With no debate, minimal discussion and not even a whisper of an objection, the Senate Rules committee yesterday sent S. 375, the Senate Campaign Disclosure Parity Act, to the floor of the Senate by a voice vote. The understated proceedings reflect the nature of the legislation. The Senate Campaign Disclosure Parity Act is, at its core, a technical fix to an antiquated paper filing process. It's not a major change to the law that would require hours of debate. If the Senate were a rational body, the noncontroversial legislation would be enacted immediately and without fanfare. But assuming the Senate is rational is a big “if.”
Continue readingObama Promises Disappear from Web
Change.gov, the website created by the Obama transition team in 2008, has effectively disappeared sometime over the last month. While front splash page for for Change.gov has linked to the main White House website for years, until recently, you could still continue on to see the materials and agenda laid out by the administration. This was a particularly helpful resource for those looking to compare Obama's performance in office against his vision for reform, laid out in detail on Change.gov. According to the Internet Archive, the last time that content (beyond the splash page) was available was June 8th -- last month. Why the change?
Continue reading2Day in #OpenGov 7/25/2013
by Justin Lin, policy intern NEWS:
- The Senate Finance Committee is focused on making sure that the senators' submissions for tax reform are kept secret. All submissions will be sealed from the public until 2064, and in addition, each document will be encrypted so as not to give away the senators' names. Only Max Baucus, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, Orrin Hatch, ranking member, and ten other staffers will be given access to these documents so as to prevent leaks and ensure secrecy. (Politico)
- Some companies are beginning to voluntarily disclose their dark money contributions. Twelve percent of S&P 500 companies voluntarily disclose part of what they contribute to 501 (c)(4) non-profits, and 6.4% of these companies that they don't contribute to 501 (c)(4)'s at all. The Center for Public Accountability's study, which is the "first-of-its-kind", will release the full report laster this month. (Center for Public Integrity)
- Senator John McCain and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell could be poised for more conflicts again. McCain and McConnell have a storied history of battles against one another, and lately, as McCain has been striking deals with the other party, some say McConnell feels his leadership is being subverted. McCain, however, has denied these charges, saying that McConnell has been very involved in negotiations with the other side. (The Hill)
- PRISM, the NSA's data-mining operations that involved major tech corporations, may change its face in the near future. Google and Microsoft have written petitions to FISA (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court) that would allow them to release data on the FISA court orders. However, most of these tech companies have not mentioned much actual legislation reform on surveillance laws (Politico)
- Billionaires Bill Ackman and Carl Ichan are starting to have a lobbying war because of Herbalife, a company Ackman has shorted on the stock market. Ackman has alleged that Herbalife disproportionately targets minorities and has begun lobbying the Congressional Hispanic Caucus to investigate these types of charges. However, Herbalife has also begun lobbying other groups to dispute Ackman's case, making this sure to be a contentious fight. (Politico)
Datafest project opens Uncle Sam’s daily ledger
Michael Keller shows off Treasury.io site at Sunlight offices.
McConnell opponent opens $29K air war
Political rookie Matt Bevin got national press attention earlier this week when he launched a political ad war within hours of announcing his primary challenge to Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell. But we now know the would-be Kentucky giant killer is prepared to put some serious money where his mouth is.
Contracts captured by Sunlight's Political Ad Sleuth show that Bevin already has dropped $29,375 at two Louisville TV stations to buy TV spots over the next two weeks. The figure is the first indication of the financial resources of the GOP challenger: As a just-declared candidate, Bevin ...
Continue readingWhat’s New in the Sunlight Congress API
In January, Sunlight [released a new Congress API](https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/sunlightlabs/r-evxgtFXRw). It's been a huge help to [our own products](http://congress.sunlightfoundation.com/), and seen a great deal of use by the community (such as today's [DefundTheNSA campaign](http://defundthensa.com/)). In the time since, we've released some new data, some new developer-friendly features, and seen lots of community contribution. Here's what's been added over the last few months:
Continue readingNew FEC nominees stress compromise but also nod to their camps
After a Senate committee hearing questioning the two new nominees to the Federal Election Commission Wednesday, both nominees emphasized their willingness to compromise with the other, which would be a far cry from the partisan rancor that has increased at the commission in recent years.
Continue reading2Day in #OpenGov 7/24/2013
by Justin Lin, policy intern NEWS:
- Senators are looking to take up tax reform once more, but unlike the discussions that led to the Tax Reform Act of 1986, this time, the Senators have less agreement. Senator Max Baucus (D-MT), the Chairman of the Committee on Finance, says he expects a markup to take place around the autumn, while House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-MI) is moving with his own ideas on tax reform. (Politico)
- Jo Bonner (R-AL) has announced that he is resigning from Congress on August 2nd in order to take up a job with the University of Alabama. His resignation will lead to a contest between eight potential GOP candidates. It is unknown, however, when the special election will take place since under current Alabama law the special elections are under the discretion of the governor. (Roll Call)
- Majority Leader Harry Reid is criticizing the House for moving the bills piece by piece for immigration reform. Reid claims that the immigration bill, which was not brought to the House floor for a vote, would pass the House and has cited former President Bush as someone who pushed for broad immigration reform. (Politico)
- NSA Director Gen. Keith B. Alexander talked to Republicans and Democrats to prevent legislation that would remove funding for the collection of phone records. This legislation is the first move by Congress to rein in executive power that was vastly expanded as a result of the Patriot Act. Senate chairwoman of the Intelligence Committee Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Saxby Chambliss (R-GA), ranking member of the Senate Intelligence committee, have issued statements opposing such legislation by the House. (New York Times)
Can two new FEC nominees fix a ‘mired’ agency?
Five years after the Senate last approved new members to the nation's election watchdog agency, President Barack Obama's two nominees face their first test Wednesday at a confirmation hearing before the Senate Rules and Administration Committee. And while no opposition has surfaced so far, there remain plenty of questions about whether new members can change an agency that's taking on one-tenth the number of enforcement actions that it did a decade ago.
Obama's two picks for the Federal Election Commission are California regulator Ann Ravel and Virginia lawyer Lee Goodman. Ravel would fill an open Democratic ...
Continue readingGoldman Sachs and the political battle over aluminum
With the Senate Banking Committee already holding hearings over Goldman Sachs’ now-infamous aluminum market manipulations, Slate’s Matt Yglesias wonders if there may be a backlash. He notes that the victims are no longer the diffuse and poorly-organized residents of the mythologized “Main Street.” Instead, they are now the big industrial purchasers of aluminum, notably the big beverage companies and automakers. As Yglesias argues:
The key thing here is that while Goldman Sachs is a big company with political clout in the United States, so is MillerCoors. So is Coca-Cola. So are PepsiCo and the Dr Pepper Snapple Group. So is General Motors. When you get a situation where large industrial firms want the federal government to do something that banks don't to do, then the odds of the banks losing get pretty good.Yglesias has a good point. When resources and clout are substantial on both sides, resources and clout are much less likely to be determinative. When both sides have the money to get in the game, other factors (such as, say, the low public esteem of Goldman Sachs) may turn out to be equally important. Indeed, this could be a fascinating political battle, as business vs. business scraps often are. Who knows how it will play out? What we do know is what the current balance of resources looks like. And the current balance of resources comes down strongly on the side of securities and investment industry.
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