Indiana’s new public access counselor has limited the public’s ability to request and review the email exchanges of government officials.... View Article
Continue readingThe Influence Around Us
For a few months now, Occupy Wall Street (OWS) has been garnering attention and support around a central frustration over... View Article
Continue reading2Day in #OpenGov 12/2/2011
It's Friday! Celebrate the end of the week with a look at transparency-related news items, congressional committee hearings, transparency-related bills introduced in Congress, and transparency-related events. News Roundup: Government
- At a hearing to discuss the STOCK act, experts outlined a number of ways to strengthen the bill and suggested that it might not even be necessary. They were unanimous in calling for an online searchable database of Congressional stock trades. (Roll Call $)
- Conflicting reports about the amount of money the US government spends on nuclear weapons programs have made one thing clear: the government has never been fully open about the costs associated with them. (POGO)
- Opinion: Fix government by creating a new "user interface" for it. (Wall Street Journal)
- Political groups have already spent at least $35 million on the 2012 election and related policy issues. Spending is only expected to increase as the election draws closer. (The Hill)
- Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA) is turning to Wall street and K street for financial help fending off Elizabeth Warren, his 2012 challenger. (iWatchNews)
- The FEC deadlocked on a question of how closely Super PACs and members of Congress are allowed to work together on campaign ads. The non-decision is likely to turn lawmakers off from coordinating too closely with outside groups on advertisements. (National Journal)
- The FEC did decide that members of Congress are not allowed to raise and spend unlimited amounts on behalf of other candidates. The commission unanimously rejected a request by Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) to use his leadership PAC as a Super PAC. (National Journal)
- This week, Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO) expressed concern about the way federal regulators treated AT&T's efforts to merge with T-Mobile. It was revealed yesterday that Blunt's son is registered to lobby for AT&T in Missouri. (National Journal)
Influence Explored: Coakely Sues Big, Influential Banks
Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley filed a lawsuit yesterday against five major U.S. banks for violating the state’s laws to... View Article
Continue readingJ’Accuse…! Sunlight’s PAC Name Generator Inspires Real PACs
Exactly one year ago the Sunlight Foundation unveiled our Political Action Committee (PAC) Name Generator and today we revisit it with some shocking revelations.
Continue readingTools for Transparency: Capture Your Signature with OS X Preview
It’s often the case that your signature is required for various documents, whether paper or PDF, to carry out your... View Article
Continue readingLegacy media bankrolling campaigns of SOPA cosponsors
Traditional big media firms have contributed more than $5 million to the sponsors of the Stop Online Piracy Act, with California Democratic Reps. Howard Berman and Adam Schiff as the top recipients.
The bill, known as SOPA, would strengthen and extend the penalties for online copyright violations, and could force websites hosting pirated content to come down or prevent search engines from sending users their way. Legacy media companies stand to benefit if there's less unlawful movement of their content on the web, like pirated movies and songs for download.
Some of the nation's top tech companies — Facebook ...
2Day in #OpenGov 12/1/2011
Here is Thursday's look at transparency-related news items, congressional committee hearings, transparency-related bills introduced in Congress, and transparency-related events. News Roundup: Campaign Finance
- Super PACs focused on electing or defeating members of Congress are starting to appear. Most notable, Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah) is petitioning the FEC for permission to add a Super PAC component to his leadership PAC. (Washington Post)
- Campaign finance reform groups are pushing back against an effort in the House to end public financing of presidential campaigns and terminate the Election Assistance Commission. (National Journal)
- House Democrats are preparing several campaign finance reform proposals. The are likely to face heavy opposition from Republicans, who argue that limitations on spending infringe on free speech. (The Hill)
- Presidential candidates and President Obama are facing scrutiny over their commitments to transparency. Many of them have touted their records, but stalled or denied access to information when it pleased them. (AP/Yahoo)
- A reporter for Gawker Media has sued the National Archives for refusing a request related to former President George W. Bush. The reporter wanted to find out who sought access to administration documents, but was denied access even though the Archives is known to have the information. (Courthouse News)
- California newspapers are sparring with state lawmakers over the media's right to information about legislative spending. Journalists claim that the state legislature routinely responds to information requests with incomplete and misleading records. (Courthouse News)
- An oversight hearing focused on the 2009 stimulus revealed that easing some reporting requirements could lessen the burden on recipients of stimulus funds, but might result in more fraud and waste. (Nextgov)
- The Chairman of the board charged with overseeing $800 billion in Recovery Act spending is stepping down. Earl Devaney was credited with proactively monitoring funds as opposed to reacting to waste. He is retiring after a long career in federal oversight. (Government Executive)
Another renewable energy loan recipient hires lobbyists, has fundraising ties to Obama
Abound Solar, another participant in the Department of Energy’s loan guarantee program, which is facing scrutiny, has hired Washington lobbyists because of that attention, a company spokesperson said.
The lobbying—by former government officials with ties to Congress and the Department of Energy—started in mid-October, about six weeks after Solyndra, the recipient of a $535 million loan from DOE, filed for bankruptcy. Like Solyndra, one of Abound Solar’s key investors is an Obama fund-raiser, although there is no evidence that the Obama administration favored the companies because of this connection.
The Abound investor is billionaire heiress Pat ...
Continue readingSenate Finally Publishes Its Spending Online, But Could Do Much Better
At long last, the U.S. Senate has begun online publication of how it spends money on itself — barely meeting... View Article
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