We had no idea what a tough task it would be to select a winner for the Mashup Contest we announced two months ago as a way to honor Sunshine Week, but it was. We had about a dozen fabulous entries - some very complex and sophisticated, some less so, but every single one of them was very effective. The staff was certainly glad that the burden for the final choices didn't rest with us.
Today we are announcing the winner is a mashup called "Unfluence". "Unfluence" was submitted as an entry by Greg Michalec and Skye Bender-deMoll. And while their mashup actually uses state campaign finance data (and the APIs developed by a Sunlight grantee - the Institute of on State Money and Politics), it is clear that the underlying code is directly applicable to federal politicians. In fact, the Center for Responsive Politics has been experimenting with similar network mapping. The more data that's available both from the government and the nonprofit sector in mashable forms, the more data can be examined from different perspectives and the more we know about Congress.
Continue readingAir Force Logs of Correspondence
We received a response from the Air Force yesterday for the congressional correspondence logs, both for our first request, for logs in January and February, and the second, for March.
After reading the list, I emailed the Air Force and asked for copies of some of the letters and responses for some on the list. On the March list, there a bunch of letters written by members of Congress to the Secretary of the Air Force regarding the CSAR-X contract given to Boeing. (That's the same issue that McCain wrote the Air Force about.) Although it ...
Continue readingFact checking allegations of corruption
(Note: After posting this piece, I had an email exchange with Peter Byrne. I am adding some of the information he provided, in his words, and responding as well. New material can be found by searching for the words "new material". I also moved the disclosure statement to the top of the post. In many ways this post is now moot, as Byrne clarified what he meant in his article--see here.) One of the few downsides of the Internet age is that inaccurate information and completely unsubstantiated allegations can be dressed up as an "investigative" expose and then be recycled over and over, regardless of how wildly unfounded they are. Such is the case with this piece that ran in some small California weeklies that, on the basis of what appears to be no evidence at all, alleges serious ethical improprieties by Sen. Dianne Feinstein. The story has been recycled by David Keene, who writes a column for the Hill, and subsequently picked up by various blogs. I should note right away (this disclosure was originally at the bottom of this lengthy piece) that I got interested in this story because it prominently mentions the Sunlight Foundation's co-founder, Michael Klein. Mike can speak for himself (as he already did in response to the article). I limited my review to the central allegation of the article, and asked whether I as an editor would publish it on the basis of the evidence presented. I wouldn't.
Continue readingGo Public With the Objection
The Winston-Salem Journal stands up for openness while Sen. Mitch McConnell and Republican Senators, including the two North Carolina Senators Elizabeth Dole and Richard Burr, continue to block S.223 from passing in a clean, amendment-free fashion. McConnell and a few Republican Senators want to amend the bill to prevent its passage. The Winston-Salem Journal write that the objecting Senator, or Senators, should go "public with his or her objections." What McConnell and his cohort need to understand is that objecting to a bill may be a Senate tradition, "But to do so anonymously is cowardly, and to do so while professing not to be the blocker is deceitful." Tell Mitch McConnell - (202) 224-2541 - to release the names of the objectors and to make any and all amendments available to the public now.
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Senate Republicans Want to Offer Amendments to S.223
Three editorial boards let loose today on Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and the Senate Republican Caucus for blocking the "no-brainer" legislation to require Senator's to electronically file their campaign finance reports. The Lexington Herald-Leader wrote that the Republican block is "but another of those too-clever maneuvers that serve only to undermine public support for Congress." The Baltimore Sun excoriates the entire Senate for failing to pass this simple measure. But the real gem comes in Roll Call's editorial, wherein we learn that, "McConnell told Roll Call that 'a couple of people on my side want to offer an amendment'". If there was ever doubt that this was not an attempt to kill the bill with "poison pill" amendments it ought to have just slithered out of the room. If the Republicans want to have a debate why not make their amendments public and see if they can't reach a deal as Sen. Bennett did when he attempted to attach a controversial amendment to the bill. Call Mitch McConnell - (202) 224-2541 - and let him know you don't appreciate his delaying and blocking techniques. Tell him to release the names of the objecting Senators and to release the details of the amendments he wants to add. Use this comment form to tell us what he says.
Continue readingOpenCongress. Open Source.
We are delighted to point you to OpenMass -- a new website that takes ourOpenCongress.org open source framework and applies it to Massachusetts legislation, legislators and news about issues in the state. As they say, imitation is the highest form of flattery. Forty-nine more states to go.
Update: Check out the Open Government movement in Pennsylvania at PassOpenRecords.org where a movement to push for new open records laws appears to be centered. This effort is sponsored by the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association. Join in the conversation.
Continue readingCoast Guard “never requested” Deepwater SF-LLLs
The Coast Guard responded to one of the first Freedom of Information Act requests I made (described here) for an SF-LLL--the disclosures that contractors have to file when they lobby the government in connection with a contract. I asked for any SF-LLLs filed in connection with Deepwater, the multi-year contract to design a new generation of ships and systems for the Coast Guard. Integrated Coast Guard Systems, a joint venture of Lockheed Martin and Northop Grumman, won the contract. Both companies lobbied Congress and the Coast Guard over the program (see page 19 of this form or page 7 of ...
Continue readingTime to let citizens cover Congress
The Hill newspaper began a series of Op-Eds today from authors of the Open House Project, a Sunlight sponsored endeavor to make the House of Representatives more open to citizens online and in general. Today’s piece comes from the Heritage Foundation’s Rob Bluey advocating for citizen journalist access to the press gallery in the Capitol. With the expansion of online citizen-generated media over the past few years it sometimes overlooked by those who consume this media how the obstacles created by old media that impedes citizens from observing and reporting on their own government.
Continue readingGive it up McConnell.
Today the Louisville Courier-Journal joins our call for Sen. Mitch McConnell to release the name of the anonymous Senator blocking the passage of S.223. McConnell needs to give the name up and let the bill pass. He has made electronic filing into a partisan issue for no reason except to continue the status quo of wasted tax dollars and hidden campaign contributions. The Courier-Journal calls McConnell out on his dismissal of transparency:
This great defender of dollar-driven politics -- Washington's self-identified champion of money as the constitutional equivalent of speech -- has always insisted the answer is not less cash in campaigns but more transparency. Trust the voters to figure out who is scratching whose back, he says, by making sure they can find out who is giving what to whom.
What's clear, once again, is that Sen. McConnell says one thing and does another. He makes not only Kentucky but the Senate itself look bad.
You can continue to help find the identity of the anonymous Senator here.
Continue readingSilence from McConnell. S.223 Still Blocked.
Yet another day has passed where Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has refused to divulge the name of the anonymous Senator blocking S.223. When will McConnell come clean? You can continue to call your Senators if they are listed below. So far, the only Senator to deny placing the objection is Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA). Are there any other Senators willing to break McConnell's wall of silence?
For the most recent update listen to Sunlight Executive Director Ellen Miller on NPR's Marketplace. We'll keep giving updates as they happen. Keep calling your Senators and let us know what they say in this comment form.
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