Journalists often face a problem we at Sunlight run into — dealing with huge piles of government documents sadly trapped... View Article
Continue readingSuspicions of mortgage fraud on the rise
In 2006 and 2007, at least 12 Riverside, Calif., residents with good credit found a real estate investment that seemed too good to be true. All they had to do was fill out a few forms and in return they could expect to receive checks of up to $50,000. The only problem was, the plan was a sham.
And earlier this year, Riverside county authorities finally caught up with the ploy and arrested Jose Ochoa and others accusing them with grand theft for the purported mortgage fraud. He was accused of misusing information from people with good credit to ...
Continue reading2Day in #OpenGov 8/4/2011
Here is Thursday’s look at transparency-related news items, congressional committee hearings, transparency-related bills introduced in Congress, and transparency-related events. News... View Article
Continue readingThe 72 Hour Rule is Still a Good Idea
Dave Weigel points out that the 72 hour rule isn’t enough in a blog post, suggesting that putting bills online... View Article
Continue readingNew House Ethics Committee Report Search Tool
The House Ethics Committee is responsible for investigating and making recommendations on the enforcement of House ethics rules. In an... View Article
Continue readingDebt Ceiling Legislative Action Calendar
We’ve compiled what we hope is a helpful calendar of dates when legislative action is required by the debt ceiling... View Article
Continue readingExamining the USASpending Agency Submissions
We’ve often looked at the macro perspective with this data, but what if we followed the transactions of a single program? Would we be able to understand and follow the data easily and provide citizen oversight, as was the intent of the legislation behind USASpending.gov?
Continue reading2Day in #OpenGov 8/3/2011
Here is Wednesday’s transparency-related news items, congressional committee hearings, transparency-related bills introduced in Congress, and transparency-related events. News Roundup: Government
- David Vitter introduced legislation to impose transparency measures for the special committee created by the Budget Control Act. (Huffington Post)
- Millions of federal court records were ordered to be destroyed to help the judiciary confront budget cuts. The cost of storing the documents is about $6 million annually. (iWatchNews)
- The Faster FOIA Law, previously passed in the Senate but stripped in order to pass a debt ceiling law, was reintroduced and passed in the Senate. (FAS Secrecy Blog)
- A review of the latest report from the newly created National Declassification Center shows that the government has doubled the rate at which it is releasing historical documents. (Federal Computer)
- The CIA has released information about the failed “Bay of Pigs” invasion following a FOIA request by the National Security Archive. (Global Research)
- The creation of a “Super Committee” to handle extensive budget negotiations has led to calls make the process and the committee more transparent. (Huffington Post) (Sunlight Blog)
- President Obama will start celebrating his birthday a little early this year with multiple Chicago fundraisers planned for tonight. (Washington Times)
- Law school professor Jonathan Adler presents lobbying as a principal agent problem, asking whether corporate lobbyists really represent the companies that pay their salaries. (National Review)
- Opinion: Public sector lobbying by local and state governments is on the rise and costing tax payers money. (KnoxNews)
- The Project on Government Oversight looks at a case where having someone from the private sector at the SEC may have improved enforcement. (POGO)
- The Federal Register released API tools to allow developers to access data on its website including information about rules and regulations passed by federal agencies. (Information Week)
- A county in Maryland is considering removing requirements for lobbyists to disclose their annual incomes. (Lobby Comply Blog)
- Police in Utah launched a new website to collect anonymous tips online. (GovTech)
- A small village in Illinois has launched a transparency website including information on lobbyists and salaries that will try to make information available to the public before they file FOIA requests. (Orland Park Patch)
- China has promised more openness following a train crash that quickly became a national tragedy that was shrouded in mystery. (Reuters)
“Super Congress”: industry ties to some possible picks
With President Obama’s signature on the bill to raise the debt ceiling, congressional leaders now have 14 days to select the lawmakers who will quickly become the most lobbied politicians in town: the “Super Congress” of twelve lawmakers, six Democrats and six Republicans from both chambers who will be charged with the task of finding $1.5 trillion in cuts or revenue to lower the deficit. Nobody knows yet who will take on this task, but it’s a sure bet that whoever it is will already be in debt themselves -- to the lobbyists and industries who fund their ...
Continue readingOpenSuperCongress: Debt Committee Must be Transparent
Sunlight is ramping up our effort to get the new “Super Congress” committee to be as transparent as they are... View Article
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