AN ACCOUNTABILITY MOMENT IN BELL, CA —Christian Science Monitor: “It started as a local story about small-city graft but quickly... View Article
Continue readingUSASpending.gov Data Quality — Still Bad?
We at the labs have written about USASpending.gov several times now. We’ve recently been able to make use of their bulk data downloads to regularly populate some of our webapps with federal grants and contracts data. However, we also have an old snapshot of the data that we received in April of 2010. This snapshot was received on a hard drive that we shipped to USASpending engineers -- before the bulk data downloads existed. Thankfully, we don’t have to go through that process anymore. I wondered how the data has changed over the past year. Last year, the USASpending team took a lot of flak for their data quality issues. Has it been improved? I thought I’d take a look back and see how two data snapshots from April 2010 and December 2010 compare.
Continue readingCurrent and former officials intervene on billionaire’s behalf in battle with Peru
Facing a battle with the Peruvian government over a smelting operation that has caused severe environmental damage to a town... View Article
Continue readingAs Renco lobbies and Peru deliberates, Doe Run Peru remains idle
Doe Run Peru, a subsidiary of U.S.-based Renco Group and the subject of an ongoing battle between that firm and the government of Peru, has a bumpy history in La Oroya since it acquired smelting operations from the government of Peru there in 1997. The firm directly provided 3,500 jobs in Peru, gained the support of many workers and local people, and claims to be a more responsible environmental caretaker than its state-owned predecessor.
Yet emissions of lead, sulfur dioxide, and other chemicals were far above the Peruvian air standard while the smelter was operating. In 2005 ...
Continue readingCurrent and former officials intervene on company’s behalf in battle with Peru
Battling the government of Peru over an inactive metal smelter in one of the most polluted places on earth, billionaire Ira Rennert’s Renco Group hired eight former government officials from five lobbying firms in a span of 82 days since November.
Renco signed up a former member of Congress, a former trade official, former congressional staffers and a campaign manager for a high-ranking Senate Republican to plead its case in Washington. In a little less than two months of lobbying, two of those firms have reported receiving $225,000 in fees while attempting to enlist Congress and the Obama ...
Continue readingAnother Revolving Door Problem
Most of our focus here at Sunlight on the revolving door relates to former government officials and lawmakers who leave... View Article
Continue readingSunrise (3/8/11)
SUPREME COURT ELIMINATES FOIA EXEMPTION, EXPANDS TRANSPARENCY —Politico: “The Supreme Court struck a major blow for government transparency Monday by... View Article
Continue readingThere Is No Earmark Moratorium (Cont’d)
As previously stated, there is no earmark moratorium. Politico reports on the joint work of Sen. Jim Inhofe, earmark fan,... View Article
Continue readingBlue Dog Lobbyist Caucus
It appears as though the Blue Dog Caucus, decimated in the 2010 midterms, is reestablishing itself in more comfortable environs.... View Article
Continue readingReminder: “Washington’s Lobbying Fix” event one week from today
A week from today, the Advisory Committee on Transparency will host a panel discussion on lobbying reform, entitled “"Washington’s Lobbying Fix", on 2pm in room 2203 of the Rayburn House Office Building. Our panel of lobbyists, experts, and journalists will discuss the current state of lobbying disclosure, evaluate the need for lobbying reform, and consider proposals for real-time lobbying disclosure.
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