Common sense tells you that true earmark reform would be popular with the American people. Politico's Patrick O'Connor highlights polling numbers that backs this up. A fresh Winston Group poll finds that 78 percent of Americans support the disclosure of earmarks. Not terribly surprising...But my question is, what's the other 22 percent thinking?
Congressional Republicans, led by Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) have been holding the Democrats feet to the fire on earmark reform. You don't have to hire a high-dollar political consultant to figure out that crusading against earmark abuse is a good issue for the GOP to regain the fiscal responsible credentials they lost during its years of congressional control.
When the Congress passed the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2007 the Senate short circuited the reform, making sure that their earmarks will not receive meaningful public scrutiny. The Senate needs to read the mood of the public and correct this stunt pronto. Newly-elected Sen. Claire McCaskill proposes that senators be required to list the details of all earmarks they propose on their Websites. This would allow the public to hold their own elected officials accountable for the way tax dollars were being spent. But I don't see that she's introduced legislation to require this yet.Continue reading
Disparity in Earmarks by Race
A recent Congressional Quarterly study analyzed data from Taxpayers for Common Sense and found that when it comes to earmarks there is almost a 2 to 1 difference in dollars going to the districts of white members as to those districts represented by black members. Of the $4.2 billion in earmarks included in bills passed by the House and Senate this year the average white Democrat got $12 million in special projects. Black Democrats got $6.1 million and Hispanic Dems got $5.7 million. Interestingly enough, minorities in the Democratic Caucus got less on average than the $8.7 million that the average Republican secured.
And here's an bizarre solution suggested: members of the Congressional Black Caucus have called on the House leadership to address the disparity. Rep. William Lacy Clay of St. Louis and Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.) of Kansas City suggest expanding the House Appropriations Committee by two members, with both seats going to black reps.
Continue readingNew Reports Shine More Light
Two new reports shine light on waste, corruption and the buying of influence in Washington.
Earlier this week, U.S. PIRG released a report showing how the federal government continues to waste tens of billions in the process of outsourcing work to private companies. "Forgiving Fraud And Failure: Profiles In Federal Contracting" reports on how the feds continue to work with companies that did shoddy work and or were found to have committed fraud.
Last year, the federal government spent $422 billion outsourcing work to private companies, a 100 percent increase since 2000, all with precious little oversight. U.S. PIRG reports that loose rules, lack of competition, and limited accountability are the problems. PIRG's suggestions: increase the disclosure of contract information; increasing competition among multiple bidders; and strengthening the screening of bad actors.
Our friends at POGO have been refining their "Federal Contractor Misconduct Database", a valuable tool for investigative journalists and citizens who want to see the rap sheets on companies our government hires. The fact that these contractors are also large campaign donors just rounds out the equation.
Continue readingAnd the FEC May Still Get Better
Last week it seemed almost inevitable that Hans Von Spakovsky, a nominee to the Federal Election Commission and former Justice Department employee with a track record of minority voter suppression, would sail through the Senate after he was reported out of the Rules and Administration Committee in a block with the other three FEC nominees. Sen. Mitch McConnell wanted the group of four voted on as a package in the full Senate as well and Majority Leader Sen. Harry Reid looked to be acquiescing to these demands.
The Unanimous Consent vote was expected to happen today but a group of Democrats, led by Sen. Russ Feingold and Sen. Barack Obama, has decided to throw a wrench into these plans. Feingold and Obama are not only demanding that Von Spakovsky receive a separate vote from the other FEC candidates -- much like Bradley Smith did back in 2000 -- but that he reach the 60 vote threshold that has become increasingly the norm in the Senate. Sources say that other Senators are joining this cause including Sen. John Kerry and Sen. Sherrod Brown. I wrote last week that we should "hope the Senate will try to restore some respect for the commission and find a way to block this nomination," and apparently some Senators are willing to do so. Good for them.
Continue readingAnd the Earmark Winner for Ohio and Kentucky Is….
The Cincinnati Enquirer shines a light on the federal dollars hauled in by Greater Cincinnati's nine-member House and Senate delegation. When it comes to delivering the pork, the paper found that Sen. Mitch McConnell is the area's most powerful member. McConnell, a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, hauled in $391 million in federal funding for local projects in budget bills being worked on in Congress, more than 1½ times the amount that the area's other eight lawmakers got -- combined.
