Here is Thursday's look at transparency-related news items, congressional committee hearings, transparency-related bills introduced in Congress, and transparency-related events. News Roundup:
Campaign Finance
- Senator John Tester (D-MT) took a cue from Senate candidates in Massachusetts and publicly challenged his Republican opponent, Rep. Denny Rehberg, to sign a pledge publicly rejecting TV and radio ads from third-party groups. (Politico)
- Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI) endorsed Mitt Romney in advance of the Michigan Republican primary. The same morning, Upton had a fundraiser hosted by Romney's campaign lawyer Ben Ginsberg. (Republic Report)
- The U.S. Chamber of Commerce jumped into the 2012 House and Senate elections. The Chamber will spend $10 million to advertise in eight Senate and 12 House races. (National Journal)
- There are currently 12 vacant Inspector General positions across the federal government. Where Are All the Watchdogs tracks the vacancies and provides information on the necessity of IGs. (POGO)
- Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington filed a complaint against Rep. Michael Grimm (R-NY) over allegations that he accepted illegal campaign contributions. The story first came to light as part of a New York Times report. (The Hill)
International
- Users of the Chinese microblogging service Weibos who are located in Beijing are being required to post under their real names or be banned from the service. (Yahoo/Digital Trends)
- South Korean prosecutors indicted a freedom-of-speech activist for retweeting messages from an official North Korean government twitter account. The activist claimed his actions were meant as satire. (Global Voices)
2Day in #OpenGov 2/8/2012
Here is Wednesday's look at transparency-related news items, congressional committee hearings, transparency-related bills introduced in Congress, and transparency-related events. News Roundup:
Government
- Conference committees, meant to reconcile differences between House and Senate bills, have proved less and less useful in recent years. More often deals are being cut behind closed doors and away from public scrutiny. (Washington Times)
- A new report found that, despite an earmark moratorium, a number of lawmakers directed tax dollars to a variety of programs that benefit their family members and areas near where they own property. (Washington Post)
- An amendment to the STOCK act will require political intelligence professionals to register under the lobbying disclosure law. But, they will not be subject to a cooling off period if they leave the Hill to work for a political intelligence firm. (National Journal)
- Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) hired Blue State Digital's client manager and senior communications strategist, Alex Kellner, to be her new digital director. (Tech President)
International
- Mzalendo is a transparency website dedicated to monitoring the Parliament of Kenya. It has been around for several years, but recently undertook a major overhaul. (My Society)
- Ghana's president, up for reelection this year, is facing a massive corruption scandal that has already led to the resignation of two cabinet ministers. (Sahara Reporters)
2Day in #OpenGov 2/7/2012
Here is Tuesday's take on transparency-related news items, congressional committee hearings, transparency-related bills introduced in Congress, and transparency-related events. News Roundup:
Campaign Finance
- More than a third of advertising related to the presidential race has come from nonprofit groups that can keep their donors secret. (Washington Post)
- Rep. Buck McKeon (R-CA), the chair of the House Armed Services Committee, regularly raises money from the defense industry. This year the industry found another member of his family to court, donating more than $19,000 to his wife Patricia, who is running for a seat in the California Legislature. (Republic Report)
- Former Senator Russ Feingold (D-Minn) a longtime advocate of campaign finance reform, came out strongly against President Obama's decision to promote the super PAC supporting him. (Politico)
- The Department of Energy recently launched a new web portal. They have run into some problems with data access and are still migrating some of their information. Additionally, the DOE has large amounts of information that they do not release to the public. (POGO)
- Federal CTO Aneesh Chopra covered a wide range of topics, including SOPA and open government, in his first major interview since announcing that he will step down. Wednesday is his last day as CTO. (The Atlantic)
International
- Russia is in the process of becoming a full party to the OECD's Anti-Bribery Convention. Bribery has been a problem in Russia for some time. (Transparency International)
2Day in #OpenGov 2/6/2012
Here is the week's first look at transparency-related news items, congressional committee hearings, transparency-related bills introduced in Congress, and transparency-related events. News Roundup:
Campaign Finance
- Rep. Steve Israel (D-NY), chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, expressed his concern over the potential influence of outside spending on Congressional elections this year. (National Journal)
- Two new super PACs were registered last week, both opposed to the growing influence of money in politics. Citizens Against Super PACs intends to raise money and run ads to educate the public about super PACs and support candidates who support a constitutional amendment limiting or banning the groups. (Washington Times)
- Football related organizations have been spending record amounts on lobbying as Congress has stepped up its oversight of the game over the past few years. (Politico)
- Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-GA) is losing his top health aide to the revolving door. Tyler Thompson is leaving Isakson for the health care practice at the Bockorny Group. (National Journal)
International
