One of our grantees -- Center for Responsive Politics' website http://www.opensecrets.org/ -- has been nominated for the "People's Choice" Webby Award as the best politics site on the Internet. Today is the last day you can vote so please do! OpenSecrets.org is responsible for not only the most comprehensive Congressional and presidential campaign finance databases but also databases that cover Congressional Travel, Personal Financial Disclosure, Lobbying, and the Revolving Door. They've created remarkable tools that many other of our grantees are using to do their work (Full disclosure: I was CRP's Director for 12 years.)
Continue readingMcConnell Won’t Let the Bill Move
Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) refuses to let S.223 - a bill to require that Senators file their campaign finance reports electronically - pass by unanimous consent. Callers to his office receive the same response every time they call. The staffs of McConnell and Sen. Jim Bunning (R-KY), the proxy Senator lodging the objection, say that the identity of the anonymous Senator will be revealed as soon as Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) puts the bill on the schedule. These demands show that, no matter who is objecting to the bill now, McConnell and Bunning will ensure that whenever this bill comes up for unanimous consent some “anonymous” Senator will raise an objection.
Continue readingBureaucratic-ese
There's almost a Lewis Carroll-like quality to the following passage in the Federal Register, (54 FR 52307-8, for those keeping score at home), in which the Office of Management and Budget published its interim rule for complying with the Byrd amendment, which barred government contractors and grantees from using federal funds to lobby (it became effective Dec. 23, 1989):
Costs made specifically unallowable by the requirements in the guidance are not made allowable under any of the provisions of these Circulars. Conversely, costs that are specifically unallowable under the provisions of these Circulars are not made allowable under the ...Continue reading
Happy Anniversary, Sunlight
It would have been a great one year anniversary present to have had the Senate's electronic filing bill pass today, but we're not going to let that rain on our parade as we pause, briefly, to celebrate the one year anniversary of Sunlight's public launch. Just 12 months ago, we announced the start up of Congresspedia and the results of national polling that demonstrated -- overwhelmingly -- the public's support for greater transparency in Congress. We feel like the efforts of our first year have lifted the lid off of what is really possible. Today we marveled at the good luck of the timing of our effort because it seems like our very presence at this time has galvanized more than we ever would have dreamed possible in our first year.
Continue readingWatch Bunning Block the Bill
Don't forget to keep calling your Senators and ask if they registered an objection to S.223. Use this comment form to let us know what you find or leave them in the comment thread. Meanwhile, why don't you watch Sens. Feinstein and Feingold denounce the last week's objection right before Sen. Jim Bunning (R-KY) registers yet another anonymous objection.
Continue readingAnother Objection! S.223 Still Blocked.
Just moments ago, Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI) and Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) attempted to pass S.223, the Senate campaign finance electronic filing bill, for a second time. This time Sen. Jim Bunning (R-KY) announced an anonymous objection to the bill from the Republican side. Since we called every Republican office and found no one to admit to placing the original objection we now know that one or more Senators are lying to their constituents. Let's clarify the language and call every single Republican Senator and ask them if they registered an objection to S.223. Don't ask about secret holds or whether they support the bill. Just ask if the Senator registered an objection to the bill. Get the Senator on the record. Don't take the word of a Staff Assistant. Get the Senator to issue a statement and talk to someone who handles the issue. And don't just call you Senators, - call Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) too. He knows who the liar is and covering them up. If you have a Republican Senator call them now and ask if they are objecting to S.223. Leave your findings in this comment form or in the comment section below. Call numbers are below the fold.
Continue readingA Friend of Campaign Finance Disclosure…or Not?
As one who has followed Sen. Mitch McConnell's stiff opposition to campaign finance reform efforts for many years, I can't help but recall that while McConnell opposed any campaign finance reform efforts he was always a fan of campaign finance disclosure. That's why his current position on the secret hold/objection on the Senate's electronic disclosure bill - I know but I won't tell - is a bit strange. I mean, if he's for disclosure, then he should want to help S. 223 along.
Here's a sampling of some of what he said in 2001 and 2002 in the context of the debate on the McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform law:
Continue readingMitch McConnell Knows Mystery Senator Identity. Call Him.
The Washington Post reports today that Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH), the only non-respondent to queries about an anonymous hold on S.223, is denying that he has a hold on the bill. According to the Post article, Gregg’s spokeswoman Erin Rath states, “As a matter of practice, Senator Gregg does not use secret holds.” When pressed again, Rath stated that Gregg does not have a hold on the bill. Gregg’s denial isn’t the most definitive “no” that we’ve heard so we are still unsure about his status. However, there is one person that everyone knows has the answer to the mystery of the anonymous hold: Mitch McConnell. Call his office and ask him who made an anonymous objection to S.223: (202) 224-2541. Send us your findings through this comment form.
Continue readingGoing Back To An Earlier Post…
on the letter Senator McCain wrote to the Secretary of the Air Force: Here's a copy of it, from the Project on Government Oversight web site. I'm trying to get Air Force's reply to this as well, which again the Senator's office refused to release.
Continue readingDOD misinterpreted the FOIA
A couple of days ago I followed up with DOD about why they denied our FOIA for correspondence logs earlier. Their denial was based on the fact that the records were too large and they wanted us to narrow our request. On talking to them I figured that DOD officials had interpreted our FOIA to include all documents and not just the logs of correspondences. So, they agreed to re-open our FOIA based on this clarification.
Unfortunately, other Agencies have also been misinterpreting out FOIAs, assuming we are asking for copies of the letters and not just the logs.
So ...
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