Tag Archive: Sunlight Foundation

So Much for That Reform

by Ellen Miller Apr 29, 2008 2:36 pm

Every time I see one of these stories about the failure of "reform" efforts to deliver the goods I don't know whether to tear my hair out or say "I told you so." Politico reports that the new reports filed by lobbyists don't do very much to make it easier to track what's really going on, particularly when it comes to finding out the financial backers of the shadowy coalitions that popup in various high-profile policy debates - usually using lots of expensive TV ads to stir up the grass roots.

According to Jeanne Cummings:

....this first round of reports, which does include some of the more modest new disclosure requirements, represents an inauspicious beginning to what was supposed to be a new age of enlightenment about K Street and Congress.

Duh.

Fix the FEC

by Ellen Miller Apr 29, 2008 12:14 pm

It's wonder no one ever thought of launching a Fix The FEC campaign before. Thanks to CREW it's been done and you can pitch in to help.

There are so many things wrong with this agency that it would be hard for me to even know where to begin, but CREW is focusing on the lack of commissioners which puts the agency's oversight of the current campaigns at a complete standstill, as in nonexistent. And guess who they are blaming? Yup, none other that Sen. "No-Electronic-Filing-for-Senators" Mitch McConnell. The full background is here.

Use their tool to write to Sen. McConnell and tell him what you think about his holding up a vote on the FEC nominees that have a majority supporting them for their appointment. McConnell has a bad habit of stopping the Senate in any attempt to assure better accountability for its work.

Fooling Some of the People All of the Time

by Ellen Miller Apr 29, 2008 10:04 am

Here's another arena in which a little bit of transparency (as a means to oversight) would go a really long way. In what looks like a really terrific book -- Fooling Some of the People All of the Time: A Long Short Story -- investor David Einhorn tells the story of corporate malfeasance and government looking the other way. (Wonder why? Read the book but I suspect this might have something to do with it.

Einhorn says:

The story you are about to read exposes the grim realities of unchecked corporate misconduct by a bad company and the failures of proper regulatory oversight. . . . The story I am telling is one that has been surprising and unexpected - even to me. I think it is important and needs to be told. This book reveals some serious problems in the regulatory landscape that I am in a unique place to discuss. I care that the SEC and other regulators seem to have stopped enforcing laws against corporate malfeasance. I care that company officials can lie with impunity on public conference calls. And I have been appalled that the government officials overseeing the lending programs that Allied has defrauded are so indifferent and unwilling to act even when presented with clear evidence of abuse. The overall lack of law enforcement is startling.
Continue reading

It’s Not What’s Illegal That’s the Problem

by Ellen Miller Apr 25, 2008 6:06 pm

Now this is sweet. Trent Lott, former U.S. senator and Senate Majority Leader and now lobbyist, is using his $1.3 million campaign war chest left over from when he retired from the Senate to make political donations to Members of Congress that vote and take other actions that directly impact the interests of his clients. As the report says, the practice is legal (amazingly so), and he's not the first retiring member to give former colleagues left over campaign funds. It all fits my view of the mix of money and politics: it's not what's illegal that's the real problem.

Lott retired from the Senate in December and then joined former Sen. John Breaux (D -La.) to launch The Breaux-Lott Leadership Group, a Washington lobbying operation. The Associated Press quotes Craig Holman at Public Citizen and a spokesperson from the Center for Responsive Politics as saying Lott's stockpile, $1.1 million at the end of March, is the largest they can remember, and is drawing scrutiny of the Mississippi Republican. The clients he has signed on to promote, the proposed Delta-Northwest airline merger and Northrop Grumman's $35 billion contract to build tanker jets for the Air Force, are drawing attention too.

From the Knight Digital Media Center Conference in LA

by Ellen Miller Apr 24, 2008 3:04 pm

I'm at the Knight Digital Media Center (USC based) here in LA at a training for a few dozen journalists. It's a very impressive group of so-called ‘experts' and journalists who are soaking in the latest in web reporting, analysis, tools, databases and using the web to involve citizens, to enhance their political coverage this year.

This morning's panel on new forms of reporting has some really interesting insights (live-blogging here so forgive any typos or errors).

