Blog : Sunlight Foundation

Transparent: The Word

by Paul Blumenthal Nov 24, 2009 4:33 pm

I was just having a conversation about the etymology of the word “transparent” with some coworkers. Luckily, the Internet has... View Article

Stimulus grantees cited for poor oversight of federal funds

by Anu Narayanswamy

investigations

Nov 24, 2009 4:32 pm

CarsonCityAirport The Carson City Airport Authority, which has benefited in the last four years from more than $13 million in federal funds, is now slated to receive another $9.6 million in stimulus money, even though an independent auditor cited problems earlier this year with how it manages its federal grants.

The airport authority, which saw a board member resign in 2008 while calling for an independent investigation into the authority's directors, is one of dozens of organizations that received funds from the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act despite having flaws in their management systems. Overall, federal agencies ...

Researchers propose real time analysis of drug safety data

by Nancy Watzman Nov 24, 2009 4:31 pm

Ferreting out safety problems with prescription drugs sooner–such as those that plagued the popular pain medication Vioxx–could be possible if... View Article

Stimulus Leads to Better State Level Reporting

by Paul Blumenthal Nov 24, 2009 12:19 pm

NextGov reports on positive side-effects of the stimulus’ disclosure and transparency provisions: Technology that states have deployed to report how... View Article

Lawmaker Investments and Disclosure Part II

by Paul Blumenthal Nov 23, 2009 3:19 pm

Following up on the previous post, I took a look at the Baird bill (H.R. 682) to require disclosure of... View Article

Lawmaker Investments and Disclosure

by Paul Blumenthal Nov 23, 2009 12:32 pm

According to an article in today’s Washington Post, the number of lawmakers owning and trading stocks has nearly tripled since... View Article

Open Notebook: Flaws in Lobbying Disclosure 3

by Bill Allison

investigations

Nov 20, 2009 4:30 pm

In the half hour since we posted on Service Employee International Union's 2008 political activity and lobbying expenditure numbers, the U.S. Postal Service delivered the copy of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's form 990 that we requested yesterday.

Open Notebook: Flaws in Lobbying Disclosure 2

by Bill Allison

investigations

Nov 20, 2009 4:15 pm

In 2008, according to a federal disclosure form that's available online from the Labor Department, the national headquarters of the Service Employees International Union spent $67 million on political activities and lobbying. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce files an annual report with the Internal Revenue Service that requires it to disclose spending on lobbying activities; the IRS does not post those disclosures online. We requested a copy from the Chamber, which they are sending to us in the mail.