Policy Fellow Matt Rumsey wrote this post. Here's Thursday's look at transparency-related news items, congressional committee hearings, transparency-related bills introduced in Congress, and transparency-related events. News Roundup: Super Committee

• Super Committee members met for breakfast this morning. The event marked the first closed door meeting held by the committee. (National Journal)
• House Ways and Means Committee Chair Dave Camp (R-MI) has joined John Kerry as the second member of the Super Committee to claim to mostly give up fundraising until the committee concludes its business. He has announced that he will not schedule any more fundraisers, but will not cancel those already on his calendar. (National Journal)

• Rick Perry's state office destroys all of its emails every 7 days. Transparency advocate John Washburn has put a temporary stop to this practice by devising a program that requests all emails produced by the Governor's office twice a week. Emails that have been requested have to be preserved. (National Journal)

• Foreign countries are spending less money to lobby the United States government. According to figures released by the Justice Department such spending was down nearly 6% in 2010. (Roll Call)
• Recently released emails reveal some of the efforts that wireless company LightSquared put in to lobby the White House for approval of a new national broadband network. The outreach sometimes conveniently coincided with large donations from company leaders. (iwatch news)
• There is a new lobbying reform proposal floating around. But, without a newsworthy scandal, it doesn't appear likely to garner much enthusiastic support in congress. (Politico)

Here is Tuesday's look at transparency-related news items, congressional committee hearings, transparency-related bills introduced in Congress, and transparency-related events. News Roundup: Super Committee

• The Super Committee has launched their website. It includes video of the committee's meetings and a way for citizens to provide their input. (National Journal)
• An Oregon newspaper has chimed in with an editorial calling for the Super Committe to be "super transparent". They point out that more than 100 lobbyists previously worked for members of the committee and note that Sen. John Kerry is currently the only member who has announced he will stop fundraising until the committees work is over. (Mail Tribune)

• More than 5,000 former congressional staffers and 400 Members of Congress have become lobbyists over the past ten years, according to a study by Legistorm. The study also shows that the revolving door works both ways with more than 600 former lobbyists taking jobs with lawmakers. (Washington Post)
• Jim Manley, former spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, will join the lobbying and communications firm Quinn Gillespie & Associates as a Senior Director in the firms communications and government affairs department (New York Times)
• Comcast has been beefing up its lobbying operation. Their recent hires include former FCC Commissioner Meredith Attwell Baker and Rebecca Arbogast, a former FCC and Justice Department official (Politico)
• Facebook has also made a few high profile hires recently. Louisa Terrell, a former Special Assistant to the President, will be joining as director of public policy and Erin Egan, formerly at Covington & Burling, will be director of privacy. They have also retained Erika Mann, a former EU member of parliament, to start a Brussels office. (National Journal)

• A new survey shows that citizens prefer interacting with the government via web portals. This method was picked by more respondents than mail, telephone, e-mail, in person and mobile. (Federal Computer Week)

• A liberal advocacy group is filing an ethics complaint against Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), the Chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. The complaint alleges that Issa has repeatedly used his public office for personal gain. An Issa spokesman claimed the allegations were without merit. (The Hill)

• Developers Derek Eder and Nick Rougeux have collaborated with Cook County (IL) Commissioner John Fritchey on Look at Cook. The open data and visualization project aims to make county budget information available and easy for the public to read. (GovFresh)

• Brazil has some tentative plans for Open Government reforms. They include a freedom of information law and upgrades to transparency and open government online infrastructure. (techPresident)

Here's Monday's look at the week's transparency-related news items, congressional committee hearings, transparency-related bills introduced in Congress, and transparency-related events. News Roundup: Super Committee

• Sen. Kerry (D-MA) says he will avoid lobbyists and fundraisers while the Super Committee tries to find $1.5 trillion in spending cuts. (Boston Globe)

It's still raining, but at least it's Friday! Here's today's look at transparency-related news items, congressional committee hearings, transparency-related bills introduced in Congress, and transparency-related events. News Roundup: Government

• Watchdog groups want the SEC to require full disclosure of corporate political spending by publicly traded companies which, according to a new Harvard/Public Citizen report, could even boost the companies' market value. (TPM)
• House Democrats are pushing for tougher ethics standards for Supreme Court justices, advocating for a hearing on a bill that would require justices to witdraw from cases where they may have a financial or political conflict of interest. (NYTimes)
• The Health and Human Services Department is updating its regulations to address new technologies. (Federal Computer Week)
• The FBI is investigating half a billion dollars in federal loan guarantees granted to Solyndra, a California-based solar panel manufacturer that collapsed last week. (Washington Post)

Here is Thursday's look at transparency-related news items, congressional committee hearings, transparency-related bills introduced in Congress, and transparency-related events. News Roundup: Super Committee

