With notable exceptions, such as the White House visitor logs being released, the efforts we have seen towards openness are still almost entirely intentions, plans, and initiative rather than outcomes that have tangibly resulted in more actual transparency.
Continue readingGovernment Transparency and the Supreme Court Case ‘Citizens United’
There is again speculation that the Supreme Court will issue an opinion in a major election and transparency case tomorrow.... View Article
Continue readingLobbyists Help Write Senator’s Amendment
Further dispatches from the Fifth Branch of government provided by the Washington Post: Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) is likely to... View Article
Continue readingBook Anticipation: “King of the Lobby: The Life and Times of Sam Ward, Man-About-Washington in the Gilded Age.”
Writing about lobbying and influence has a sort of staring into the abyss quality to it. Sometimes you just admire... View Article
Continue readingThe Nitty Gritty of Calling for 72 Hours for the Final Health Care Bill
As Jake wrote last week, the final version of the health care bill must be made publicly available for 72... View Article
Continue readingDays in Session: House
Following up on Daniel’s post from last week, here’s a chart showing the days in session for the House going... View Article
Continue readingAM Links
1) I was playing around with this Visual Budget Tracker over at The Daily Caller. Let me know if you... View Article
Continue readingCongress Should Make All Ethics Documents Available Online
An article in today’s Washington Post on the limits of conflict-of-interest rules laments that “the ethics system on Capitol Hill... View Article
Continue readingREPOST: Next Banking Committee Chair Has Ties to Financial Sector
Note: I wrote this over the summer when the possibility existed that Sen. Chris Dodd would be moving from the... View Article
Continue readingThe Final Health Care Bill. Online for 72 Hours. No Negotiation.
And as that debate unfolds, we're going to bump up against things we've simply never dealt with before. But in the debate of what's the right way to bring about transparency, one thing is eminently clear: the public and legislators alike MUST have time to read legislation before it's debated and be able to make their voice heard by their representatives as a result.
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