This Sunday was the filing deadline for congressional and presidential second quarter FEC reports. Currently both the FEC and PoliticalMoneyLine are posting these reports in real time. Unfortunately, thanks to Mitch McConnell and other obstructing Republicans, we can’t view Senate campaign finance reports in real time because they aren’t filed electronically. If McConnell and his party would let the Senate Campaign Disclosure Parity Act (S.223) pass we wouldn’t have to wait another couple of months to find out how much our Senators raised and spent. In the meantime, let’s take a look at which members of Congress are caught up paying legal fees.
Congresspedia reports that there are currently 10 members of the House of Representatives under investigation. Not all of the reports have been posted yet, so you will notice that Rep. William Jefferson, who is certain to pay exorbitant legal bills, is not yet listed. Some names that pop up that aren’t on Congresspedia’s list of members under investigation include Don Young and John Boehner. Former Reps. Mark Foley and JD Hayworth clearly saved some money in their campaign accounts for a reason.
Continue readingFriends of Mark Foley: $277,367
Alaskans for Don Young, Inc.: $242,306
JD Hayworth for Congress: $102,126
Hastert for Congress Committee: $59,884
Lewis for Congress Committee: $54,756
Friends of John Boehner: $52,938
John T. Doolittle for Congress: $50,584
Rick Renzi for Congress: $25,000
Alan Mollohan for Congress: $22,671
Tim Murphy for Congress: $6,585
Sunlight Collects Value Added Information Resources
Where can I find information on the contracts awarded to Northrop Grumman Corporation? Once I’ve found that information, where can I find the campaign finance and lobbying information for Northrop Grumman Corporation? Have members of Congress have accepted private travel from Northrop Grumman Corporation or a related association? Is there a profile of those members of Congress? Can I edit that profile with what I might find? Did that member say anything about Northrop Grumman Corporation in the Congressional Record? Are they mentioned in a committee report? Did they benefit from an earmark?
Web sites presenting different kinds of political, civic, and legislative information are distributed throughout the internet. While broad Web searches can be effective, they can also be time consuming and lead to sites of questionable reliability. With the debut of Sunlight’s Insanely Useful Web sites page (always listed in the tabs at the top of every Sunlight page) we're developing a collection of value-added government information databases on the Web.
Continue readingGeorge Miller Taps Web 2.0
As David All and I have written, the rules governing member Web sites are not fit for the 21st Century Web. If the rules were enforced with any regularity, instead of used as a scarecrow to keep members from innovating, then some of the best practices by members on the Web wouldn't be happening. Case in point: Rep. George Miller (D-CA).
Today, George Miller announced a new campaign, called "Ask George," calling on citizens to send videos, through video sharing sites like YouTube, to Miller's office regarding the War in Iraq. Miller's office describes "Ask George" as a "distributed, virtual town hall". Miller also suggests that participants in this conversation "tag" their videos "askgeorge" so that his office can go and find the questions. This way, Miller is the one going out to seek the conversation rather than the citizen or constituent who is usually the one seeking out the congressman.
Upping the Ante on McConnell as Senate Republicans Try Trickery
Who knew a little bill requiring senators to file their campaign finance reports electronically could cause such a problem on Capitol Hill? Today, Senate Republicans under the stewardship of Minority Leader Mitch McConnell tried their hand at a parliamentary trick to add poison pill amendments to S. 223. When Majority Leader Harry Reid tried to move S. 1, the Senate' lobbying reform package, to conference committee Sen. Bob Bennett attempted to add S. 223 while reserving the right to add another amendment. Bennett likely wanted to slip in the same amendment that he tried to add to S.223 when it was in committee. That amendment would allow party committees, like the RNC or the DSCC, to coordinate campaign activities with candidate committees. Bennett's amendment is widely opposed by the majority Democrats and would not only make S. 223's passage impossible in conference or in the House of Representatives, but would endanger the entire lobbying and ethics reform package. Reid scuttled this parliamentary trickery by objecting to Bennett's proposition. The Senate went into convulsions and recessed without advancing S. 1 to conference committee. (There are some conflicting accounts of exactly how this proceeded.))
Since the Senate minority is upping the ante with procedural tricks, the Sunlight Foundation has decided to up the ante on Mitch McConnell. Today, Sunlight announced the extension of the deadline for our campaign to get Mitch McConnell on the record responding to questions about the continued blocking of S. 223. Not only is the deadline extended but the prize money is doubled. You will now receive $1,000 if you are the first to submit a video of McConnell responding to questions about the bill. Check out What's McConnell Hiding? for more details.