• A bipartisan bill aimed at increasing the transparency of the Super Committee was introduced Wednesday by Reps. Renacci, Loebsack, and Quigley. (The Hill)
• Lobbyists from all sides are targeting the Super Committee, looking to avoid being subjected to deep spending cuts as the committee tries to reduce $1.5 trillion from the federal budget. (Politico)
• At least nine of the twelve Super Committee members have campaign fundraisers lined up for this fall, including one fundraiser scheduled for the night before the committee's first meeting. (Washington Post)

• Many federal websites are not up to par, with almost a quarter being unreachable and only a third using modern content management systems, according to a newly released data analysis. (techPresident)
• The SEC has ordered its enforcement staff to stop destroying investigative records. (Washington Post)
• $40.3 million in social security benefits have been paid to deceased people since 2008, according to a Social Security IG report. (POGO)

• Google Plus is not yet an effective tool for government agencies to add to their social network presence. (Government Technology)
• White House Press Secretary Jay Carney is hosting a Twitter town hall on Friday to answer questions from @WhiteHouse followers who applied to attend via web form. (techPresident)

Here is Wednesday's rainy look at transparency-related news items, congressional committee hearings, transparency-related bills introduced in Congress, and transparency-related events. News Roundup: Super Committee

• Sarah Kuehl, a veteran Senate Budget Committee staffer, has been selected to serve as deputy staff director for the Super Committee. (National Journal)
• It will be "very, very hard" for the Super Committee to come to an agreement, according to Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyle (R-AZ). (Politico)

• The D.C. Open Government Coalition (DCOGC) obtained résumés of over 60 top political appointees in Mayor Vincent C. Gray’s administration that were previously withheld under FOIA. (DCOGC)
• A review of how agencies manage their business and accounting information technology systems indicates that not enough data is being publicly released, according to House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-CA). (Next Gov)
• A year after being warned that it could be violating federal law, the SEC is still illegally destroying records of closed enforcement cases, according to a whistleblower. (Washington Post)

• Federal agencies often use manual processes to transfer information between their IT management systems, according to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. (Federal Computer Week)
• He Said, She Said is a web application that screen scrapes and parses PDFs of local government meeting minutes into readable text and usable data. (techPresident)
• Opinion: David Perera writes that federal fear of open source technology causes the government to avoid cost saving opportunities. (Fierce Government)

• A campaign staffer handling the finances of top California Democrats allegedly embezzled over $600,000 from a state assemblyman. (Roll Call $)
• Nebraska has voted to approve a fund to reimburse the governor's spouse for expenses resulting from his or her position as first spouse that won't conflict with state gift and contribution laws. (Lobby Comply Blog)
• Cook County, Illinois is setting a high standard for local open government initiatives with Look at Cook. (O'Reilly Radar)
• Kentucky's ethics commission has issued recommendations for reforming the state's ethics code. (Lobby Comply Blog)

Here is Tuesday's look at the [[short!]] week's transparency-related news items, congressional committee hearings, transparency-related bills introduced in Congress, and transparency-related events. News Roundup: Super Committee

• Nearly 100 registered lobbyists have worked for the 12 members of the super committee, and six current employees are former lobbyists. (National Journal)(Washington Post)

• Netflix's global expansion has been accompanied by an enlargement of its DC lobbying and policy staff. (Washington Post)
• BP America has selected former Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell as its head of communications. (Politico)

• Google has launched a website that allows users to post and vote for questions in anticipation of the upcoming GOP debate, which will be held on September 22nd in Orlando, Florida. (Mashable)
• The digital citizen engagement platform Change by Us has been up and running in New York City since July, and will be launched in Philadelphia and Seattle this fall. (Government Technology)

• A news app developer at The Chicago Tribune is moving to Tyler, Texas, and has decided to hack city data to create sustainable and valuable community projects. (O'Reilly Radar)
• The Georgia state ethics commission has named a lobbyist as its new executive director. (Atlantic Journal-Constitution)

Happy Labor Day Weekend! Here is Friday's look at transparency-related news items, congressional committee hearings, transparency-related bills introduced in Congress, and transparency-related events. News Roundup: Government

• An "IT cartel" of major federal contractors is limiting government efficiency, according to former federal CIO Vivek Kundra. (Federal Computer Week)
• The Government Business Council has compiled a briefing outlining how new federal CIO Steven VanRoekel is expected to implement Kundra's technology agenda with less financial flexibility. (Next Gov)
• OMB Watch has submitted recommendations for the Obama Administration's Open Government Partnership (OGP) national plan. (OMB Watch)

• Interest groups are questioning the status of the Obama Administration's draft executive order that would require federal contractors to disclose political contributions. (Politico)

• Agency apps should be updated regularly and should not contain so much content that they are overwhelming to users, according to government app experts. (Next Gov)
• Virginia has launched a new online interactive traffic crash database to provide the public with better information regarding highway safety in the state. (Gov Tech)

