Ethics embattled Rep. David Rivera faces more ethics problems. — Miami Herald State PAC loophole and the Republican Presidential primary.... View Article
Continue readingOCE report on financial reform shows nexus between fundraising and legislating
On Nov. 24, 2009, Sara Conrad, the fundraising consultant for Rep. Joseph Crowley, D-N.Y., sent an email to Michael Stein, head of government relations for financial services giant Morgan Stanley, inviting him to attend a Dec. 10 fundraising reception for Crowley’s campaign. The email was a follow-up to a prior conversation he had with Crowley’s chief of staff, Kate Winkler, about the Ways and Means Committee member's upcoming campaign events.
Around the same time, Conrad, who worked for Crowley's campaign and not his congressional office, sent several other emails, including similar notes to lobbyists for ...
Continue readingVirginia Thomas and Conflict of Interest
Last week my colleague Bill Allison wrote about the new role of Virginia Thomas, the wife of Supreme Court Justice... View Article
Continue readingConflict minerals comment period delayed under corporate and congressional pressure
After a powerful committee chairman and several corporate interests wrote to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) requesting an extension of the comment period for the agency’s proposed regulations requiring that companies disclose when they use “conflict minerals,” the agency granted the request.
The new regulations are mandated under a little-noticed provision in the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act calling for companies using conflict minerals to disclose whether they were mined by rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) or neighboring countries, where metals such as gold are mined under inhumane conditions and fund war ...
Continue readingEgypt’s Corruption Problem
There are a couple of great articles on the ways in which politics and business meld in Egypt from the... View Article
Continue readingSunlight Foundation Covers Obama’s Chamber of Commerce Speech
This morning the Sunlight Foundation will be covering President Obama’s address to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce using Sunlight Live, our award-winning, real-time, investigative reporting platform.
Sunrise (2/7/11)
EGYPT ENVOY’S BUSINESS TIES TO EGYPTIAN GOVERNMENT —Independent: “Frank Wisner, President Barack Obama’s envoy to Cairo who infuriated the White... View Article
Continue readingSunset
Democratic senator calls in lobbyists to organize against spending cuts. — ABC News When patronage appointments go wrong: Luxembourg addition.... View Article
Continue readingVirginia Thomas’ paperless, pixel-less trail
We'd love to look closer at Liberty Consulting, the new firm started by Virginia Thomas, wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas that Politico reported on today. But as of now (as Politico notes), the consultancy has not registered as a lobbying firm or disclosed any clients, though the firm says it "gives voice to principled citizens and the tea party movement in the halls of Congress through governmental affairs efforts," and whose founder claims, according to Politico, that she "has met with nearly half of the 99 GOP freshmen in the House and Senate." Whether those meetings were ...
Continue readingSunrise (2/4/11)
FCC MAKES OUTSIDE CONTACTS MORE TRANSPARENT —RadioWorld: “The FCC will now require all oral ex parte communications to be documented,... View Article
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