After a quick summer recess, Congress returned this week with the newly formed “Supercommittee” scheduled to hold its first debt reduction meeting this Thursday at 10:30 a.m. EST. Unlike the debt negotiations held earlier this summer, the Supercommittee meetings will be conducted openly and we’ll be there to provide live fact checking, context and analysis so you can better understand the tanlged web of money and politics and how it relates to these meetings.
Although it is not yet known if the first hearing will be televised of livestreamed online, we will have reporters in the room ...
Continue readingSunlight Live to cover Rick Perry’s debate debut in California
With a new face officially in the mix, eight Republican candidates will take the stage again next week to spar about the economy, jobs, budget deficit and more at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation & Library in Simi Valley, Calif.
It will mark the first debate for Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who joined the race in August just as former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty threw in the towel. Several of the latest polls now show Perry on the top of the pack, outshining Mitt Romney, who has led the group for several months.
Sunlight Live will cover the debate starting at ...
Continue readingSuper committee member Upton creates joint fundraising committee
Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich., one of the members of the Joint Select Committee for Deficit Reduction, filed paperwork Tuesday with the Federal Election Commission to create a joint fundraising committee. Contributions collected by the committee will be split between Upton's campaign and leadership PAC.
The creation of a joint committee, the Upton Victory Committee, allows fundraising that benefits both Upton's political action committee, TRUST PAC (Team Republicans for Utilizing Sensible Tactics), which distributes thousands of dollars to Republican candidates, and his campaign, Upton for All of Us. FEC rules require that money given to the joint committee be ...
Continue readingSuper Committee Senate GOP picks: Kyl, Portman, Toomey
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's, R-Ky., picked Sens. Jon Kyl of Arizona, Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania and Rob Portman of Ohio to the special joint committee, or "super committee," today that will be charged with finding $1.2 trillion in budget cuts and or revenue raisers.
Jon Kyl, chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee and member of the Senate Finance Committee, has deep ties to the financial industry. Kyl made headlines last spring when he announced he wouldn't run for reelection, and this final task of slashing the government's budget deficit by at least $1 trillion ...
Boehner selects Hensarling, Camp and Upton for the Super Committee
House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, just announced his picks to the special joint committee tasked to find at least $1.2 trillion to trim from the federal budget. They are: Reps. Jeb Hensarling from Texas and Dave Camp and Fred Upton, both from Michigan.
Jeb Hensarling, the hardline conservative, known around the Hill as the budget nanny, is a member of the House Republican leadership team, serving as chairman of the House Republican Conference. He's vice chair of the House Financial Services Committee, where he's vocal about trimming excessive spending and creating a balanced budget, and served on ...
Continue readingLobbyist cash flows to Warner, possible Super Committee member
Creation of the “super committee” has been met with mixed reactions in Congress. While several members have called for its immediate repeal, others have balked at the idea of serving on it. Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., however, has said he would “love” to serve on the bicameral, bipartisan committee charged with addressing the country's debt problems.
Warner, former governor of Virginia, was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2008, and during the short time in the upper chamber has demonstrated an impressive fundraising ability. In all, he has brought in more than $27 million, of which more than ...
Sunlight Live to cover the Republican showdown in Iowa
In the fight to determine who will face President Obama in the 2012 election, Republican candidates will square off again this Thursday in Ames, Iowa, days before the straw poll. It will be the first debate since the latest campaign finance reports have been filed, showing Mitt Romney with a substantial financial lead over his competitors.
Although FOX News, the cable channel sponsoring and airing the debate, has not officially announced which candidates will take the stage on Thursday, we expect to see:
- Michele Bachmann, U.S. representative from Minnesota
- Herman Cain, former executive of Godfather's Pizza and former ...
D.C. insider, Sen. Portman, another possible pick for “Super Congress”
Sen. Robert Portman’s, R-Ohio, name is making the rounds as a contender to serve on the “super committee”, and with his prior stints at top federal agencies and with big name lobbying firms, his ties to industry interests runs deep.
Portman serves on the budget, armed services, energy and natural resources, and homeland security committees, all of which are are slated for some major cuts. He has received $4 million in contributions from the financial services and real estate sector and another $1.8 million has come from lobbyists and lawyers. Another prominent contributor to Portman in recent years ...
Continue readingPostponed! — Sunlight Live to cover House Hearing on Energy Tax Policy, Tax Reform on Wednesday
Editor's note: This hearing has been indefinitely postponed. Once we have a new date, we'll be sure to cover it live. Until then, mark your calendars for August 11, when we'll cover the next Republican presidential debate, this one from Iowa.
Lawmakers from two House Ways and Means subcommittees will come together Wednesday to consider where energy policy and tax policy intersect, focusing on the nation's need for both comprehensive tax reform and sustainable energy policies to create jobs and develop the economy.
During the hearing, members will discuss whether energy policies should be created through ...
Continue readingVendor blamed in outage paid $1.4 million last year for services
Fireside21, a web services company fingered as a possible culprit behind the mass outage of congressional sites in the wake of Monday's televised presidential address, received over $1.4 million from House offices for web services last year, disbursement data shows. The total highlights the dominance of just a few companies providing congressional web services, a category in which five companies received 79 percent of the $5.5 million pie.
On Monday, speaking during a prime-time address, President Barack Obama asked viewers who favor a balanced deficit reduction approach to contact Congress. Several members' websites stopped responding to requests ...
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