Continue readingRead the Bill Legislation Back
In Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 9/11" Rep. John Conyers makes a stunning admission that is actually a widely known fact in Washington. Conyers states that no member of Congress read the Patriot Act before voting for it. In fact most bills aren't read by congressmen or their staff because they aren't released in a timely fashion. Just as stunning to the public, and to many members of Congress, was the outcome of the fight over the 2003 Medicare bill. The bill was introduced moments before an all-night session, preventing legislators from being able to read the bill. The bill passed with most members having no idea of the provisions slipped into the bill and no one knowing the true final cost. More recently, liberal and conservative bloggers have raised the issue of prompt bill release over the immigration bill and free trade agreements.
Just last week, Rep. Brian Baird (D-WA) introduced H. Res. 504, which would require all bills to be posted online 72 hours before they are voted on floor debate begins. This bill would greatly alter the dynamic by which bills are considered in the House. Passage of H. Res. 504 would mean that each piece of legislation will receive greater citizen input and greater scrutiny from the media and from legislators themselves. This bill is an essential piece to changing the way business is done in Washington and changing the dynamic between citizens and their representatives. Last year the bill (then H. Res. 688) was cosponsored by 36 members of Congress. Check out Read the Bill's arguments for why this bill should pass.
A Modern Congress Needs Modern Web Sites
The Hill newspaper ran an Op-Ed written by David All and myself on Tuesday in the Open House Project Op-Ed series. We run down the reasons why member Web sites are often just polished brochures, accessories to the actual functions of the office. First and foremost is the rule regime governing member Web content. These rules date from the early to mid-nineties and do not reflect the current nature of the Internet in the 21st Century. David and I advocate for these rules to be changed and for the Committee on House Administration to create a bipartisan panel to solve the problem. I've been blogging about member Web sites over at the Open House Project blog this week. So far, I've covered Ben Nelson's Google Map of his Iraq CODEL, Jack Kingston's dynamic member site, and the attitude on Capitol Hill in regards to member Web sites. Below the fold I've included the Op-Ed that David and I wrote.
Continue readingGSA Organizes Government Blogs
This week, the General Services Administration introduced a new section to their Web site USA.gov highlighting blogs run by government agencies. Only a few government agencies are getting into the blogging spirit but you can now find them all in one spot. Thinking about joining the Peace Corps.? Now you read the Peace Corp. blog, an aggregator of Peace Corp. Volunteers' own blogs on their experiences. Want to follow the National Endowment for Arts initiative to make reading a central part of American life? Check out The Big Read Blog and follow NEA Literature Director David Kipen as he travels the country. There are a number of other blogs across the government including the Library of Congress blog, the Pandemic Flu Leadership blog, and the GLOBE Program blog. I can't think of a better way to communicate what these agencies are doing than to talk to the public through the blogging platform. Maybe Congress will decide to change the way they communicate some day too.
Continue readingConyers Sets up Web Site for Justice Department Whistleblowers
Congressional investigators are using the Web to ask whistleblowers to come forward in crucial investigations. Today, John Conyers (D-MI), chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, announced a new Web page asking current and former employees of the Justice Department to come forward with any information regarding the politicization of the law enforcement agency. Earlier this year, House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA) introduced a whistleblower e-mail hotline for his committee. This seems like a great way for investigators to connect with executive branch employees with a story to tell. Just as members of Congress can use the Internet to better communicate with citizens, congressional investigators can use the Internet to better connect with whistleblowers.
Continue readingIn Praise of Partisan Politics
I always hear people deriding the partisan politics in Washington. It comes from both sides of the aisle and from a lot political independents. It's also voiced by many Washington elites like David Broder and Dan Balz of the Washington Post. But is it really true? Simply looking at this earmark fiasco in Congress I have to say that partisanship is helping to create more transparency. Now, I fully understand that Rep. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) and Rep. John Boehner (R-OH) have a personal distaste for earmarking - neither of them ever request earmarks - but one cannot deny that Boehner, Flake, and Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-TX) were not making a partisan political decision when they decided to attack Rep. David Obey's (D-WI) plan to hide all earmarks until after conference committee. What Obey was doing was terrible for transparency and openness and the Republicans found an opening in a tough political climate where they could score points with their base and with a larger group of Americans. That's politics. And guess what? This political decision has led a number of congressmen to release their earmark lists to the public for the first time.
Continue readingMembers Take Responsibility for Public Disclosure of Documents
Do two representatives make a trend? Today, Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) posted her personal financial disclosure form on her member Web site. (See it here.) This makes her the second known member of Congress to post their financial disclosure form to their Web site. Last month, Bill blogged about Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) being the first known member to post these documents to their site. As I've explained before, citizens can only get personal financial disclosure forms, the documents that tell you how much your congressman is worth and what assets they own, directly from Congress by travelling to Washington, DC and picking up the hard copies from the Legislative Resource Center (located in the basement of Cannon Office Building). Gillibrand and Issa are doing a much needed service by being personally responsible for the public disclosure of these vital documents.
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