Earlier this week I wrote about a discrepancy between the data in FedBizOpps and the data in USASpending.gov. It was my understanding that all contracts awarded by the government (worth over $25,000) and their solicitations would be reported to FedBizOpps and that the number of the contracts awarded would be in the same neighborhood as the number of contracts that the government reports to USASpending.gov. Instead, I discovered that in 2012 there were only 8,138 award notices and 18,546 solicitation notices in FedBizzOpps, while there were 178,375 contracts reported on in USASpending.gov. At the time of writing that post I was still waiting on a definitive response from the Office of Management and Budget or the General Services Administration.
Continue readingOpenGov Voices: Day of Action on Sunday: Know the influence behind your grocery purchase
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed by the guest blogger and those providing comments are theirs alone and do not reflect the opinions of the Sunlight Foundation or any employee thereof. Sunlight Foundation is not responsible for the accuracy of any of the information within the guest blog.
Szelena Gray is the Executive Director of Rootstrikers, a new generation of activists founded by Lawrence Lessig to take a stand against the corrupting influence of money in politics. Found a good story about corruption? Use #Rootstrikers.
There are many ways to define smart consumerism — including being budget, GMO, organic, or fairtrade conscious. Why not add corruption to the list?
For companies whose products we buy every day, it's business as usual to spend millions of dollars to influence public elections. Yet most Americans don’t shop according to their views on money in politics, and if they would, might not know where to begin. On May 19th, Rootstrikers in fourteen cities across the country will aim to change that with a public education campaign about the money that flows into politics from some of our favorite brands.
Here's the plan: Rootstrikers will head to local consumer haunts and, with the help of a radical new app called BizVizz -- an iPhone app that provides people with data on corporate accountability including taxes, government subsidies and federal campaign contributions -- will shine a light on the connection between our shopping carts and congressional coffers.
BizVizz is powered by Sunlight’s Influence Explorer API with public data from Federal Election Commission filings, IRS filings and other government records.
2Day in #OpenGov 5/17/2013
NEWS:
- A new discussion draft of the Digital Accountability and Transparency Act was released this week, and a bill is expected to follow soon. (FedScoop)
- Project Open Data is already fielding submissions ranging from fixing broken links to policy suggestions. (FedScoop)
- The U.S. CIO said there are anecdotal examples of the economic benefits of open data, but there is no definite tally of open data's impact. (FCW) Continue reading
Final look at outside spenders’ 2012 return on investment
The controversy over the Internal Revenue Service's targeting of Tea Party groups has put a spotlight on the non-profit groups that played such a prominent role in the 2012 campaign. The groups have become popular conduits for political funds because, unlike political action committees, they do not have to disclose donors to the Federal Election Commission. While most of the groups whose applications the IRS slow-walked were relatively small givers, many groups that did land non-profit status gave big. Check out this page to see the "social welfare" non-profits who made political expenditures in the 2012 election cycle. Because of the interest, the Sunlight Foundation has decided to update the Return on Investment feature we first published the day after the election. This analysis looks at more than 100,000 lines of itemized expenditures made by outside spending groups (super PACS as well as 501(c) non profits) and calculates the amount of money that went toward the desired result on Election Day. Our update accounts for updated filings and amendments at the Federal Election Commission and our own data cleanup. For more details on each group listed below click on the “see ROI breakdown” button. You can sort by general election spending, candidate, support or oppose, and election result.
Continue readingIn Washington, After the Oversight Must Come Reform
News that individuals at the IRS improperly targeted certain groups for scrutiny thrust DC’s “House Cleaners” into high gear. Indignant talking points have been drafted, hearings have been announced, and heads will roll. (Already, Acting IRS Commissioner Steve Miller was forced to hand in his resignation). But what happens after the dust settles and is swept away? In terms of public policy about campaign finance transparency, there could be a silver lining, but only if the outrage is channeled into reform efforts. So far, hearings have been scheduled by Representatives Issa and Cummings of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee (who would do well not to lose sight of the “reform” mission embedded in the name of the committee) Representatives Camp and Levin of the House Ways and Means Committee, Senators Baucus and Hatch of the Senate Finance Committee, and by Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigation’s Levin and McCain—the latter the “maverick” reformer who hasn’t put his name on a significant piece of reform legislation since the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002. Each of those Members should acknowledge—during their hearings and beyond—that underlying the IRS actions is the real and dangerous problem of political organizations masquerading as social welfare organizations, impacting elections with hundreds of millions of dollars in dark money expenditures.
Continue reading2016 preview? Three videos by GOP groups all target Hillary Clinton
As the White House released long-sought documents on the Benghazi affair and Republican lawmakers have renewed their criticism of the Obama administration's handling of it, three big Republican groups have all produced videos on the episode that led to the death of an American ambassador. All strike a similar tone and focus on the same target: Hillary Clinton, the former secretary of state whose strong polling numbers make her an early favorite in the 2016 presidential election.
One video comes from the Republican National Committee and two from outside spending groups: American Crossroads, a super PAC, and American Future ...
Continue readingThe Fix-Rate: Integrity Action’s New Transparency and Accountability Impact Metric
Earlier this week Integrity Action’s Fredrik Galtung launched his working paper ‘The Fix-Rate: A Key Metric for Transparency and Accountability’ (PDF). Yesterday my colleague Lee Drutman and I had an interesting conversation about this work with Fredrik, and I wanted to share some thoughts about the Fix-Rate.
With this paper Fredrik and Integrity Action take the position that the anecdote-heavy evidence base linking transparency and accountability interventions needs some more concrete measures. To that end, ‘Fix-Rate’ proposes a metric for measuring impacts, and offers examples of its use in a variety of national and municipal contexts, largely focusing on improvements in public service provisioning and infrastructure projects.
Continue readingHow ex-Det. Guy Bowers became the biggest campaign donor of all
One of the most prolific donors to political candidates running for federal office has no idea that’s his status.
Guy Bowers, a 66-year-old ex-detective who says he owes his fortune to an inheritance and some savvy investing, is not your typical corporate executive often associated with fattening politicians’ campaign accounts.
Yet Bowers was such an enthusiastic donor that he tops a list of perhaps hundreds who appear to have broken a campaign finance law that caps the total amount of money individuals can give federal political candidates and committees in the course of a two-year election cycle. For 2011 ...
2Day in #OpenGov 5/16/2013
NEWS:
- U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder declined to say whether there would be a review of the Department of Justice procedures on searching journalists' records. DOJ has been under scrutiny after the AP revealed the Department had seized more than two months of phone records. (NPR)
- The White House is pushing for a media shield bill that would protect reporters from certain penalties for not revealing confidential sources, among other things. (New York Times)
- Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) said the Senate is working to confirm a commissioner for the IRS, which has lacked a confirmed head since November. (Roll Call)
- The acting commissioner of the IRS resigned on Wednesday at the request of President Obama, several days after an audit revealed the IRS targeted conservative groups for extra scrutiny. (Washington Post) Continue reading
After LDTC, Come Raise a Glass to Open Government!
You're invited to attend a Transparency Happy Hour on Wednesday, May 22, from 5:30-7:30 at Bullfeathers, in Washington, D.C. Join advocates, activists, academics, and staffers for an evening of fun... and the opportunity to unwind after the day's Legislative Data and Transparency Conference!
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