Like Ellen and much of the rest of the Sunlight staff, I spent all day last Friday holed up in a corner of the Mitchell Kapor Foundation in San Francisco, mixing it up with the biggest assemblage of brainiacs that I’ve seen in one room since I left grad school.
The purpose, as Ellen has already written, was to bring together some of the sharpest thinkers in the interactive world of Web 2.0 and hook them up with a few of the good-government groups trying to use the internet as a tool for making politics and government more open, accessible and understandable to everyone.
Continue readingProspects for Ethics Reform in the Next Congress
While Republicans are licking their wounds from the thumping they took this November they might want to take a look back at the dismissive attitude they presented towards lobbying and ethics reform. Take these quotes from Republicans just a scant four months after Jack Abramoff pleaded guilty and Tom DeLay was indicted.
Continue readingODOG
I'm just back in DC after a terrific meeting we co-hosted with the Mitchell Kapor Foundation in San Francisco which was dubbed ODOG - Open Data, Open Government. It was a discussion with many of Sunlight's data-oriented grantees and our friends in the high tech community on how open data and open government can help citizens recreate trust in their elected officials through the magic of the Internet and the new technologies which make information easily understandable and accessible.
The idea for this meeting began many months ago around the time of Sunlight's launch. The initial thought was to bring together the leading providers of public-interest data from Washington and around the country (Center for Responsive Politics, National Institute on State Money and Politics, OMB Watch, among others) with the leading providers of new services, tools and practices that are transforming the web for an introductory session. We thought that collaboration between these two communities could yield huge results in ways to greater transparency in user-accessible ways. We hoped to see the light bulbs turn on in both the communities.
Continue readingObama’s Real Estate Deal and Local Entanglements
In writing about Sen. Barack Obama's real estate dealings with Antoin "Tony" Rezko--a big fundraiser in Illinois politics who's currently under indictmnet for activities including allegedly "shaking down firms" with business before the state--Chicago Sun Times reporter Lynn Sweet draws an important distinction. Local Chicago reporters and columnists--including those from the Tribune (which broke the story), the Sun-Times, local radio and the local Associated Press crew--learn that Obama is involved with Rezko, and start asking hard questions. While other papers pick up the story, they're in essence repeating what the local reporters have dug out.
Continue readingGlobal Transparency Roundup
As the most corrupt country in the world (for business), you might not trust the new Freedom of Information law (passed yesterday) from Nigeria, but the spirit, at least, demonstrates that the thunderstorm of citizen demand for governmental transparency is cross-continental. Among other things, it provides a three year jail sentence for Governmental Officials who destroy documents requested by citizens. In other news, three major organizations (the Justice Initiative, ARTICLE 19, and Access Info Europe) are pushing for the Council of Europe to adopt a strong Freedom of Information Stance, demanding that a proposed information treaty:
Continue readingMurtha: Ethics Reform “Total Crap”
Anti-war darling Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.) is running for Majority Leader in the soon-to-be Demcratic House with a bit of ethics baggage. He's been video taped in the FBI sting ABSCAM back in the 1980s and is a prolific earmarker to defense contractors that hire the lobbying firms the PMA Group and KSA Consulting, which employs his brother Kit. And now Murtha has decided to shovel dirt onto this pile (presumably shoveling from the hole that he is digging). Roll Call reports that in a meeting with Blue Dog Democrats Murtha referred to the ethics reform proposal that Nancy Pelosi (D-Ca.) intends to make the first bill passed in the 110th Congress as "total crap".
Continue readingK Street Readies Itself for the New Regime
One of the popular taglines used by Democratic candidates in this year’s elections was that the Republicans stormed into Washington in 1994 determined to change the way the capital works. Instead, came the punch line, Washington changed them. Links were tightened between the Republican leadership and the lobbyist community. Business groups won major legislative coups. Pet project earmarks exploded. Eventually scandals ensued.
Now, after a swift kick by the voters, the Democrats are back in control and K Street – the heart of the city’s lobbying community – is quickly adjusting to be ready when the new regime takes office in January. A story by Jeff Zeleny in today’s New York Times captures the mood:
Continue readingLooking for a Democrat Lobbyist in all the Wrong Places?
The above document, touting the merits of one Stacey Tallitsch, who lost his bid to represent Louisiana's 1st congressional district, is making the rounds of D.C. lobbying shops today:
Looking for a Democrat Lobbyist? My name is Stacey Tallitsch, a candidate for Congress from the '06 election cycle. If you're interested in finding someone who can work easily and is well known among the new majority, I'd be interested in helping out. Continue reading
Quote of the Day
Newly elected Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) sets out her priorities:
"My No. 1 goal is to not go to jail."
Welcome to Washington!
Continue readingPermanent (Fundraising) Campaign Continues
Today's mail brought an envelope with a pair of fundraiser fliers, both of which were originally faxed out on November 9, 2006--a scant two days after the election (what, these slackers took Wednesday off?) to Washington lobbyists, association heads, and other special interest folks all over town. The one above, from Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., will be held at the offices of O'Connor and Hannan, a firm that represents the likes of Exxon Mobil, General Electric and Lockheed Martin, to name but a few. The flyer asks $500 for individual contributions, $1,000 from PACs to attend the event.
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