Our friends at the Center for Responsive Politics have released updated numbers of 2006 lobbying. They note that lobbyists disclosed that they were paid some $2.45 billion in 2006 to influence Congress and the executive branch of government--which amounted to a mere 1.7 percent increase over 2005. The dot-com like surge of lobbyist expenditures of the previous year (from $2.19 billion in 2004 to $2.41 million in 2005, according to the chart) wasn't repeated, but there's also no indication that K Street spending is a bubble about to burst.
Continue readingReport from Sunlight/National Press Club Panel: “Transparency in the First Branch”
Yesterday at the National Press Club, the Sunlight Foundation held a Sunshine Week Event: “Sunshine in the First Branch: How Transparent is Congress?” The panel consisted of Mark Tapscott (Examiner), John Solomon (Washington Post), Jonathan Salant (Bloomberg), Bill Allison (Sunlight), Rafael Degennero (Read the Bill), Matt Stoller (MyDD, Open House Project). The event went incredibly well with a room full of reporters with great questions and a panel with a breadth of knowledge and experience.
Matt Stoller approached transparency from a blogger’s perspective saying that, “Government structure is not always compatible with how the internet works.” John Solomon described investigating the motivation behind decisions, and talked about how the internet is essential in getting a “global view” of how Members of Congress make decisions. Jon Salant talked about how there is surprisingly little financial disclosure information on the internet, and how making this data available and in an easily searchable format could make a big difference. Bill Allison addressed the problems of the woefully inadequate disclosure filings and how little policing there is regarding Congress and Executive communications. Rafael Degennero posed this questions, “If a bill passes the Congress and becomes law and no elected official understood is that democracy?”
Continue readingHouse Considers Transparency Measures
We've been following the progress of a couple of bills making their way through Congress. H.R. 1309 puts a little more teeth in our Freedom of Information Act--the main lever that the press and the public has for prying documents out of the executive branch (and see here for useful FOIA tips maintained by Investigative Reporters & Editors), while S. 223 would, for the first time, require campaign committees of Senate candidates to file their contribution and expenditure information electronically with the Federal Election Commission rather than sending in stacks of paper (both House and Presidential candidates file electronically).
Continue readingSunshine Week Mashup Contest Reminder
To celebrate Sunshine Week, the Sunlight Foundation is offering a $2,000 prize for the best "Web 2.0 Mashup" that displays information about Congress. The deadline is April 15th--we have only one entry so far, so your chances of winning $2000 are high, but start soon! Mashups will be judged on their creativity and how effectively they share information about Congress. We are looking for simple projects: earmarks on a map, vote history displayed in interesting ways, campaign contributions displayed interestingly. See details Continue reading
Action: Senate Electronic Filing Update
Tomorrow at 10 AM the Senate Rules and Administration Committee will hold a hearing on Sen. Russ Feingold's bill to require Senators to file their FEC reports electronically. As documented in many different places this would save taxpayers at least $250,000 and would make tens of millions of dollars in campaign contributions much more accessible and available to journalists, bloggers, and the public at large. It's a win-win. If haven't called your Senator to ask them if they support the bill (S. 223) you should. And report back to us (info@sunlightfoundation.com) about where they stand.
This is the first hearing into the bill which will be followed by a markup in a couple of weeks. The key for this bill to advance is for it to be unencumbered by other campaign finance related amendments. The bill must be reported out amendment-free or else it risks being defeated on the floor in the Senate.
Check out the Campaign Finance Institute for a wealth of research and information into this subject. (I've listed the current co-sponsors and the Rules and Administration committee members below the fold.)
Continue readingFilling the Hole in the Justice Department Doc Dump
Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez claims that mistakes were made, he knew nothing about the actions of his chief of staff, and that he will “assess accountability” at Justice. So far this looks like really poorly orchestrated damage control. That’s the new news. Earlier today the Justice Department released the old news, a document dump of e-mails between Gonzalez’s now ex-chief of staff Kyle Sampson and White House officials including then-White House Counsel Harriet Miers. We know from the Washington Post story, and from McClatchy’s reporting over the weekend, that Sen. Pete Domenici and other New Mexico Republicans were instrumental in getting U.S. Attorney David Iglesias canned. The question is whether this was determined after Iglesias says that Domenici pressured him over indictments.
Continue readingBill on FOIA Expansion in the House
As early as this afternoon, Congress may be considering a bill to promote open government by strengthening FOIA. The Sunlight Foundation will be sending the following letter to Members of the House of Representatives today--we hope you join us and add your voice. To read--and track-- HR 1309, the bill referenced here, follow it on Open Congress.
We are writing in support of the Freedom of Information Act Amendments of 2007 (H.R. 1309). Transparent government is fundamental to democracy. We believe in the important promise of FOIA an open government, with accessible information about government workings. Continue reading
Sunlight Labs celebrate Sunshine Week
In celebration of Sunshine Week the Sunlight Labs have created a make-your-own Top Secret redacted congressional document, magnetic poetry-style. You can move the words and redactions around to create a new document or just browse other people's documents. Have fun!
Panel On Transparency in Congress 2 PM Today
The National Press Club and the Sunlight Foundation are co-sponsoring a panel discussion that promises to be quite lively: What: Sunshine in the First Branch: How Transparent is Congress? When: 2 PM Where: Zenter Room, National Press Club Who: Mark Tapscott (Examiner), John Solomon (Washington Post), Jonathan Salant (Bloomberg), Bill Allison (Sunlight), Rafael Degennero (Read the Bill), Matt Stoller (MyDD, Open House Project). There is still room for attendees-please come and bring questions about how to investigate Congress, and ways in which Congress could be more transparent. The event is in celebration of Sunshine Week.
Continue readingWhite House Fired Attorneys; Domenici Got Iglesias Axed
With two stories out today, one from the New York Times and the other from the Washington Post, we learn that everything the Justice Department told Congress was factually-impaired. Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez claimed that there was nothing political about the firings, except that the President's Counsel Harriet Miers and the President's chief political operative created the list of Attorney's to axe and Justice was in discussions all along. In the beginning the White House wanted to fire all 93 Attorneys only to scale back this plan when it was deemed by Rove to be politically impossible. (For those paying attention that would have included U.S. Attorney for the District of Illinois (Northern) Patrick Fitzgerald, the guy prosecuting a case against the Vice President's right-hand man.)
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