In a dramatic contrast, House Minority Leader John Boehner is a teetotaller. He doesn't believe in earmarks and hasn't asked for any money for local projects in the 13 spending bills that make up the federal budget.
The Enquirer built their own search engine that allows readers to search what earmarks local members have gotten in spending bills that are pending in Washington. Update: It bears mentioning that the database shows just how lousy the new Senate disclosure requirements on earmarks is. There are no company names. Just a general description of what the money should be spent on. The Enquirer writes about Earmark Watch, a joint project of Taxpayers for Common Sense and the Sunlight Foundation.
Continue readingKudos to The Enquirer. Hopefully more papers will do the same and start following what their congressional delegation is doing with our money.
Washington Meets Facebook
Facebook is holding a seminar here in Washington, next Tuesday to teach politicians and other government types how to use the social web. We at the Sunlight Foundation say "Bravo!" The new Web's benefits to elected officials of every stripe are pretty obvious, allowing government officials to communicate directly with their constituents, bypassing both internal and news-based editorial control. What is equally apparent is how the Web encourages openness, accountability and transparency and how Facebook has become a place to be for presidential candidates.
The organizers promise a lively seminar about how social media can be an integral part of any campaign and constituent strategy. In an effort to accommodate schedules and keep the sessions smaller, Facebook has scheduled two sessions on October 9, one in the morning and the other in the afternoon.
Hat Tip Jeff Jarvis.
The Power of Video
Rumors that Texas lawmakers are a different breed are legend, and pillars of progressive journalism like Ronnie Dugger and the late, great Molly Ivins made careers covering the shenanigans and sleaze that goes on in Austin. Even reports of multiple voting have circulated. But the power of video makes this story come alive like nothing else. And this 'report' will not be thrown out with yesterday's newspapers. (I received 5 copies of the video over the weekend and saw it posted several places.)
Hat tip: Doc Searls where I saw it first.
Continue readingEven the FEC Deserves Better
It looks like a leading champion of "voter integrity" (read "voter suppression") and the Bush Administration's chief operative on voting rights, Hans von Spakovsky, will survive the Senate confirmation process, and will be confirmed as an FEC Commissioner. The Senate Rules Committee was considering four appointments, three noncontroversial nominees as well as the highly problematic Spakovsky. The fight over Spakovsky's nomination bottled up the process for 18 months, with Sen. Mitch McConnell blocking a vote (he certainly makes a habit of that!) on the other three FEC nominees until von Spakovsky was considered as well. Spakovsky would likely survive a vote on the four collectively, but his chances to prevail on speparate votes is not good. It appears McConnell has prevailed. On Wednesday, the Rules Committee advanced the four nominations to the Senate floor for a vote without the committee's approval or disapproval. Rules Committee Chair Sen. Dianne Feinstein said it was "doubtful" there'd be a chance that the votes would be taken separately.
Continue readingThe 25 Most Corrupt Members of Congress
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) has released its third annual report on the most corrupt members of Congress, entitled Beyond DeLay: The 22 Most Corrupt Members of Congress (and two to watch). The report highlights the corrupt activities of each of the 25 on the list.
The report is clear evidence that corruption hasn't disappeared from Capitol Hill.
Continue readingStepping Up to the Plate
I've been in New York for a couple days talking with various foundations, along with a couple of our grantees, about the work of Sunlight, particuarly about how there is a paradigm shift in how disclosure happens in the Internet age -- how information is collected and disseminated and what people can do with it. So, when I was catching up on my reading this morning I was psyched to see that Dan Gillmor (a 2006 grantee), director of the Center for Citizen Media -- has challenged the nation's community foundations, suggesting that they put the survival of quality local journalism squarely on their agendas. He compares the disintegration of the country's infrastructure to the shedding of editorial staff and investigative reporters by newspapers. Just as falling bridges and crumbling highways threaten the country's economy and public safety, the demise of vibrant local newspapers spells trouble for a well-informed citizenry and the foundation of our free and open society. He's so right.
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