Here's another timely reminder that, though the 109th Congress is on its way out the door, the inattention to ethics of its members will remain a subject well into the 110th. The Los Angeles Times reports on official actions and personal enrichment, in which a member of Congress makes something more than a cameo appearance:
With community activists packed into the Monrovia Community Center one winter night in 2000, U.S. Rep. Gary Miller (R-Diamond Bar) implored City Council members to purchase 165 acres he owned in the foothills and turn the land into a wilderness preserve. Continue reading
Weighing in on Reform
Now that the election dust is settling and everyone is talking about reform in Congress, it's time for Sunlight to weigh into that discussion. We comment with some past experience: I've certainly been around the reform bandwagon a couple times (in the campaign finance arena), and so I am cautious about how all the talk will pan out. I know we have to push hard to make sure that reform doesn't settle on some lowest common denominator.
Here's where we are coming from: we strongly believe that greater transparency is an antidote to corruption - the issue that drove most voters this year. We know the public supports reforms that create greater transparency, overwhelmingly in fact, and frankly it would be shocking if lawmakers didn't seize this unique moment to enact reforms that open up their activities to real scrutiny. More transparency for what happens on Capitol Hill will breed more trust with their constituents.
Continue readingOpen Lobbying Report 2
Spoke to: Ron Weich, Senior Policy Person for Reid When: December 12 Where: Short Email exchange About Bills: S 2179, S 2180 About topics: 72 hour rule, Online filing, Lobbying Transparency Relations: I am not an ex-staffer, neice, mother, sister, or other relation to Ron, Reid, or any other Member of Congress, but I have worked with Ron, and respect him.
Continue readingOnline Committee Transparency: Senate Edition
Since determining the online transparency of the committees in the House I figured it would be worthwhile to compile a similar list for the Senate. The Senate committees turned out to be very similar to their counterparts on the House side. Around one-third of the Senate committees provided no access to printed transcripts or audio/video for each committee meeting and only one committee was fully transparent in its access to committee meetings.
Senate Rules (XXVI) require that committee meetings be open to the public and that committees should keep a verbatim account of these meetings:
Continue readingOpen Lobbying Begins: Report 1
One of the priorities Sunlight has for the next Congress is improving public access to information about lobbyists -- who they meet with, who they call, what they call to talk about. Our position is that people who are paid to lobby should report what they lobby about, within 24 hours of the time of the lobbying. I am not a lobbyist per se, but I am paid, and I am lobbying: so, trying to walk the walk, I have already started out with a stumble, being a few hours late. Here's my first report: Spoke to: Ruchi Bowmak, Senior Policy Person for Obama When: December 12 Where: On the phone About Bills: S 2179, S 2180
Continue readingOnline Committee Transparency: House Edition
Following up on the previous post on committee transparency I decided to take a look at the House committee websites to find out how readily available recordings and/or transcripts of committee meetings actually are. Congressional committees are supposed to be transparent and are supposed to make available to the public the full contents of open committee hearings and mark-ups. This, of course, isn’t always the case as we shall see.
Continue readingDick Morris Proposes Banning Some of Congress’s Family Businesses
While it's a little odd see Dick Morris, the former hired gun political advisor of both Bill Clinton and Trent Lott, show an interest in congressional ethics, it's worth noting that among the reforms he proposes (indeed, the top one on his list) is banning campaigns and Political Action Committees from hiring family members of members of Congress. Morris has a pretty long list that includes not just spouses, not just children, but also brothers, cousins, nephews and an in-law:
Those who have hired spouses and family members include: Reps. Richard Pombo (R-Calif.), wife and two brothers; Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), husband’s law firm; Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), wife and step-daughter; John Doolittle (R-Calif.), wife; Ralph Hall (R-Texas), daughter-in-law; Pete Stark (D-Calif.), wife; Buck McKeon (R-Calif.), wife; Ron Lewis (R-Ky.), wife; Bart Stupak (D-Mich.), wife; Jim Costa (D-Calif.), cousin; Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.), wife; Dave Reichert (R-Wash.), nephew; Chris Cannon (R-Utah), three daughters; Lincoln Davis (D-Tenn.), sister-in-law and daughter; Louie Gohmert (R-Texas), wife; Tim Bishop (D-N.Y.), daughter; Bob Filner (D-Calif.), wife; J.D. Hayworth (R-Ariz.), wife; Bob Inglis (R-S.C.), wife; Elton Gallegly (R-Calif.), wife; Sherwood Boehlert (R-N.Y.), wife; John Sweeney (R-N.Y.), wife; Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), wife; Ed Pastor (D-Ariz.), nephew; John Shadegg (R-Ariz.), son; and Howard Berman (D-Calif.), brother Michael’s political consulting firm; Sens. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), son; and Joe Lieberman (D-Conn.), son and daughter during vice presidential race; and ex-Reps. Bob Ney (R-Ohio), wife; and Tom DeLay (R-Texas), wife and daughter.Continue reading
The Good Earmark
Here's a transparency debate for everyone to have: The Iraq Study Group was created by an earmark inserted into a spending bill by Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Va.). Why did he choose the secretive earmarking process to create this important panel?
“The fact is that there were members of Congress who would have opposed it,” Mr. Wolf said. “Should I have allowed that to stop me from doing what was in the best interest of the country?”
Discuss.
Continue readingThe End of Work as We Know It
Today the Washington Post reports that incoming Majority Leader Steny Hoyer plans on making the 110th Congress, y’know, actually work. The 109th Congress, if it finishes up business this week, will have spent the fewest days in session -- the House of Representatives only -- of any other Congress in at least the past 60 years. Now some congressmen are complaining that they might have to -- gasp -- work a five day week.
Congressman Jack Kingston (R-Ga.) apparently is an advocate of a 3-day work week. This is his comment in the Post article, “Keeping us up here eats away at families. Marriages suffer. The Democrats could care less about families -- that's what this says.” This comment ought to be a nominee for the silliest and most embarrassing comment by a professional politician in the past year. (Another comment in this category should be “Dollar Bill” Jefferson’s declaration that he will one day offer an honest excuse for keeping $90,000 in cash in his freezer.)
Continue readingOpen Congress Notes from Roots Camp
This weekend, a few hundred democratic activists came together in DC for Rootscamp, a wiki-organized event to discuss the past and future of progressive online organizing. Congressional transparency was discussed extensively, as reported by Joshua Levy:
At a session called "Opening Up the Congress and Web 2.0," Matt Stoller led a discussion about ways to make the Senate and House more accountable and transparent using new technologies. The goal was to develop a set of recommendations for what congress should do to be more open and accountable using Web 2.0 tools. Many of the ideas discussed were similar to the goals of the Sunlight Foundation. Continue reading
59063
