As stated in the note from the Sunlight Foundation′s Board Chair, as of September 2020 the Sunlight Foundation is no longer active. This site is maintained as a static archive only.

Follow Us

Tag Archive: Uncategorized

Technology and Hurricane Sandy Recovery

by

Last month’s “superstorm” Sandy caused devastation throughout much of the mid-Atlantic, with many residents still recovering from the powerful and destructive storm. One person affected by Sandy was Sunlight’s technology adviser Micah Sifry, who lives in New York. On the website TechPresident, he wrote about how New York public radio station WNYC initiated a crowdsourcing project to keep listeners informed in the hours, days and now weeks since the storm hit the city. Here at Sunlight, we decided to take a look at the innovations created by technologists and ordinary citizens to help residents affected by the storm. In Boston, CrisisCommons organized the Sandy CrisisCamp — a series of hackathons at MIT and around the world that brought together volunteers who could contribute to Sandy relief with communication technologies. You can read more about what the technologists did and the lessons learned at the remote hackathons here.

Continue reading

Why Money Still Matters

by

As we continue to over-interpret the data point that was last Tuesday’s $6 billion election, one big question is what to make of the fact that the super PACs and 501(c) dark money groups have spent the last week pointing fingers at each other rather than celebrating – particularly the Republican groups that earned so much scrutiny from the press and so much scorn from those on the left. Does this mean that Democrats’ reactions to Citizens United were overblown, and that money doesn’t really matter? That those of us who fret about the amount of money in politics should just get on with our lives, and care about something else?

Continue reading

2Day in #OpenGov 11/15/12

by

NEWS ROUNDUP:

Government
  • Senate approves expanded whistleblower protections: The Senate unanimously approved the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act (WPEA) this week, expanding protections for federal employees who expose government wrongdoing. The bill now goes to President Barack Obama's desk for his signature. (Washington Post)
  • Congressional Research Service and Congress have complex relationship: The nonpartisan Congressional Research Service (CRS) has long faced pointed questions from Congress about its reports. Members of Congress tend to expect certain results when they request CRS analysts to compile research. (Roll Call)

Continue reading

Primary Spending Strategies May Have Shifted General Election Outcomes

by

In the two weeks since Election Day, Sunlight -- along with many others -- have examined the impact of outside money. In competitive House seats we found no statistically observable relationship between the outside spending and the likelihood of victory, and found no evidence of spending impacting outcomes for the Senate either. It's important to note that those who contributed to the $1.4 billion spent by outside groups still matters, though. As Executive Director Ellen Miller notes: "Even if their candidates lost, the influence bought by America's new class of mega donors will remain." Here, we find some indication that outside spending in primary races may have had implications for general election outcomes this cycle. In the competitive races where there was significant primary activity by outside spenders, as compared to a baseline in which parties retaining control of seats they held in the 112th Congress, Democrats over-performed while Republicans significantly underperformed. Furthermore, we found notable involvement by outside Democratic groups in Republican primaries which may have played a roll, while finding little evidence of parallel Republican activity. We looked at the 90 races in the House that were competitive as of September 6th, according to the Cook Political Report (Likely, Lean or Tossup). Of these competitive seats, in the 19 where there was more than $10,000 in outside Democratic spending, Democrats won 17, a success rate of 89%. This was despite the fact that 12 of those 19 seats were previously held by Republicans. In contrast, of the 25 seats where there was over $10,000 in outside Republican spending, Republicans only won 11, or 44%. 17 of these seats had been held by Republicans prior to the election.

Continue reading

Hey Big Spender…

by

... spend a little time with me after Election Day? With the most expensive election in history behind us, the outsized footprint of dark money remains on our political landscape. While "spending by outside groups reached new heights, the amount the public knows about the sources of that money reached new lows," opined Ellen Miller, Executive Director of Sunlight Foundation. And the dark money spigot is not expected to turn off anytime soon. Join Ellen and a distinguished panel of experts on Friday, Nov. 16 at 9:30am, to assess the political implications of dark money in the 2012 election as well as its influence post Election Day.

Continue reading

2Day in #OpenGov 11/14/12

by

NEWS ROUNDUP:

Government
  • Government surveillance of citizens' online activity rising: The U.S. government's surveillance of citizens' online activity is on the rise, according to statistics released recently from Google. The government made more than 8,000 requests for user data in the first half of 2012, which is up from less than 6,000 requests in the same period last year. (The Hill)
  • Bipartisan coalition proposes campaign finance reform: A group of Democrats and Republicans has come together to propose the American Anti-Corruption Act, which would reform the campaign finance system, lobbying, and advocacy efforts. The group also announced it will target lawmakers who oppose the proposal, actively working to unseat people from either party who do not support the reforms. (Roll Call)

Continue reading

The DC Council should consider improved lobbying disclosure

by

The idea that Washington, DC's lobbying disclosure schedule is inadequate is not new, but it might be easy to improve thanks to new legislation targeting campaign finance reform. Lobbying and campaign finance are inherently linked. Companies that lobby the city government invariably give to political campaigns. Currently, those who lobby the DC government and Council only have to report their activities and expenditures twice a year. As a result, journalists, watchdogs and interested citizens often have to wait until far after important debates for crucial information about the special interests that were working to influence policy decisions. Moreover, the bi-yearly requirements make it difficult to paint a complete picture of influence spending, especially in an election year.

Continue reading

Testers wanted: Beta Website for US Code Now Online

by

The House's Office of Law Revision Counsel, which we're written about before, has released a beta version of a new website that houses the US Code. They're asking for feedback. Here's the announcement. A little over a year ago, the Office of the Law Revision Counsel of the United States House of Representatives released beta version 1 of a new website for the Office and the United States Code. Beta version 2 is now being released for testing and feedback. It is available at http://uscodebeta.house.gov. You are invited to test version 2 and give us your comments about its features, content, and ease of use.

Continue reading

CFC (Combined Federal Campaign) Today 59063

Charity Navigator