Back in October we announced that to celebrate our 100th GitHub project we'd be giving away a Kindle (or Gift Certificate) to say thanks to one lucky contributor to our Open Source projects.
If you find yourself with a bit of extra time during this holiday season and want to help make government more transparent please take some time to contribute to one of these projects (or any of the 100 others). In order to be eligible be sure to fill out the entry form.
Continue readingDuo of Republican groups raised $70 million during midterm
The Washington Post has the total amount that was raised by American Crossroads and Crossroads GPS during the 2010 midterms:... View Article
Continue readingDay in Transparency 12/3/2010
Here is Friday’s look at transparency-related news items, congressional committee hearings, transparency-related bills introduced in Congress, and transparency-related events. News Roundup:
- House ethics investigators are looking into why the House Financial Services Committee did not turn over all documents relevant to its investigation of subcommittee chairwoman Maxine Waters. (Washington Post)
- Incoming House Leaders lay out rules changes at a press conference; they changes will be considered by the Republican conference this upcoming Wednesday. (Washington Post) (New York Times)
- Dan Lungren (R-CA) will chair the House Administration Committee. (Roll Call $) (Boehner Press Release)
- 2 Super-PACs raised $70 million since spring. (Washington Post)
- Charlie Rangel censured 333-79. (Politico)
- H. Approps committee’s new digs a sign of less influence? (Politico)
- S. Republican Conference Chairman Lamar Alexander will lay out GOP agenda Friday. (Roll Call $) (Watch video from the Hudson Institute) (Text of Speech)
Peter Orszag and Obama’s ethics pledge
Peter Orszag, the former star director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) during President Barack Obama's first two years, is said to be in talks to join Citigroup. According to the Financial Times, "People familiar with the situation said Mr Orszag, who left the White House team in July, was likely to be offered a position dealing with clients and top government officials rather than running a business." If Orszag were to take such a position it would likely be complicated by an Executive Order signed by President Obama on his first full day in office.
Continue readingEthics broadens Waters probe to examine communications with key committee
The House Ethics Committee is said to have broadened its inquiry into Rep. Maxine Waters by examining whether the Financial Services Committee fully complied with requests to turn over documents. Waters was scheduled to go on trial last month for inappropriately using her position in Congress to aid a bank that her husband had an ownership stake in in receiving money from the government bank bailout fund. That trial was delayed due to the revelation of a new e-mail that could be used as corroborating evidence. The revelation of that e-mail has led to broader questions of whether there is other evidence being withheld. The Washington Post reports:
Four officials, congressional staff members, and others familiar with the probe confirmed on Thursday that her trial was postponed two weeks ago in part to explore the delay in not turning over that e-mail and to examine whether other evidence was withheld. Continue reading
Latest ethics round-up
1) The investigation into Sen. John Ensign’s cuckolding cover-up was dropped by the Justice Department. 2) Two ethics committee staffers... View Article
Continue readingFederal Reserve Loan Program Allowed Bank of America to Benefit Twice
Bank of America was one of several banks that was able to play both sides of a Federal Reserve program launched during the 2008 financial crisis. While Bank of America was selling its assets to firms obtaining loans through the Fed program, the investment firm BlackRock—partially owned by Bank of America—was potentially turning a profit by using those loans to buy assets similar to those sold by Bank of America. In November 2008, the Federal Reserve announced that, in addition to a series of lending programs intended to keep both the U.S. and world economies liquid, it would begin issuing federally backed loans to entities willing to purchase securities from the troubled financial industry through a program called the Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility or TALF.
Continue readingSmall banks continue lobbying winning streak at FDIC
When the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation proposed new rules in early November that would hit big banks harder than small ones when assessing fees for the exhausted deposit insurance fund, community bankers--who had aggressively lobbied first Congress and then in recent months the independent agency--declared victory.
"The FDIC today took an important step in leveling the playing field for the nation's community banks," said Jim McPhee, chairman of the Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA) in a statement at the time. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) meeting logs show that Independent Community Bankers of America representatives met four times with agency officials since August, when the agency first put meeting records on-line in a bid to increase transparency.
Continue readingSunlight Live: Charlie Rangel Censure Vote
The Sunlight Foundation will provide live coverage of the vote to censure Rep. Charlie Rangel through our Sunlight Live platform... View Article
Continue readingForeign agents lobbied on issues raised in Wikileaks cables
As the cache of internal State Department cables released by Julian Assange and Wikileaks.org amply demonstrates, U.S. government officials offer frank opinions about the leaders, policies and political developments in other countries. Another treasure trove of documents, disclosure of which is required by the Foreign Agents Registration Act, shows how foreign governments use Washington lobbyists to challenge those judgments and plead their case in Washington. The Sunlight Foundation Reporting Group, thanks to a grant from ProPublica.org, has digitized and made searchable data from FARA filings. To see all the data, click here.
Disclosures filed in 2009 show ...
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