This week's roundup of deleted tweets from politicians caught in Politwoops starts with a rather stunning error from the campaign of David Perdue, the Republican Senate candidate in Georgia.
Continue readingOffice of Congressional Ethics: Subpoena Steve Stockman
Citing Sunlight reporting, the Office of Congressional Ethics recommends that Rep. Steve Stockman be subpoenaed to testify about potentially illegal campaign contributions.
Continue readingThe STOCK Act and Security through Obscurity
Congress has been delaying implementation of the STOCK Act, largely out of fear over what could happen if disclosures go online. A new report from the National Academy of Public Administration says those fears are well-founded. But its reasoning is flawed, and its recommendations -- which amount to security through obscurity -- are badly wrong-headed. If there are problems with the disclosures mandated by STOCK, let's fix them. Ignoring them and hoping that obscurity will prevent bad things from happening is not only short-sighted, it's dangerous.
Continue readingHouse rules package has new ethics clauses, strange wrinkles
Fresh off taking the oath of office earlier today, the new members of the House of Representatives are about to vote to adopt a set of rules and orders this afternoon. There are a few ethics-related changes that are significant. There are also some unusual new wrinkles.
One welcome change for watchdog groups, including the Sunlight Foundation, is the continuation of the independent Office of Congressional Ethics, which has to be reauthorized by each Congress. The terms of four board members -- Yvonne Burke, Jay Eagen, Karan English and Allison Hayward -- expired at the end of the last Congress but ...
Continue readingSTOCK Act Sausage Making
If ever there were an example of knee-jerk legislating, the STOCK Act may be it. A thoughtful and comprehensive bill, introduced by Rep. Slaughter, languished for years until some bad publicity made Members of Congress decide to “take action.” But in their haste to demonstrate they were responsive to the public’s outcry over allegations of congressional insider trading, Congress passed a watered down version of the bill. Furthermore, since passing the STOCK Act, Congress has twice acted to delay implementation of the bill, citing the risk of unintended consequences of the transparency measures they enacted. The hurry up and wait method of legislating leaves one to wonder what will be disclosed when the sausage making is complete.
Continue readingSunlight Weekly Roundup: New open government law makes “great strides towards increasing transparency”
This week, a comprehensive overhaul of the Georgia’s open government laws unanimously passed the Senate. House Bill 397 will now... View Article
Continue readingSunlight Weekly Roundup: “So much for government transparency”
The Arizona Public Interest Research Group awarded Arizona an A-minus on how it helps taxpayers find information online pertaining to government spending.... View Article
Continue readingOnly Sunlight Can Lift Congress’ Ethics Cloud
Are Members of Congress using inside information gathered as part of their jobs to make financial investments (and get rich…er?)... View Article
Continue readingSunlight Weekly Roundup: New York Govenor Andrew Cuomo launches new website to increase transparency and emphasize citizen engagement
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has made good on his campaign promise to increase his own transparency by launching a... View Article
Continue readingSunlight Weekly Round-up: Florida accidentally deletes public records
Whether it is a top-down issue or the other way round, we can not help but notice a disconnect between... View Article
Continue reading
59063
