Today the Sunlight Foundation submitted comments encouraging the FCC to quickly create a centralized, publicly accessible database of information about... View Article
Continue reading2Day in #OpenGov 12/20/2011
Here is the Tuesday's take on transparency-related news items, congressional committee hearings, transparency-related bills introduced in Congress, and transparency-related events. News Roundup: Lobbying
- National political parties took more money from lobbyists in the first half of this year than in any other six-month period on record. Democrats raised 30% more lobbyist cash than Republicans. (Washington Times)
- Rep. Tom Cole's (R-OK) former deputy chief of staff is heading through the revolving door to join Steptoe & Johnson as a senior government affairs adviser. (National Journal)
- Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) introduced legislation as an alternative to the Protect IP and SOPA measures currently being considered. His OPEN act will soon be joined by a companion bill set to be introduced in the House by Darrell Issa (R-CA). (The Hill)
- Mitt Romney called recent changes in campaign finance law a "mockery" of campaign season and advocated getting rid of Super PACs. (Washington Post)
- A government watchdog filed a complaint with the FEC against Newt Gingrich's production company. The complaint alleges that Gingrich Productions made illegal contributions to Gingrich's presidential campaign. (National Journal)
- The International Association of Fire Fighters is coming back from a nine month hiatus on giving and donating to members of Congress. In the past, the association has been among the biggest PACs in terms of candidate contributions. (Politico)
- Representatives from member countries of the Open Government Partnership met in Brasilia, Brazil last week. There was plenty of Twitter chatter about the event. (Global Integrity)
- Libyans are excited to exercise new political freedoms, but are concerned about their lack of exposure to democratic practices and transparency in government. (NDI)
The News Without Transparency: Military Voting on the Upswing
The Washington Post looked at the impact of new legislation facilitating absentee ballots and found that overseas military personnel voted... View Article
Continue readingBoehner’s 72 Hour Pledges, Condensed
Throughout the last year, we’ve repeatedly pointed out that Speaker Boehner repeatedly pledged to put all bills online for 72... View Article
Continue readingAnnouncing… Sunlight Olympics!
Inspired by an event our Labs team has held for the last two years (which you can catch up on... View Article
Continue reading2Day in #OpenGov 12/19/2011
Here is the week's first look at transparency-related news items, congressional committee hearings, transparency-related bills introduced in Congress, and transparency-related events. News Roundup: Lobbying
- The Volcker rule, intended to block banks from the type of trading that triggered the 2008 financial crisis, has been the target of a massive lobbying campaign as well as heavy citizen input. (Roll Call $)
- LightSquared, the wireless firm that the GOP claims benefited from its White House relationships, have hired Patton Boggs, a leading lobbying firm. (The Hill)
- A U.S. Chamber of Commerce staffer is heading to the hill to work for Rep. Aaron Schock (R-IL). Dave Natonski will become Schock's deputy chief of staff, he previously worked as the representative's communications director before joining the Chamber. (National Journal)
- If the House stays in session through Wednesday the Judiciary Committee will resume its markup of the Stop Online Privacy Act. The markup has already stretched over two days, with opponents of the bill offering numerous amendments in hopes of changing provisions that they view as harmful to internet freedom. (The Hill)
- Meanwhile, Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) vowed to filibuster the PROTECT IP act, the Senate's version of SOPA. (Politico)
- Starting January 1, the House of Representatives will make many of its legislative documents available online in open data format. (Tech President)
- Five major Democratic political groups are in talks to coordinate their strategies to raise as much money as possible in advance of the 2012 presidential election. the pro-Obama Super PAC Priorities USA and four other groups are hoping to target major Democratic donors that have, so far, stayed on the sidelines this year. (Politico)
- House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) has pledged to push legislation suppressing congressional corruption next year. His proposal will expand on the STOCK Act, which would only explicitly ban insider trading by members of Congress. (Politico)
- Four sitting members of Congress may have received discounted loans through a VIP program run by Countrywide Financial. The program was used to build relationships with government officials and other well positioned clients. (Politico)
Sunlight Weekly Roundup: “There is no need for secrecy when conducting the public’s business.”
In Tennessee, Sullivan County Commissioner Bill Kilgore wants to weaken Tennessee’s open meeting laws and allow commissioners to conduct county... View Article
Continue readingGRANT Transparency good, DUNS numbers bad
In November, Rep. Lankford (OK) introduced the Grant Reform and New Transparency (GRANT) Act of 2011. The bill requires that... View Article
Continue readingHouse To Be More Open: OKs Online Publication Standard
This morning, the House of Representatives took a tremendous step into the 21st century when the Committee on House Administration... View Article
Continue reading2Day in #OpenGov 12/16/2011
It's Friday and this is week's final look at transparency-related news items, congressional committee hearings, transparency-related bills introduced in Congress, and transparency-related events. News Roundup:
- The FEC declined to write new rules that would require more information about donors backing political advertisements. The panel deadlocked 3-3 on the vote. (Politico)
- A federal judge struck down Alabama's ban on PAC-to-PAC money transfers. The Alabama Democratic Conference brought the suit, alleging that the law prohibited their PAC from accepting money from other PACs to use on voter communication and turnout efforts. (Lobby Comply)
- Massachusetts launched a new transparency website aimed to help users interpret state spending data. The site uses graphics and visualizations to break down the data. (Government Technology)
- The Army's case against Bradley Manning, accused of leaking thousands of classified documents to WikiLeaks, has been highly opaque. It will gain a bit of transparency at a public legal hearing scheduled for today. (Politico)
- The Chairman of the Office of Congressional Ethics, Porter Goss, recused himself from the post because his son is running for Congress in Florida. He will remain on the board, but will not be involved in any investigative activities. (National Journal)
- The joint House and Senate 2012 appropriations bill released yesterday restores some funding to the E-Gov fund and ensures that it's budget will be independent from that of the Citizen Services Fund. (Nextgov)
- The Justice Department has recovered nearly $7 in fraud for every dollar it has spent on health care enforcement over the past three years. It also recovered more than $5.6 billion in criminal and civil fraud in the past year. (POGO)
- The British Lord Chief Justice issued guidance that will allow journalists in England and Wales to tweet from court. Previously, reporters had to make an application to the individual judge overseeing a case. (BBC)
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