If this keeps up much longer, our friends at OMB Watch are going to have their hand full maintaining the grants side of FedSpending.org. Chris Edwards of the Cato Institute finds that the number subsidy programs listed in the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance has skyrocketed--from 1,013 programs in 1985 to 1,390 in 1995 to 1,696 in 2006.
Continue readingIt’s Campaign Contributions and the Economy, Stupid–or is it?
When I first glanced at it, I didn't quite know what to make of Jim McTague's prediction in Barrons, or his system for arriving at it: that incumbents with big fundraising advantages will win their races. McTague thus argues that the GOP will hold Congress, that incumbents with bad poll numbers or in tight races like Sen. Conrad Burns in Montana or Sen. Robert Menendez in New Jersey will ride their campaign chests to victory, and that raising the most money is a sign of "superior grass-roots support."
Continue readingCitizen Journalists Investigated 435 House Members in less than two days!
Citizen Muckrakers have investigated 437 members of Congress, and tentatively found 19 spouses who were paid by a member's campaign committee-totaling some $641,200 since January 1, 2005. Incredible!--in less than two days, a virtual investigative team dug through campaign finance records for 435 current members of Congress, trying to find out of they paid their spouses from campaign funds. There were 24 of us (myself included--I looked up six members) who left our names, and 83 members investigated by anonymous researchers. I'm not sure whether that's actually 83 individual researchers, or one very industrious but bashful person, or some total in between, but our tech folks should be able to give us some idea of what the actual number of participants was.
Continue readingHoly Cow! 170 in 7 hours!
It's about seven hours since we launched the Congressional Spouse Project, and citizen journalists have investigated 170 members of Congress! Thanks to everyone who's made the effort, and remember--only 265 members to go! Also remember that this is just phase one--we've got plenty more areas to dig into. Stay tuned, and again, thanks to all of you who've gotten us off to such a great start! Update:10:45--about 15 minutes to go to the end of Battlestar Galactica--and we're up to 209 members checked. Incredible!
Continue readingFind out if Congress is a Family Business
Rep. Richard Pombo did it with his wife and his brother. In his 2004 presidential campaign, Sen. Joseph Lieberman did it with his children. Former Majority Leader Tom DeLay did it with his wife and daughter. All have hired relatives to work on their campaigns, paying them salaries out of special interest contributions. Our system of campaign finance is often called "legalized bribery," in which special interests donate tens of thousands of dollars to a member's campaign committee in the hopes of advancing their own issues. Some members of Congress, by hiring their spouses, in effect use their campaign treasury to supplement their own bank accounts. The practice is legal, disclosed in obscure corners of campaign finance reports, and rarely mentioned by those who cover campaigns. And now citizen journalists can investigate it!
Continue readingWhose Substantive Agenda?
Though preferred solutions to these issues might differ, I think that the issues identified in these Gallup polls--which potential voters rank as the most important facing the country, or the most important in determining their votes in the congressional elections, would be hard to argue with: The situation in Iraq, terrorism, the economy & jobs, immigration, education and health care. Right now we are in the midst of the election season, and candidates are, to a greater or lesser extent, putting before the public their views on these issues, while trying, during the last few days that remain on the pre-election legislative calendar, to address some of these concerns (for example, building a wall to deter illegal immigration, adotping new rules governing the treatment of terrorism suspects held by the United States, and approving spending for operations in Iraq and Afghinistan. As citizens, we may or may not agree with what Congress is doing, we might prefer a more robust debate on these issues, we might even have preferred it if members of Congress had begun addressing these concerns much earlier in this legislative session rather than schedule so few working days.
Continue readingGrowing Constituency for Good Government
Earlier in the week, my colleague Paul Blumenthal expressed justifiable dismay over a report in The Washington Post arguing that the ethical problems of Congress--which can be viewed both as failings of individuals and as the product of an institutional inability to come to grips with shady behavior--was having little resonance as an issue in the minds of voters. Paul offered plenty of examples in his post to counter that argument, and more here on the bipartisan, citizen-driven effort to make the doings of elected government officials more accountable to their bosses (that's us citizens, by the way).
Continue readingSpecial Interest Cancels Congressional Perk
Over the weekend, Mike Dorning of the Chicago Tribune reported on the means that one Washington special interest, the National Marine Manufacturers Association, used to influence members of Congress, but noted one very interesting fact. First, the means:
For years, the National Marine Manufacturers Association asked one of its member manufacturers to lend the group's Washington lobbying office the use of a new yacht for the warm-weather months. The purpose was "to help our government relations staff develop relationships with key policy makers," the group's political action committee wrote in a report to members. Continue reading
Another Type of Earmarking?
DailyKos diarist SusanG has stirred quite an examination of temporary duty suspensions--essentially, cuts in the amount of tariff collected by the U.S. government on certain items imported into the United States (there's a fairly good description of the practice here, noted by commenter se portland). SusanG writes that Sen. George Allen, R-Va., has sponsored quite a few duty suspensions for small appliances--certain kinds of toaster ovens, juicers, electric can openers and automatic drip coffeemakers. She adds that some people might say describe such bills as an "egregious waste of Senate space when the country faces such problems as war, national security, energy independence and a tanking economy," adding that perhaps Sen. John Kerry is just such a person, an odd choice really, when one considers that among the temporary duty suspensions that Sen. Kerry has offered one finds various types of golf equipment--including driver heads made of titanium or with plasma welded face plates--as well as basketballs, volleyballs, headphones and high performance speakers.
Continue readingMembers Disclose Finances:
Today the personal financial disclosure forms of members of Congress were released to a public eager to know that they elected people who make vastly more than the average American to rule this country. Who flew your member to some exotic locale? How much property or stock does your member own? Check it out for yourself at Political Money Line. And remember, Duke Cunningham went to jail because of one enterprising journalist who was searching through his financial disclosure and found a real estate deal that just didn't look right. Have at it!
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