• Chicago's new lobbyist disclosure database, available through the City of Chicago Data Portal, ties information together in a way that actually shows the connections between" client, lobbyist, and city hall." (Lobby Comply Blog)
• Wyoming lawmakers are drafting legislation seeking to create an exemption from the state's public records law for emails sent to members of city councils, school boards, and other elected bodies. (trib.com)
• California Watch, founded by the Center for Investigative Reporting, has created a database allowing users to search who is lobbying any bill before the state Legislature. (California Watch)

September, already! Here is Thursday's look at transparency-related news items, congressional committee hearings, transparency-related bills introduced in Congress, and transparency-related events. News Roundup: Super Committee

• Democratic members of the Super Committee had a conference call yesterday to discuss strategy and administrative matters. (National Journal)(Government Executive)

• The White House has created a new webpage called "We the People" that allows people to create and sign petitions advocating for government action. (Federal News Radio)
• Despite a massive AT&T lobbying campaign, the Department of Justice is going to court to stop the proposed merger with T-Mobile. (Politico)

• A proposal before the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) submitted by ten law professors seeks to require public corporations to list political contributions in annual shareholder statements. (Washington Post)

• Former federal CIO Vivek Kundra envisions creating a global "Cloud First" policy, which would force countries to work together to determine ways to share cloud data. (Federal Times)
• The Veterans Affairs Department has launched an online open-source community in an attempt to update its Veterans Health Information Systems and Technology Architecture (VistA) through crowdsourcing. (Federal Computer Week)
• The New York Academy of Sciences (NYAS) held their First International Workshop on Climate Informatics last week to discuss new tools, methods, and applications for climate data. (O'Reilly Radar)
• Electronic health records help doctors provide better care for their patients, according to a new study. (National Journal)
• O'Reilly Radar has published "Big Data Now," a free collection of Radar data coverage during the last year. (O'Reilly Radar)

• Wisconsin is not following state contract transparency laws, according to a new audit. (Watchdog.org)

• An Indian government agency launched a wiki defining obscure economic terms to "enrich and enhance citizen friendly policy formulation through dialogue and collaborative action." (techPresident)

Can you believe it's already the last day of August?? Summer has gone by far too quickly, if you ask me. The daily roundup carries on, however, with Wednesday's look at transparency-related news items, congressional committee hearings, transparency-related bills introduced in Congress, and transparency-related events. News Roundup: Super Committee

• Mark Prater, chief tax counsel for Republicans on the Senate Finance Committee, has been chosen to serve as staff director of the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction. (New York Times)(Roll Call $)
• Republican committee members are meeting to discuss strategy prior to the full committee's first official meetings, which will take place after Labor Day. (Politico)

• The Social Security Administration has made inroads in implementing the iAppeals application, and an increasing number of disability benefits decision appeals are being filed electronically. (Federal Computer Week)
• Only 23 percent of federal websites have implemented mandatory security measures to prevent hackers from redirecting visitors to fraudulent websites, a full year and a half after a White House deadline to do so. (Next Gov)
• POGO submitted a public comment to the GSA advocating for a comprehensive evaluation of a Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) provision requiring mandatory contractor disclosure. (POGO)
• Performance.gov is not a useful resource in its current format, and falls short of its goal of meaningfully displaying agencies' quarterly performance data. (Fierce Government)
• The Veterans Affairs Department’s two-year-old IT project oversight system is still in need of work, according to a new IG audit. (Federal Computer Week)
• President Obama wrote a letter to House Speaker Boehner defending his regulatory agenda despite its costs. (Washington Post)
• A recommendation suggesting that federal agencies translate online background information about proposed new regulations into multiple languages other than English could cause partisan disagreement and garner few results, according to the Administrative Conference of the United States (ACUS). (Next Gov)

• Three Republican leadership PACs have joined together to create a new joint fundraising committee called the Young Guns Majority Victory Fund. (Politico)
• Several House freshmen who claimed goals of changing the way Washington works are now promoting legislation that could benefit some of their biggest campaign donors, according to USA Today.

• Motion control, balloon radio, augmented reality, intelligent streetlights, and unmanned aerial vehicles are five emerging technologies that are headed toward the government market. (Gov Tech)
• O'Reilly's director of market research Roger Magoulas discusses the potential role data science and big data could play in the financial world in expanding data types, directing investment strategies, and creating new businesses. (O'Reilly Radar)

• Georgia is considering changes to its sunshine laws, including a bill that would increase fines and civil penalties if government agencies violate requirements of public access to records and meetings. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
• Missouri's Ethics Commission is underfunded and understaffed, according to a report by the state auditor. (Lobby Comply Blog)
• A New Jersey city council has adopted a new pay-to-play ordinance prohibiting "any business entity who submits a proposal for, enters into negotiations for, or agrees to any contract or agreement with the borough, from knowingly making any contribution to local candidates, candidate committee or joint candidates committees, PACs, or to holders of public office having ultimate responsibility for the award of a contract or agreement." (Lobby Comply Blog)
• Governor Pat Quinn signed into law HB 1716, which will restrict FOIA requests in Illinois. (Sunlight Foundation Blog)