As stated in the note from the Sunlight Foundation′s Board Chair, as of September 2020 the Sunlight Foundation is no longer active. This site is maintained as a static archive only.

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Abramoff: ‘You’ve got to trust me.’

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Over the weekend, Jack Abramoff disputed one of our blog posts.. Since the convicted former lobbyist neither responded to our call for comment before publication nor called us afterwards to point out what he said was our error, we decided to catch up with him Monday night at the National Press Club to ask a few questions.

It was an intriguing evening that featured the disgraced ex-lobbyist trying to out-reform the reformers as well as a potentially explosive allegation that Abramoff had a potential business partner in the Washington press corps.

The setting was a panel on campaign finance reform ...

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Ohio, Tennessee and Georgia see super PAC influx

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Of the nearly $10.7 million dollars in super PAC spending dumped on the super Tuesday states over the last two weeks, three — Ohio, Tennessee and Georgia — account for nearly all of the spending and almost half of the available delegates.

According to Sunlight's super PAC tracker, the race for Ohio and its 66 delegates leads the spending spree with nearly $4.5 million, nearly half of all the super PAC money spent in the past two weeks on super Tuesday states. The biggest spender has been Restore Our Future, which supports former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. That super ...

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2Day in #OpenGov 3/5/2012

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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
  • Many of the defense companies that have donated to the state legislature campaign of Patricia McKeon, wife of Buck McKeon the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, are entering into local California politics for the first time. (Republic Report)
  • The influence of big money on the 2012 elections has cast a light on the dysfunction of the FEC. (Politico)
Government
  • The Obama administration pledged to be the most open and transparent in history. While some progress has been made, critics cite FOIA issues, whistleblower prosecutions, and spotty compliance with open-government plans as examples of the administration's failure to live up to its promises. (Politico)
  • The EPA is joining the ranks of federal agencies who have migrated their websites to the Drupal open source content management. So far 130 federal agencies, 20 House offices, and several dozen state governments have adopted Drupal, with more expected to join. (Federal Computer Week)
International
  • Switzerland, often cited as a model democracy, does not currently have a specific open government data policy. (Open Knowledge Foundation)
  • The Securities and Exchange Commission charged three executives from the Noble Corporation with violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act for their participation in a bribery scheme aimed at obtaining oil permits in Nigeria. (Sahara Reporters)
  • The UK is currently running beta testing on their new government web portal GOV.UK. The portal looks likely to set a new standard. (Gov Fresh)

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Super PACs make Super Tuesday even more… Super

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Heading into super Tuesday, when voters in 10 states go to the polls, super PACs supporting Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum have dumped nearly $10 million into those races. Following the money reveals that half are key battlegrounds.  

According to our Super PAC Tracker, total super PAC spending topped $67.5 million as of Friday, as expenditures continued to mount in Super Tuesday states. The pro-Romney Restore Our Future  has spent slightly more than $5.1 million in five of them: Georgia, Massachusetts, Ohio, Oklahoma and Tennessee. That compares to nearly $3.3 million dropped on five states ...

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On eve of Netanyahu visit, a look at Israel’s lobbying

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday begins a visit to the United States amid tensions surrounding Iran's nuclear program and a report President Obama will urge his Israeli counterpart to postpone a preemptive strike. In addition to Obama, Netanyahu will call on another U.S. power political player, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).

AIPAC, which has been sounding the alarm on Iran, is the largest pro-Israeli lobbying operation, with $2.8 million in lobbying expenditures last year, according to Senate reports, AIPAC  will draw top politicians from both countries to its 2012 Policy Conference. Besides Obama ...

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2Day in #OpenGov 3/2/2012

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Here is the week's final look at transparency-related news items, congressional committee hearings, transparency-related bills introduced in Congress, and transparency-related events. News Roundup:

Campaign Finance
  • President Obama reached a unique milestone on his trip to New York this week. He has now held over 100 fundraisers in less than a year. (New York Times)
  • Major political donors are seeing a return on their investment this election cycle. Many mega-donors are seeing their favorite issues getting play from super PACs and candidates. (Politico)
  • An un-publicized club of large Democratic donors is fighting an internal battle over its shift from funding think-tanks and policy projects to making direct political donations. Some members are threatening to leave the cluband few have personally donated to pro-Obama super PACs. (Politico)
Revolving Door
  • Rep. John Larson (D-CT) lost his chief of staff to Airlines for America. Shelley Rubino will be the group's vice president of global government affairs. (Roll Call)
  • Republican strategist and former hill staffer Ken Lundberg is setting up his own PR shop. Sixth Street Group will focus on health care, energy, and technology issues. (National Journal)
State and Local
  • The 2012 TED prize is being dedicated to the concept of "The City 2.0" and will be distributed to local projects including an online platform to crowdsource ideas for improving the 21st century city. (Tech President)

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