Last week, President Obama released an Executive Memorandum providing suggested rules for transparency and accountability surrounding the distribution of funds... View Article
Continue readingFreedom of Information Across the Globe
Obviously, open and easy access to government information is not only essential to democracy here in the United States, it’s... View Article
Continue readingPMA Group investigation, Pacific Northwest edition
David Heath of the Seattle Times reports on PMA Group's contributions to Rep. Norm Dicks and the earmarks he secured for their clients (there's a database for all of Congress here, and Dicks' earmarks are here.)
Congressman Norm Dicks has never been shy about accepting campaign donations from favor seekers.Now the FBI is investigating one of Dicks' most generous donors " the powerhouse lobbying firm PMA Group.
Read the whole thing. This bit really caught my eye:
The sheer volume of donations from PMA lobbyists raises questions. For example, Sandra K. Welch retired from PMA two years ago ...Continue reading
Dodd controversies continue to swirl
Sen. Christopher Dodd is getting criticism from out-of-state ">papers (but note the all the Connecticut residents quoted) over the AIG bonus bungle, but the Hartford Courant ran what might be the most significant story (hat tip: Instapundit, who has a lot more on Dodd):
An executive at mortgage giant Countrywide Financial overrode the company's loan-writing policies to give a discount to Sen. Christopher Dodd, the powerful chairman of the Senate banking committee, according to an internal Countrywide document turned over to congressional investigators and obtained by The Courant.
The Courant notes that the report, some 63 pages long, is ...
Continue readingRedesigning the Government: EPA
Continuing with our redesigning the government project, we have moved on to the EPA. Many of you might ask why we would want to redesign the EPA – it looks like it's been redesigned recently and seems to have a lot of new and up-to-date features. I think what happens with a lot of redesigns is that people start thinking of all the fun things they can add to a site, rather than thinking of the underlying problems and finding good solutions to fit those problems. Good design and good websites aren't just made up of pretty pictures and Web 2.0 features like gradients and podcasts. A good site has structure and organization, and is easy for users to navigate. I think the EPA has started down a good path, and I want to show them that by emphasizing the right things on a page, it makes the content much more accessible and would take their good site and make it a great site.
Continue readingLocal Sunlight
Every week I climb into the depths of the local political blogosphere to find the Sunlight. I use this series... View Article
Continue readingEvery Fundraiser in One Day
Sunlight’s Nancy Watzman posted this over at Party Time last week, but it’s worth posting here. American News Project’s Harry... View Article
Continue readingThe Details on Recovery Lobbying Rules
Last week, the White House released Executive Memorandum instituting new rules for lobbyist disclosure for those seeking funds from the... View Article
Continue readingDodd did it update
Apparently, Geithner did it too. (Previous Dodd did it post here.) As this episode illustrates, there ought to be a better way of tracking whose fingerprints--those of members of Congress, administration officials, lobbyists--are on which parts of what bills.
Continue readingApply New Lobby Rules Across the Board
After posting about President Obama’s announced new lobbying disclosure rules for the recovery funds, Ellen Miller, Sunlight Executive Director and... View Article
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