1) The Hill reports that the big banks have increased their lobbying in the first quarter of 2010 from their... View Article
Continue readingBLM fights to keep secret names of ranchers with grazing permits
Public land grazing elicits some pretty damning declarations. Former Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt once called livestock grazing “the most damaging use of public lands.” And conservation groups, like WildEarth Guardians, go further: “Livestock production is the most widespread and destructive activity on . . . western landscapes.”
And yet, little is known about permit holders authorized to graze sheep, cattle, goats, and horses on millions of acres of federal public lands in 16 states.
WildEarth Guardians, based in Sante Fe, N.M., is embroiled in a protracted legal battle to obtain the names of permit holders from the Interior Department ...
How We Spent Tax Day.
Last Thursday the Sunlight Foundation had its first fundraiser in Washington DC. We did this to benefit our Public=Online campaign... View Article
Continue readingNew TARP watchdog report cites poor progress and several fraud investigations
The Office of the Special Inspector General of the Troubles Asset Relief Program (SIGTARP) released a quarterly report today
stating that although, Wall Street is beginning to regain its footing,
Main Street has been showing “disturbingly persistent” signs of
distress.
While, TARP recipients have paid back $180.8 billion, taxpayers are still expected to shoulder a $127 billion loss. The losses incurred come from the $50 billion given to AIG, the $31 billion to the automotive industry and $49 to the housing market.
According to the report even though "the financial system appears to be stabilizing and record profits are ...
Continue readingLocal goverment contractors receive billions in 2010
One of the largest government contracts for 2010 thus far was awarded to two companies in the DC metro area to process non-immigrant visa applications. The $2.8 billion, 10-year State Department contract went to Computer Sciences Corp., a small business based in Laurel, Md., and Stanley Associates based in Arlington, Va.
Computer Sciences Corp. has received more than $1 billion for fiscal year 2010 alone with more than 880 transactions. In 2009, the company received $4.2 billion dollars in federal contracts. So far in fiscal year 2010, Stanley Associates has been awarded $97 million, and in the last ...
Banks, Exchanges Seek to Influence Derivatives Reform
The final piece of the financial regulatory reform puzzle is about to come into place as Sen. Blanche Lincoln released... View Article
Continue readingOGD: VA nurses get second lives
Recruiters have long used video games to sell military service to young people. The armed forces also use games -- er, "computer simulations" -- to train troops for battle. Now the Veterans Affairs Department plans to join the fun by sending its nurses to Second Life.
According to its open government plan, VA health care providers will "virtually practice patient safety techniques" in Second Life's online world, using alternate identities called avatars. The idea is to have providers work through scenarios before they encounter them in the real world.
Screenscraping in the Former Soviet Bloc
A couple of weeks ago I had the chance to go to Georgia and hang out with the folks at the Tbilisi chapter of Transparency International. It was a great opportunity to learn about a part of the world that I was completely unfamiliar with, to share some technical knowledge, and -- somewhat unexpectedly -- to gain some perspective on the work we do at Sunlight.
Local officials say they’re in the dark on dangerous freight rail traffic
Sixty-two cities in the United States have been deemed "high threat urban areas" by the Department of Homeland Security, meaning they’re susceptible to attack by terrorists targeting railroad tank cars loaded with chlorine gas or other deadly poisons. Under a 2007 law, freight rail companies were ordered to analyze their operations in these and other areas and select the "safest and most secure practicable" routes for hazardous cargo.
The analysis is complete, according to the Federal Railroad Administration. But some elected officials and emergency responders say they’re being kept in the dark. "Regulations issued last year give the ...
“Heart of the Matter” Finalist for Journalism Award
We're honored to announce that our investigative piece, "The Heart of the Matter: How Congress and Special Interests Kept Crucial Clinical Trial Data Secret," is a finalist for the NIHCM Foundation's Sixteenth Annual Health Care Journalism Award.
In "Heart of the Matter," we reported on the story of Bray Patrick-Lake, who participated in a clinical trial to test a heart device. After she had the device implanted, the manufacturer canceled the trial. Thanks to a successful lobbying campaign a few years before, the medical device industry had weakened legislation that would have required them to release clinical trial ...
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