NEWS ROUNDUP:
- Obama accepts corporate cash for inauguration: President Barack Obama will accept corporate money for the inauguration, changing course from his first inauguration in 2009. (Washington Post)
- Obama, Romney draw $2 billion during campaign: More than $2 billion was raised to support Barack Obama and Mitt Romney in their campaigns to win the presidency, reports show. At least $1 billion was spent on each candidate by a combination of their own campaigns and supporting groups. (Washington Post)
- Late super PAC donations revealed: Donations poured into super PACs just days before the election, campaign finance records show. The deadline for post-election reports was Dec. 6. (Roll Call)
Obama Opens Floodgates for Corporate Inauguration Funding
President Obama has reportedly loosened fundraising restrictions, allowing huge corporate donations to support his 2013 inauguration festivities. Obama placed far... View Article
Continue readingTransparency and the Obama presidency: Looking Back and Looking Forward – Video and Event Recap
How transparent has President Barack Obama's administration been? While the first term seemed to start with several bold initiatives, members of the transparency community have been disappointed with the apparent lack of initiative since then. Panelists gave the administration mixed reviews at the Dec. 3, 2012 Advisory Committee on Transparency event examining what's happened over the past four years and what in store for the next four. Participants in the panel discussion, moderated by Daniel Schuman, policy counsel at the Sunlight Foundation and director of the Advisory Committee on Transparency, had a hard time listing the Obama administration's accomplishments without mentioning caveats in the same breath. Anne Weismann, chief counsel at Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, said the administration's efforts may have been well intended but were not always well executed. The decision to release the White House visitor logs, for example, resulted in more transparency about who is trying to influence the executive branch, but also resulted in some staff taking meetings to coffee shops.
Continue reading2Day in #OpenGov 12/7/12
NEWS ROUNDUP:
- McConnell fights campaign finance reform: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is fighting against campaign finance reform as some members of his caucus talk about supporting the measures. (The Hill)
- Something familiar about backroom talks: President Barack Obama is letting talks about the so-called "fiscal cliff" happen in the dark, despite being criticized during the healthcare reform negotiations for the same kind of move. (POLITICO)
- DeMint leaves Congress for Heritage Foundation: U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) announced he is resigning from Congress to lead the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank. South Carolina's governor can appoint a replacement until a special election in 2014. (New York Times)
Open Source Initiatives Can Strengthen Cities’ Downtown Revitalization
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed by the guest blogger and those providing comments are theirs alone and do not reflect the opinions of the Sunlight Foundation or any employee thereof. Sunlight Foundation is not responsible for the accuracy of any of the information within the guest blog.
Jennnifer Wike is an Editor and contributor for Opensource.com, a community service website of Red Hat dedicated to highlighting the 
ways in which the 'open source movement' is shaping government, law, education, science and technology, and other areas of life. Jen also helps other businesses develop their content strategies and blogs about growth in downtown Raleigh, NC where she lives. Follow her on Twitter or you can contact her at jenn.wike@gmail.com.
The open government movement in our country is well underway, though still brand new in terms relative to the pace of the workings of government. Change tends to be delivered slowly, as evident during President Obama’s re-election campaign this year when many of us had to remind ourselves that though some change has trickled down over the past four years, much of it has yet to come to pass due to the inherent processes of government bodies. And yet, it still astonishes me how quickly ‘open’ ideas are being accepted, built and implemented into city governments from the east to west coast.
When It Comes to Pay, All Feds Aren’t Created Equal
By Daniel Schuman and Alisha Green
It comes as little surprise to hill watchers that House staff are underpaid compared to their Senate equivalents, let alone executive branch and private sector staff, but we decided to dig a bit deeper. Just in time for the holidays (and those non-existent public sector bonuses) here's a comparison of key positions in the House, Senate, and executive branch. We admit that the data is a bit old, like the Ghost of the War on Christmas Past, but it's the best we can do with what’s available.
The shaded areas in the bars for the executive branch staff show a range of potential pay.
2Day in #OpenGov 12/6/12
NEWS ROUNDUP:
- House approves financial disclosure delay: The House approved a bill this week that further delays financial disclosure requirements for nearly 30,000 federal employees. The bill pushes the disclosure back to April 15, 2013. (Washington Post)
- Groups ask Boehner to keep ethics board: Several good-government groups are asking House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) to keep the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) in the 113th Congress. Boehner and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) have to replace at least four of the panel's members for the body to continue to exist. (The Hill)
- A look at the hill's revolving doors: Lawmakers who lost reelection bids are being courted now by lobbyist recruiters as they pack up their offices. Headhunters sometimes end up talking to outgoing members of Congress in locations ranging from House offices to the backseats of cars. (Roll Call)
House Rules Changes: Sunlight’s Proposals for the 113th Congress
Congress runs on rules. With the upcoming changeover from the 112th to the 113th Congress, the House of Representatives will adopt new regulations that innervate every aspect of legislative life. The last time it did this, in 2010, the House set the stage for greater openness and transparency in the lower chamber. At that time, Sunlight issued a series of recommendations, some of which were adopted. The House of Representatives made significant progress toward ensuring the people's house belongs to the people, from the new transparency portal docs.house.gov to expanded video coverage of House proceedings to retaining the Office of Congressional Ethics. In advance of the 113th Congress, we're issuing an updated set of transparency recommendations, each of which would mark a significant step towards increased transparency.
Continue readingAnother reason for a fiscal cliff standstill: too many safe seats?
As “fiscal cliff” negotiations continue to slow to a standstill, Americans might be feeling frustrated about the inability of their representatives to reach a compromise. Wasn’t the election supposed to settle the argument? There are many reasons to explain the intransigence. Last week, we documented the ubiquitous lobbying on tax and budget issues that will almost certainly complicate any attempt to reach a deal. But there’s another factor to keep in mind: The majority of members of Congress have relatively homogenous constituencies. That means they’re probably hearing overwhelmingly from only one side of the argument back home, and facing limited pressure to find a compromise.
Continue readingDid House Republicans pass over women for leadership roles because they were poor fundraisers?
When House Republicans announced their new line-up of committee chairs for the 113th Congress last week, the Washington buzz was that all were white men. Not a single lady was given charge of a committee. While we can’t rule out sexism, there’s another explanation that might be even simpler: money. In particular, money that House Republicans raised for their leadership PACs, organizations separate from their own campaigns that are used to help fellow candidates and generally demonstrate members’ fundraising prowess.
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