Today a House subcommittee voted to defund a Federal Communications Commission initiative announced in April that would provide online access to spending for political ads on some local television stations. In the current election cycle, outside spending has already reached record levels, more than doubling what was spent as of the same date in 2008.
The provision, inserted into the financial services appropriations bill, would add to the uncertainty around the FCC's political ad disclosure rule, which is in limbo. The National Association of Broadcasters, a group that represents the major broadcast media companies, sued the FCC to try ...
Continue readingDrone Strikes Against Citizens in Permanent Secrecy?
We can expect that anytime the President deals with something important and consequential that if there is no preset standard... View Article
Continue reading2Day in #OpenGov 6/6/2012
NEWS ROUNDUP Government U.S. CTO lauds application of healthcare data: US CTO Todd Park, a keynote speaker at the third... View Article
Continue readingZynga places bet on lobbyists, hires two D.C. firms
Following a familiar path for high tech companies, social networking game platform Zynga has hired its first Washington lobbyists, filings with the Senate Office of Public Records show. The company seeks to influence legislation "pertaining to regulation and taxation of Internet gambling" as well as online privacy policy.
Zynga, whose share price has fallen recently, develops games for online sites like Facebook and for mobile devices. The company's prospectus, filed with Securities and Exchange Commission on March 23, notes that some of their games, including Zynga Poker, "may become subject to gambling-related rules and regulations and expose us to ...
Continue readingRealtors take out big mortgage on California House race
Tuesday's contest in California's 31st Congressional District morphed into the biggest outside money spending spree of any House primary so far, thanks a massive influx of funds by the National Association of Realtors on behalf of Rep. Gary Miller.
Late unofficial returns from the California Secretary of State's office show that Miller, a seven-term Republican running in a new district, topped a six-person field with nearly 27 percent of the votes cast, winning a slot on November's ballot. Because of a new California primary system that sends the top two finishers in a free-for-all primary to ...
Continue readingIssa Offers #FreeTHOMAS Amendment to Leg Approps Bill
Rep. Darrell Issa has offered an amendment that would require bulk access to legislative data as part of the Legislative... View Article
Continue readingMedia Spotlight on Congress Stalling Open Access to Legislation
The media's magnifying glass is concentrating attention on actions by the House Appropriations Committee that could stall progress on the public's access to legislative information.
Continue readingSuper PACs loom large in today’s primaries in California, New Mexico, Montana
As voters go to the polls in six states today, super PACs and other outside groups are playing an outsize role in some of the high profile contests, as incumbent members of Congress square off against other incumbents due to redistricting, special interests duke it out in one district, and Democrats try to avoid being beaten out by an indepedent for the fall ballot. Here's a rundown of some of the spending:
Sherman v. Berman
Thanks to redistricting, one of the most high profile contests pits two House Democrats against each other in California's San Fernando Valley, where ...
Continue reading2Day in #OpenGov 6/5/2012
NEWS ROUNDUP Government DoJ fights disclosure of illegal Watergate wiretaps: The Department of Justice is fighting to keep wiretap recordings related... View Article
Continue readingBulk Access Language Tweaked by Approps
The House Appropriations Committee had apparently tweaked its report language regarding bulk access to legislative information. The report approved by... View Article
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