There is a real appetite for innovative approaches to politics on the web, says Matthew Wait, news technologist from St. Pete Times who starts his presentation by saying that he hates politics. When you don't have a team of seven like the Times does, he suggests crowd sourcing, particularly for local politics. Check out Twine as a local politics meme watcher; Google Docs as a Source Collector. Twitter. Think election day problems for the latter. Long discussion about Polifact which has matured a lot since I first checked it out.

Aron Pilhofer says the NY Times where he leads a team of seven (!) journalist developer types, to work on news-focused, data-drive projects; e.g. ‘web development' at newsroom speed. (I like that! Really like that.)

Congressonal Bad Boys and Girls

by Ellen Miller Apr 24, 2008 12:51 pm

From a cynical, but entertaining Web site that was just pointed out to me:

Over 11,700 Members of Congress have served this great Nation. Overwhelmingly, they have been hard working, dedicated, intelligent, and deserving of the courtesy title "The Honorable." But then there are the Congressional BadBoys, the one-half of one percent, or so, of rotten apples, done in by their all too human frailties. It's the same old story: power, money, booze, drugs, and sex.

Here's the sexual harassement caucus. Those who've gone to jail but still collect their pensions and the full prison caucus. Here's the probation caucus.

You get the picture.

House Passes Contractor and Federal Spending Accountability Act

by Ellen Miller Apr 23, 2008 8:02 pm

From Danielle at POGO:

Breaking news: the House has just passed H.R. 3033 (the "Contractor and Federal Spending Accountability Act"). The bill, introduced by Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), would essentially formalize POGO's Federal Contractor Misconduct Database by establishing a government database with centralized information on federal contractors who have broken the law and violated federal regulations. As of now, there are almost no safeguards in place to prevent irresponsible contractors from receiving future taxpayer dollars. The proposed database would allow procurement officials to become more informed about a company's corporate history before making contracting decisions.
This is a huge victory for taxpayers that will improve contractor accountability. POGO strongly supported Rep. Maloney's legislation, which now goes to the Senate, where Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) has already introduced a companion bill.

Parliament As A Family Business

by Ellen Miller Apr 22, 2008 4:20 pm

Sunlight has never really thought that it was really good idea for elected officials to have their spouses on their payroll. It just raises too many possible conflict of interest questions. Looks like the European Parliament doesn't think it's a very good idea either.

Although the extent to which family members are employed is unclear, it is a common practice among British MEPs which evolved because of the need to run a political office at home, out of normal office hours.

A group inside the Parliament is currently considering the rules for MEPs and their assistants before a final decision is made by parliament's internal political body. Seems like a little research might be in order.

Hat tip: Scott

Atlanta Declaration on the Freedom of Public Information

by Ellen Miller Apr 22, 2008 1:36 pm

Two months ago, the Carter Center hosted an important meeting -- which has just come to my attention -- to discuss the right to public information throughout the world. President Jimmy Carter chaired the International Conference on the Right to Public Information where 125 dignitaries from 40 countries met to discuss the challenge of establishing the right to information throughout the world, and grapple on how this right can be advanced.

The goals of the conference, as stated in the center's briefing book, were to reflect on the current status of the right to public information, consider the impact access to information has on development and governance, and to explore actions that could advance the implementation of public information laws. At the conclusion of the meeting, the participants collaborated on joint statement, the Atlanta Declaration and Plan of Action for the Advancement of the Right of Access to Information, which the center just published a few weeks ago.

watchdog.net

by Ellen Miller Apr 15, 2008 2:38 pm

We are very excited to see a grant from Sunlight Network, our sister 501(c) (4) organization, begin to pay off so quickly. Aaron Swartz announced today the launch of watchdog.net via a post on his blog. His overall goal is to make it as interesting and easy as possible to pull people into politics. He's starting with:

Pull[ing] in data sources from all over -- district demographics, votes, lobbying records, campaign finance reports, etc. -- and let people explore them in one elegant, unified interface. I want this to be one of the most powerful, compelling interfaces for exploring a large data set out there.

But just giving people information isn't enough; unless you give them an opportunity to do something about it, it will just make them more apathetic. So the second part of the site is building tools to let people take action: write or call your representative, send a note to local papers, post a story about something interesting you've found, generate a scorecard for the next election.

And tying these two pieces together will be a collaborative database of political causes. So on the page about global warming, you'll be able to learn more about the problem and proposed solutions, research the donors and votes on the issue, and see or start a letter-writing campaign.

He's developing the site live, and he's looking for help in putting it all together. We hope you'll give it to him.

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