In a first for Congress, Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA) took a video camera and filmed the first user created video from the perspective of a Congressional Committee Chairman. This is an amazing step in the right direction for Congress as they grapple with adopting to new mediums of communication and new technology. Also, I'm glad that Rep. Markey has decided to embed his YouTube video on his member web site and push the envelope as David All and I suggest in the Open House Project section on Member Web Use Restrictions.
Continue readingFeinstein asks for McConnell’s help on S.223
On Monday, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) asked Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) to help her pass S.223, the Senate campaign finance electronic filing bill. McConnell has been abetting a Republican objection to the bill by refusing to reveal information about who in his party does not approve of this no-brainer legislation. While McConnell states that Republican Senators want to offer amendments to the bill he also refuses to identify and describe these amendments. Feinstein is committed to passing this bill and McConnell has said that he supports it. McConnell must meet with Sen. Feinstein to work together to pass this bill without poison pill amendments. Feinstein's letter asks for McConnell to identify to her the amendments that Republican Senators wish to offer. If they have the kind of support that S.223 has than they could be added. If they are controversial, they should go through the regular committee process. This is very simple and fair. Read the letter:
Continue readingMay 10: Open House Project at Heritage Foundation
Update: If you can't attend watch the screencast here.
We are opening the House and changing Congress. This Thursday (May 10) at 10 a.m. the Heritage Foundation is hosting a panel discussion on The Open House Project recommendations. The panel speakers include Sunlight Program Director John Wonderlich, David All of the David All Group, Director of the Center for Media and Public Policy at the Heritage Foundation Robert Bluey, and MyDD's Matt Stoller. The event will no doubt feature some of the most interesting conversation regarding making the House open, accesible, and fit for the 21st century that you will find in Washington, D.C. If you have an interest in the future of politics and the future of Congress you should attend this event. Plus, when else are you going to see Matt Stoller at the Heritage Foundation? You can RSVP here.
Continue readingGo Public With the Objection
The Winston-Salem Journal stands up for openness while Sen. Mitch McConnell and Republican Senators, including the two North Carolina Senators Elizabeth Dole and Richard Burr, continue to block S.223 from passing in a clean, amendment-free fashion. McConnell and a few Republican Senators want to amend the bill to prevent its passage. The Winston-Salem Journal write that the objecting Senator, or Senators, should go "public with his or her objections." What McConnell and his cohort need to understand is that objecting to a bill may be a Senate tradition, "But to do so anonymously is cowardly, and to do so while professing not to be the blocker is deceitful." Tell Mitch McConnell - (202) 224-2541 - to release the names of the objectors and to make any and all amendments available to the public now.
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Senate Republicans Want to Offer Amendments to S.223
Three editorial boards let loose today on Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and the Senate Republican Caucus for blocking the "no-brainer" legislation to require Senator's to electronically file their campaign finance reports. The Lexington Herald-Leader wrote that the Republican block is "but another of those too-clever maneuvers that serve only to undermine public support for Congress." The Baltimore Sun excoriates the entire Senate for failing to pass this simple measure. But the real gem comes in Roll Call's editorial, wherein we learn that, "McConnell told Roll Call that 'a couple of people on my side want to offer an amendment'". If there was ever doubt that this was not an attempt to kill the bill with "poison pill" amendments it ought to have just slithered out of the room. If the Republicans want to have a debate why not make their amendments public and see if they can't reach a deal as Sen. Bennett did when he attempted to attach a controversial amendment to the bill. Call Mitch McConnell - (202) 224-2541 - and let him know you don't appreciate his delaying and blocking techniques. Tell him to release the names of the objecting Senators and to release the details of the amendments he wants to add. Use this comment form to tell us what he says.
Continue readingTime to let citizens cover Congress
The Hill newspaper began a series of Op-Eds today from authors of the Open House Project, a Sunlight sponsored endeavor to make the House of Representatives more open to citizens online and in general. Today’s piece comes from the Heritage Foundation’s Rob Bluey advocating for citizen journalist access to the press gallery in the Capitol. With the expansion of online citizen-generated media over the past few years it sometimes overlooked by those who consume this media how the obstacles created by old media that impedes citizens from observing and reporting on their own government.
Continue readingGive it up McConnell.
Today the Louisville Courier-Journal joins our call for Sen. Mitch McConnell to release the name of the anonymous Senator blocking the passage of S.223. McConnell needs to give the name up and let the bill pass. He has made electronic filing into a partisan issue for no reason except to continue the status quo of wasted tax dollars and hidden campaign contributions. The Courier-Journal calls McConnell out on his dismissal of transparency:
This great defender of dollar-driven politics -- Washington's self-identified champion of money as the constitutional equivalent of speech -- has always insisted the answer is not less cash in campaigns but more transparency. Trust the voters to figure out who is scratching whose back, he says, by making sure they can find out who is giving what to whom.
What's clear, once again, is that Sen. McConnell says one thing and does another. He makes not only Kentucky but the Senate itself look bad.
You can continue to help find the identity of the anonymous Senator here.
Continue readingSilence from McConnell. S.223 Still Blocked.
Yet another day has passed where Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has refused to divulge the name of the anonymous Senator blocking S.223. When will McConnell come clean? You can continue to call your Senators if they are listed below. So far, the only Senator to deny placing the objection is Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA). Are there any other Senators willing to break McConnell's wall of silence?
For the most recent update listen to Sunlight Executive Director Ellen Miller on NPR's Marketplace. We'll keep giving updates as they happen. Keep calling your Senators and let us know what they say in this comment form.
Continue readingMcConnell Won’t Let the Bill Move
Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) refuses to let S.223 - a bill to require that Senators file their campaign finance reports electronically - pass by unanimous consent. Callers to his office receive the same response every time they call. The staffs of McConnell and Sen. Jim Bunning (R-KY), the proxy Senator lodging the objection, say that the identity of the anonymous Senator will be revealed as soon as Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) puts the bill on the schedule. These demands show that, no matter who is objecting to the bill now, McConnell and Bunning will ensure that whenever this bill comes up for unanimous consent some “anonymous” Senator will raise an objection.
Continue readingWatch Bunning Block the Bill
Don't forget to keep calling your Senators and ask if they registered an objection to S.223. Use this comment form to let us know what you find or leave them in the comment thread. Meanwhile, why don't you watch Sens. Feinstein and Feingold denounce the last week's objection right before Sen. Jim Bunning (R-KY) registers yet another anonymous objection.
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