Information Mashing. Don't you just love that term? It's one of the major goals of Sunlight and while we've been working on it for the past couple of months we have a ways to go before it happens in any substantial way. Our goal is simple: integrate in a user-friendly way individual data sets (like campaign contributions, lobbyists and government contracts) that makes the whole larger than the sum of its parts.
We'd like to create something we've dubbed an "Accountability Matrix." A website where, with one click you can look up a major donor and see not just their campaign contributions, but also their lobbying expenditures, the names of members who've flown on their private jet, the names of former congressional staffers they've hired, and so on.
Continue readingConference:
I'm at the Influencing Congress: Scandals, Rules, Ethics, and Politics Conference at the UC Washington Center hearing about the problems on Capitol Hill. Check out the Newswire for what's going on for right now.
Continue readingDefense contractors
Nobody chews through taxpayer dollars faster than the Pentagon, and fully half the money spent on defense goes out the door to private contractors. Who gets that money? What do they provide in return, and how much competition do they face in winning those contracts? You can find out by digging into “Outsourcing the Pentagon” on the website of the Center for Public Integrity.
Continue readingEthics Reform Debate:
I just finished watching the debate on the lobbying and ethics reform bill in the House. Both Joel Hefley (R-CO) and Chris Shays (R-CT) stated their opposition to it, claiming that the bill does not go far enough and voiced their displeasure to a rule instituted by David Dreier (R-CA) that kept certain amendments from being debated on the floor. Hefley stated that he was "not happy with this rule" and that the House was "missing an opportunity". Shays bemoaned his party's failure declaring that they are "losing our moral authority to lead this place." Conservative Mike Pence voiced his support for the bill while attacking government spending as equally troubling problem. I enjoyed his analogy about earmarking, "You can't complain about the sharks when you are holding the bucket of chum." Henry Waxman (D-CA) stated that "Washington is mired in corruption." Vote happening now. 10 minute vote on rule changes. UPDATE: Rules changes win 216-207. I believe that 15 Republicans broke ranks to vote "nay" (my computer video is all blurry). It was actually 12 Republicans - stupid blurry C-Span.
Continue readingTrent Lott’s Fire Extinguisher:
Oil Company Lobbying:
So you want your gas prices to go down? You're going to need a lot of money to counter the oil companies lobbying heft. Political Money Line shows us how much the oil companies spent in lobbying expenses last year:
The final total for the entire industry reaches $33,173,092.
Public Sour on Earmarks?
Instapundit links to an NBC/Wall Street Journal poll that suggests that curtailing earmarks is Americans top priority for their congressmen to do in this legislative session:
Among all Americans, a 39% plurality say the single most important thing for Congress to accomplish this year is curtailing budgetary "earmarks" benefiting only certain constituents.Following on "earmarks" heels is immigration at 32%. Now don't get me wrong I think that earmarking has gotten completely out of control over the last decade, but I have my doubts about this poll. It looks like it might be like those polls that show that the vast majority of Americans believe that the majority of Congressmen and Senators are corrupt, but not the man or woman representing their district or state. The actual quote from the poll is "Prohibiting Members of Congress from directing federal funds to specific projects benefiting only certain constituents". That sounds pretty bad, but when lawmakers tout their ability to steer money to their home district they get a lot of credit from constituents. Check out this article today about Rep. Charles Taylor (R-NC) from today's Ashville Citizen-Times titled "Taylor controversial but effective in U.S. House":
As a 16-year veteran of the House of Representatives, Charles Taylor has generated his fair share of controversy, but he’d much rather talk about money he’s generated for projects in Western North Carolina. “It has been my privilege to secure millions of federal dollars for these efforts through my position on the House Appropriations Committee, and I will continue to do so,” Taylor, a Brevard Republican first elected to Congress in 1990, said in a statement.Taylor is not afraid to talk about his ability to use earmarks for his district. If this poll showed that curtailing earmarks is the top priority of Americans, as it intends to do, then why would Taylor go around talking like this. Wouldn't he be flopping around trying to play to the polls like every lawmaker is doing right now over gas prices? Just my two cents. Continue reading
Top issue
Porkbusters notes a poll from NBC/Wall Street Journal which found that 39 percent of the American people think ending earmarks this session is the top priority for Congress. When you have a Randy Duke Cunningham with a price list for doling out defense dollars, or an Ethics Committee member like Rep. Allan Mollohan seeing nothing questionable about steering a contract to a firm headed by a good friend with whom he co-owns real estate, one can understand why this would leap to the top of American's concerns -- we're not stupid and we don't like to be told that our tax money can be doled out at the discrection of individual members.
Continue readingDay 2
Sunlight's public unveiling yesterday went fabulously. Not only did we get great stories throughout the blogging world and in the Washington Post and Roll Call (subscription required) but we have had several hundred people already register on this site. This morning, I made an appearance on C-SPAN's Washington Journal and got a terrific reception, particuarly from places in between the coasts. And we have lots of folks already getting involved in the Congresspedia, and with our assignment desk, and making comments on our blogs. We are thrilled to have you!
Continue readingIn Blog Daylight:
- Brent Wilkes, co-conspirator #1 in the Duke Cunningham scandal, is going to put a fight, according to TPM Muckaraker, and not plead guilty. That's good news for a bevy of congressmen who call Wilkes a friend. Wilkes would be facing a number of charges in a federal corruption case. And after today's revelations in the Wall Street Journal it looks like that could include being a pimp. As they say, pimpin' ain't easy.
- Boddington at Redstate.org writes about Appropriations Chair Jerry Lewis' (R-CA) attempt to kill the ethics reform bill before the House. Lewis is urging Appropriations members to vote against the reform because of his opposition to the earmark reform in it. Lewis claims that the earmark reform unfairly targets his committee while letting other committees continue to earmark unrestricted. Boddington is highly skeptical of Lewis' argument and quotes Rep. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) who calls Lewis' attempt to change the bill "a poison pill." Continue reading
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