Thursday morning the Super Committee will convene for the fourth time since its creation in response to the debt crisis over the summer. The committee, officially named the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, conducted a breakfast meeting behind closed doors Sept. 15, despite the insistence of transparency by government watchdog groups and fellow legislators. Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nev., released a statement expressing his disappointment regarding the private breakfast.
At the last open meeting, Congressional Budget Office (CBO) Director, Doug Elmendorf administered a dose of reality to members when answering their questions. Elmendorf stated that in order for the CBO ...
Continue readingSunlight Live to cover antitrust panel probe into Google
A Senate subcommittee on Wednesday will become the latest group to question search engine powerhouse Google amidst rising concerns that the company is putting its own profits ahead of the best search results, and Sunlight Live will be there to follow the action starting 2 p.m E.T.
Leaders of the committee, which monitors antitrust, competition policy and consumer rights issues, urged former Google CEO and current chairman Eric Schmidt to testify and he agreed to take the stand. Members will examine whether Google misleads users and fends off competition by placing its own businesses higher in search results ...
Super Committee, Boehner speech protests linked to major labor group
Our DC, a SEIU-linked protest group that stopped the first Super Committee meeting, has been regularly delivering a pro-jobs message to congressional Republicans: with some 100 protesters outside House Speaker John Boehner's speech at the Economic Club of Washington yesterday, according to organizers, who said the protest was in support of the American Jobs Act.
Last Tuesday, it organized a protest at the first meeting of the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, the so-called the Super Committee.
“Jobs! Now!” about 25 unemployed or underemployed protesters shouted outside the room, bringing the meeting to a brief halt. “Jobs! Now ...
Continue readingHow do lobbyists snag front-row seats at hearings?
As the 12 members of the “super committee” scour the nation’s budget searching for at least $1.2 trillion in federal cuts, Washington lobbyists are watching their every move, hoping to protect the interests of their clients.
Some attend fundraisers, ponying up as much as $1,000, $2,000 or $5,000 for face time with a member. Some seek private meetings with members or their staff in Capitol Hill offices. And for some, attending the hearings — being seen while watching the proceedings — is the way to go.
But how do lobbyists get in — much less into front-row seats ...
Who’s watching the Super Committee?
A big audience turned out yesterday for the second meeting of the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, or the "super committee," as its 12 members asked questions of the first witness, CBO director Doug Elmendorf. The meeting was open to the public and there was live video on the committee's new website.
While all the other cameras were focused on the committee members and witness, we turned ours 180 degrees to check out the crowd — and we want your help to identify the people keeping a close eye on this committee. Check out the photos below and the ...
Comments on Dodd-Frank’s position limits rule came from petroleum marketing, airline industries
A handful of groups--including some backed by petroleum marketing firms, airlines and unions--were responsible for the great majority of some 13,000 comment letters sent to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission about a single proposed regulation mandated by Dodd-Frank, according to an analysis by the Sunlight Foundation.
The CFTC is expected to issue a final rule, which limits how many futures contracts an investor is allowed to hold in any one security, on Sept. 22, though the agency has yet to confirm that date. The position limits rule received one of the highest number of public comments in the agency ...
Continue readingSunlight Live to cover Super Committee meeting on Tuesday
On Tuesday morning, the Sunlight Live team will cover the second meeting of the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction providing viewers not only with context, fact checking and background but also live updates and pictures from the super committee meeting.
The upcoming meeting is poised to be more significant than the first one, with the Director of the Congressional Budget Office, Doug Elmendorf, testifying. In their statements last week, many legislators urged compromise and bipartisanship. However, one member Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., threatened to abandon his post if more military spending cuts are proposed.
The super committee first met ...
Sunlight Live to cover first-ever Tea Party hosted debate in Florida
Republican presidential candidates will face off before some of their fiscally conservative, libertarian Tea Party allies on Monday night during a debate in Florida sponsored by the Tea Party Express and CNN. It's the first time the Tea Party has hosted a presidential debate.
GOP candidates Michele Bachmann, Ron Paul, Rick Perry and Herman Cain, whose messages often align with the goals of the Tea Party, might find themselves in good company Monday evening.
The Sunlight Foundation will stream the debate and cover it live at http://sunlightlive.com to add context, campaign finance and lobbying information, and real-time ...
Continue readingSuper Committee members’ past votes clue to future action
As the Joint Select Committee on Debt Reduction charged with finding $1.5 trillion in savings in the federal budget begins its work in earnest, a look at past votes on money matters by the lawmakers that are part of this powerful group provides clues to how they’ll approach their task.
Many of these lawmakers’ votes on budget resolutions past, bailouts, stimulus, health care, and defense spending are party line, or, in the case of much of the military spending, unanimous.
Sen. Max Baucus, D., Mont., however, has stepped across the aisle on several key occasions. In 2001, when ...
Continue readingSunlight Live to cover the hidden influence in Obama jobs address
This Thursday at 7 p.m. President Barack Obama is set to address Congress and the nation when he’ll unveil his latest plan to create jobs. Already, a preview of the speech shows proposals consistent with the positions of influential groups like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the AFL-CIO. Both groups have spent millions to influence elections and policies. With that in mind, the Sunlight Foundation will cover the speech with live video, data and commentary at sunlightlive.com.
Some of the glimpses into Obama's plan were provided by the president himself during a Labor Day ...
Continue reading
59063
