Since the beginning of the 2005 Jack Abramoff and Duke Cunningham investigations the Justice Department has seen a beefed up Public Integrity Unit dig into a series of scandals involving congressmen, lobbyists, and other public officials. Roll Call reports today that the Justice Department and the Federal Election Commission are pursuing a new rack of investigations into the improper use of campaign funds by a number of campaigns. Thanks to the ever growing amount of money pouring into campaigns this cycle the Justice Department and the FEC are finding embezzlement, theft, and improper payments to be at an all-time high:
In an interview with Roll Call on Monday, Mason elaborated on his statements last week, indicating that half of the agency’s 10 embezzlement cases involve candidate committees, while three involve political action committees and two are political party cases. Of the five candidate committees, he said three belong to first-time candidates. The FEC investigations more than likely involve staffers or volunteers who appear to have stolen money from the campaigns.
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“Turn the camera off!”
The first rule of earmarking is don't talk about earmarking. Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones, the House Ethics Committee Chairwoman, shows how it's done. (hat tip: Air Congress)
Continue readingMaking New Connections
I'm excited to be in New York today to attend Jeff Jarvis' Networked Journalism Conference, and I found it fascinating to read the background statements of many of the participants. When we were asked to pick who we most wanted to meet, I simply refused to pick.
But I am interested in having some talk time with Danny Glover from the National Journal and Air Congress. Included in the site are video clips and podcasts from members of Congress themselves, as well as original content that he mostly produces. The site also posts audio and video about what's going on in Washington from bloggers, MSM journalists, trade associations, watchdog groups and even the executive branch. Sounds like a natural partner for Sunlight.
Continue reading“Wiki the Vote” on Congresspedia
We’re launching something new over at Congresspedia.org today -- "Wiki the Vote," a project to build citizen-written profiles on each and every candidate for Congress in 2008.
This project gives you the tools you need to research candidates and share your knowledge on the records, agendas and influences of congressional incumbents and challengers. We started with nearly 300 basic profiles to be expanded and updated by citizens, journalists and even the campaigns themselves (or those of their opponents). Unlike Wikipedia, people connected to the subjects of articles are free to add to them as long as their contributions are rhetoric-free and comprised of fully documented, verifiable facts. The citizen editors are assisted and fact-checked by professional editors.
The Open Secrets Effect
The man who really introduced me to the power of Internet (long story, see his explanation here) -- Gavin Clabaugh -- reminds us what shining a light into hidden corners of Washington, and mixing the data with a bit of technology and a handful of the Internet (with a little Miller and co-conspirator pixy dust thrown in) can do. He says that the combination may result in nothing short of the power to save democracy from itself. I promise you, Gavin was not sitting at the table when we hatched the idea for Sunlight (though his wife was my communications director when I headed the Center for Responsive Politics, so maybe there's something in the bloodline).
Continue readingThe Favor Factory: Earmarks and Campaign Cash Connections
Internet Brings Candidates to New Territory
Our presidential nomination process (as well as our election process) creates a situation where states with early primaries become more important than the rest. This can leave people that don’t live in these ‘early’ states to feel a little disenfranchised.
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Larry Lessig on Corruption and Public Access to Information
Larry Lessig talks about money in politics, public information on the Internet, political corruption, and gives a shout of to the Sunlight Foundation.
Continue readingNew Reports Shine More Light
Two new reports shine light on waste, corruption and the buying of influence in Washington.
Earlier this week, U.S. PIRG released a report showing how the federal government continues to waste tens of billions in the process of outsourcing work to private companies. "Forgiving Fraud And Failure: Profiles In Federal Contracting" reports on how the feds continue to work with companies that did shoddy work and or were found to have committed fraud.
Last year, the federal government spent $422 billion outsourcing work to private companies, a 100 percent increase since 2000, all with precious little oversight. U.S. PIRG reports that loose rules, lack of competition, and limited accountability are the problems. PIRG's suggestions: increase the disclosure of contract information; increasing competition among multiple bidders; and strengthening the screening of bad actors.
Our friends at POGO have been refining their "Federal Contractor Misconduct Database", a valuable tool for investigative journalists and citizens who want to see the rap sheets on companies our government hires. The fact that these contractors are also large campaign donors just rounds out the equation.
Continue readingWeb 2.Joke
Among millions of MySpace pages there are two pages that deserve a special note. That’s because they promote the DJ sounds of two sitting
These hilarious social “netmocking” pages highlight how political stories and scandals can transcend the typical Hill rags and Alaska Daily News reporting into a social site with millions of users through innovative humor and a little bit of clever production. I’m not a huge MySpace/Facebook person but I don’t think I’ve ever seen fake politician pages made with such a clear focus while promoting the anonymous creators’ music. It probably doesn’t mark some great new trend in Web 2.0 or the Internet, but it is funny.
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