- Regards Citoyens, a French organization promoting open data, is holding an international conference on opening legislative data. The event will take place July 6-7 in Paris and feature the unveiling of a new legislative evolution monitoring tool. (Open Knowledge Foundation)
- A survey is being conducted, in preparation for the release of the World e-Parliament Report 2012, to measure progress of e-parliament and recent technological developments. (ICT Parliament)
- Following a regime change in 2011, many Tunisian politicians are turning to twitter and other social media to connect with citizens. (Global Voices)
2Day in #OpenGov 2/1/2012
Here is Wednesday's look at transparency-related news items, congressional committee hearings, transparency-related bills introduced in Congress, and transparency-related events. News Roundup:
Campaign Finance
- Barack Obama has relied heavily on bundlers to pull in huge donations for his reelection campaign. Notable new bundlers in the most recent FEC filings are a one-time chief of staff to former President Clinton and "Desperate Housewives" star Eva Longoria. (Washington Times)
- New analysis shows that Stephen Colbert's focus on super PACs have had a real effect on his audience. Search traffic spikes whenever Colbert mentions the groups on his show. Meanwhile, his own super PAC raised over $1 million in 2011. (Washington Post)
- Some major Democratic super PACs and nonprofits reported raising over $19 million last year. This figure puts them far behind the top Republican groups. (iWatch News)
Government
- Federal investigators found that the Air Force illegally retaliated against four whistleblowers who revealed misconduct at the Dover Air Force Base mortuary. The U.S. Office of Special Counsel recommended disciplinary action against three officials accused of retaliation. (Politico)
- Data.gov has seen mixed results with its launch. Some agencies actively post new data sets in machine-readable formats on a regular basis. But, others have lagged behind in making their data accessible. (Government Executive)
- The British government is testing a new web platform. Gov.UK is open source, mobile friendly, and open for feedback. (O'Reilly Radar)
2Day in #OpenGov 1/31/2012
Here is Tuesday's take on transparency-related news items, congressional committee hearings, transparency-related bills introduced in Congress, and transparency-related events. News Roundup:
Campaign Finance
- CREDO Mobile, which donates some of its revenue to progressive causes and supports efforts to repeal Citizens United, launched a super PAC to target 10 Tea Party affiliated lawmakers. (National Journal)
- A study by the Wesleyan Media Project found that outside spending on political ads is up 1,600 % in the Republican primary over the same point in 2008. The surge is contributed, in large part, to the rise of super PACs. (Politico)
- Lobbying and communications firm Venn Squared Communications is holding a cocktail celebration for Sen. Al Franken's (D-Minn) new Chief of Staff. Franken's previous Chief of Staff left for a job with energy company Solazyme, a major client of Venn Squared. (Roll Call $)
- A former special assistant to the president and director of Cabinet communications, Tom Gavin, is leaving the White House to join the Information Technology Industry Council as their vice president for external affairs. (The Hill)
Government
- The Senate voted 93-2 to move forward with debate on the STOCK act. The act is intended to prevent members of Congress from participating in insider trading. (Politico)
- The announcement that U.S. CTO Aneesh Chopra have caused some to worry about the future of the open data movement within the federal government and others to argue that more emphasis should be placed on using data to make government services and operations cheaper and more efficient. (Government Technology)
- 15 members of Germany's Pirate Party, who won seats elections in Berlin last year, are receiving renewed attention following the shutdown of file sharing site Megaupload. The party consists of open-source advocates who hope to create a more transparent government and use online systems to enhance democracy. (Miller-McCune)
2Day in #OpenGov 1/30/2012
Here is the week's first look at transparency-related news items, congressional committee hearings, transparency-related bills introduced in Congress, and transparency-related events. News Roundup:
Campaign Finance
- Democratic politicians have assaulted Republicans over their use of "unlimited secret money" in recent days. At the same time, the party has been working to build their infrastructure to compete with Republicans in the unlimited money race. (Politico)
- So far this election cycle super PACs have been most well known for their negative ad attacks. But, they are beginning to participate in other activities including phone banking, field organizing, polling, and other operations more closely associated with traditional campaigns. Not all candidates are happy about this. (Politico)
- Senator John McCain, a longtime champion of stronger campaign finance rules, attacked the Supreme Court and guaranteed that the influx of unlimited, barely regulated money would lead to scandal. (National Journal)
- A new report found that at least 5 former lawmakers have collected lobbying fees from organizations that they secured earmarks for while in office. (CREW)
- The Obama campaign is sticking to its policy of not accepting donations from registered lobbyists by returning five checks totaling $2,250. The Center for Responsive Politics first shed light on the donations. (The Hill)
- Retired General James Cartwright, who was previously America's second-highest ranking military officer, is joining the board of directors at Raytheon, a major defense contractor. (POGO)
International
- Ethiopian journalist and blogger, Eskinder Nega, has been detained by authorities at least 7 times in the past twenty years. Most recently in September 2011, when he was jailed for publishing a column calling for the government to respect freedom of speech and assembly. (Committee to Protect Journalists)
