In the last 18 months, the House of Representatives has made significant strides towards greater openness and transparency in congressional... View Article
Continue readingImprove Public Access to Legislative Information
Today 30 organizations from across the political spectrum joined together to ask Congress to improve public access to legislative information.... View Article
Continue readingCongress’s Diminishing Budget Strengthens Lobbyist Influence
Yesterday’s Legistorm report on congressional staffers-turned-lobbyists provides more support for the theory that Congress is turning over its work to... View Article
Continue readingE-Gov Funding Up for Consideration by Senate Approps on Wednesday
This Wednesday, the Senate Appropriations Committee will markup legislation that appropriates funding for the electronic government fund. The e-gov fund... View Article
Continue readingH. Approps OKs E-Gov Funding at $13m, Bill Advances to House
The Electronic Government Fund would likely receive around $13m for FY2012 if Congress agrees with today’s 27-21 vote by the... View Article
Continue readingHearing on the House’s Budget Will Not Be Televised (Or Webcast)
Will the American people be able to watch online as members of Congress discuss how much money to spend on... View Article
Continue reading72 Hours for Defense Appropriation Bill
Last week, Congress spent $1.1 trillion tax dollars by combining six pieces of appropriations (“spending”) legislation into one 1,000+ page... View Article
Continue readingNo Time to Read the Bill
Noted curmudgeon David Obey, chair of the House Appropriations Committee, yesterday issued a disobliging statement towards the cause of transparency.... View Article
Continue readingEarmark Reform Faltering
Members of the House Appropriations Committee appear to be balking at the prospect of change in House rules that would attach the names of lawmakers to the earmarks they've inserted into spending bills. As the Times article notes, this rather modest change would apply only to the House (not the Senate), and would exempt defense earmarks (where the real money is) from scrutiny. I've noted before that there are ways around the disclosure provisions proposed in the rules change, which potentially could make it harder to identify who's getting earmarks, because lawmakers could use obscure descriptions--any company incorporated in Harrison, N.Y., in 1923--to avoid the rule's requirement that they take credit for their earmarks. Still, with all it's limitations, this measure would shine a little light on spending bills already drafted but not yet passed--even a modest disclosure measure is better than none.
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