencies regulations for politically active nonprofit groups are currently out of line with tax law. (Roll Call)
• A number of government watchdogs are expressing their concern that the President's recent silence on campaign finance reform, combined with the creation of a group able to raise and spend unlimited funds from the remnants on his campaign apparatus, have resulted in a system over-ripe for corruption. (The Hill)

NEWS ROUNDUP:

• Both major Democratic candidates vying to fill the Massachusetts Senate seat recently vacated by Secretary of State John Kerry have taken a page from previous contenders Elizabeth Warren and Scott Brown and signed the "peoples pledge" to try and keep outside money out of their race. However, their Republican counterpart has refused to sign. (Common Cause)
• Changes in Yemen's government that came in 2011 have led to firsts in the way that citizens interact with their leaders. Last October, a series of live televised town hall meetings allowed citizens to discuss issues with their leaders. (NDI)
• A group of volunteers spread out across Abuja, Nigeria's capital city, to help flesh out the city's presence on Google maps. The planned city is still being built. (Tech President)
• A small group of special interests has spent money over the past decade to push the federal government to track near-earth asteroids and other space objects. The issues is getting fresh scrutiny following a widely publicized meteor landing in Russia last week. (Public Integrity)
• Former Representative Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-IL) is set to plead guilty to charges that he illegally spent $750,000 in campaign funds for personal expenses. Some of his purchases include fur coats, flashy watches, and Bruce Lee memorabilia. (Politico)
• Opinion: The People's Pledge taken by Elizabeth Warren and Scott Brown was effective, leading to a more positive tone and significantly reducing the outside spending in the race. (Politico)

NEWS ROUNDUP:

• The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee has some new members and subcommittee heads. Notably, Claire McCaskill (D-MO) will now have oversight of financial transparency, procurement, and contracting issues. (Federal Computer Week)
• Many major lobbying firms are facing shortfalls in their PACs following the 2012 election compared to previous cycles. The firms appear to have spent big while trying to keep up with the torrent of outside cash that flooded what was the most expensive campaign ever. (Public Integrity)
• Rep. Mike Doyle (D-PA) is planning to re-introduce the Federal Research Public Access Act. The legislation would require researchers who receive federal funds to make their final papers available for free online. Companion legislation will likely be introduced in the Senate. (National Journal)
• The IRS paid $125.4 million to whistleblowers in 2012, significantly more than in 2011. The boost was mostly due to a $104 million payout to former UBS banker and whistleblower Bradley Birkenfeld. Over the past five years the IRS has collected almost $1.5 billion as a result of its whistleblower program. (Wall Street Journal)
• The OMB is pledging to improve the accuracy of spending data on USASpending.gov. Dan Werfel, OMB's Controller, highlighted transparency and the need for standardized data across government at a speech on Wednesday. (Federal Computer Week)

NEWS ROUNDUP:

• Following a major corruption scandal donors withheld nearly $300 million in aid from the Ugandan government. The country will increase domestic borrowing in order to replace the shortfall. (TrustLaw)
• A group of government watchdogs is publicly opposing a request made by a bipartisan group of lawyers to roll back recently adopted changes to the Office of Congressional Ethics' rules and allow for public comment. (Roll Call)
• It's rare for the White House to miss an opportunity to collect data on citizens interested in its actions and last night's State of the Union was no different. The Citizens Response Tool for the 2013 State of the Union allowed citizens to comment on and share parts of the speech provided they cough up their email address. (Politico)
• Iraq is close to finalizing a lobbying contract with the Podesta Group. This will be the first time that Iraq has signed up with a lobbying firm in the post-Saddam Hussein world. (Politico)
• A major wholesaler of helium filled balloons is looking to secure its markets during a serious helium shortage by lobbying Washington. Helium and Balloons Across America has hired the Alpine Group to lobby on its behalf. (Public Integrity)
• President Obama's actions on campaign finance issues have failed to back up his strong rhetoric in the three years following his public criticism of the Supreme Court for its Citizens United decision. (NPR)