- Twitter's announcement that they could censor tweets in specific nations where the content might break laws was met with outrage from many around the globe. But, one country, Thailand, has come out in support of the policy. Thailand has blocked more than 1,156 websites for "anti-monarchy" content since December. (AP/Yahoo)
2Day in #OpenGov 1/27/2012
Here is the week's last look at transparency-related news items, congressional committee hearings, transparency-related bills introduced in Congress, and transparency-related events. News Roundup:
Government
- It is being reported that Federal Chief Technology Officer Aneesh Chopra will announce his resignation today. Chopra has served as CTO since 2009. (Fed Scoop)
- The Senate is prepared to act on the STOCK act next week. The act, which President Obama indicated he would sign during his State of the Union Address, aims to ban insider trading by members of congress. (Politico)
Campaign Finance
- The Obama campaign is taking advantage of the SOPA/PIPA fight to raise money in San Francisco. The campaign's top technology advisers will be available to talk to members of the tech community who are willing to donate. (Tech President)
- One of Rick Santorum's major financial backers, and the top donor to the Red White and Blue Fund super PAC that is backing the former Senator in his bid for the Republican nomination, announced that he would continue to provide financial support through nominating contests in February and March. (National Journal)
- The FEC has a page full of interactive maps to track information for the 2012 presidential, senate, and house races. (Lobby Comply)
International
- Twitter announced that it built the capability to remove certain messages from user's timelines based on the laws of their countries. The company expressed their wish to be as transparent as possible about the process and requests to withhold tweets will be posted to Chilling Effects. (Tech President)
- Newt Gingrich released his recent tax returns before his rival Mitt Romney, but he failed to disclose where much of his income came from. (AP/Yahoo)
2Day in #OpenGov 1/26/2012
Here is Thursday's look at transparency-related news items, congressional committee hearings, transparency-related bills introduced in Congress, and transparency-related events. News Roundup:
International
- Two years after a massive earthquake devastated Haiti, the country is still dealing with the ramifications of rampant corruption on the rebuilding process. Transparency International is working to fight this corruption. (Transparency International)
- A former Irish Senator, who became a poster boy for outrageous expense claims throughout the Irish political system, was arrested for allegedly forging receipts from a company that hasn't existed for almost 20 years. (AP/Yahoo)
Presidential Candidates
- New Gingrich and Mitt Romney successfully maneuvered each other into disclosing potentially embarrassing documents. This doesn't necessarily mean that either candidate is committed to transparency in their campaigns or the government. (Fox News)
- Tensions between Hollywood and opponents of SOPA and PIPA in Washington don't seem to have hurt President Obama's ability to raise money from Tinseltown. The Obama Victory Fund is hosting several fundraisers to benefit the President's reelection campaign and the Democratic party in the coming weeks. (The Hill)
Government
- House Democrats are expected to introduce an updated version of the DISCLOSE Act in coming days. The bill will include notable exceptions, originally aimed at placating the NRA, from its original iteration. (Huffington Post)
- Private interests spent freely in 2011 to send members of Congress and their staff on trips. 1,600 privately funded congressional trips were worth more than $5.8 million last year. (Legistorm)
- San Francisco is emerging as a leader in using city data to encourage programmers, activists, and companies to create solutions to make city governments more efficient and effective. (Tech President)
- Longstanding rules on the House press gallery are changing. Journalists are allowed to use laptop computers and smart phones on a trial basis. (Gov Fresh)
2Day in #OpenGov 1/25/2012
Here is Wednesday's look at transparency-related news items, congressional committee hearings, transparency-related bills introduced in Congress, and transparency-related events. News Roundup:
International
- Campaign finance rules and regimes differ around the world. The one constant? A lot of money gets spent on elections. (CNN/Transparency International)
- Canada is moving closer to joining the Open Government Partnership. Their Open Government consultation period closed on January 16 and a summary of findings is scheduled to be published in March. (Fierce Government)
Government
Lobbying
- A former Lawyer for Newt Gingrich, who advised the politician on how to engage in advocacy without becoming a "lobbyist", is now the director of government affairs at the American Bar Association, which is trying to expand lobbying disclosure rules. (Roll Call $)
- The Justice department is losing two lawyers through the revolving door. Justin Shur, former deputy chief of the Public Integrity Section of the Criminal Division, joined MoloLamken as a partner. Meanwhile, Warren Rosborough, a former trial attorney with the Antitrust Division is joining McDermott Will & Emery as a partner. (The Hill)
- Watchdog group Public Campaign praised President Obama's proposal to ban lobbyists from bundling campaign donations, but noted that it does not go far enough. (National Journal)
Campaign Finance
- President Obama has voluntarily released the names of all his campaign bundlers, while Republican presidential candidates have disclosed only their bundlers who are also registered lobbyists. The information makes for a vivid visualization. (Open Secrets/Center for Responsive Politics)
- Petitions with over 100,000 signatures were submitted to the White House calling for the President to require that federal contractors disclose their political contributions. (Lobby Comply)
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