Happy Friday, here is this week's review of the notable deleted tweets from politicians captured and archived by Politwoops.
Continue readingAbortion rights prompts liberal groups to spend big, and early
WIth more than a year to go before the next congressional race, Democratic groups have begun to outspend Republican groups two to one. Much of that money is coming from groups focused on abortion rights.
Continue readingToday in #OpenGov 11/14/2013
National News
- The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services are turning to data to root out fraud and abuse in their programs. They are also working to make more data about financial relationships between teaching hospitals and the medical industry open. (Fed Scoop)
- The White House is fighting against proposals circulating in the Senate that would bring some needed transparency to various intelligence programs. National Security staffers are arguing that shedding light on some of our nation's spying activities will harm national security. (POLITICO)
- Vice President Biden is losing one chief of staff, but has another waiting in the wings after coming in through the revolving door. Steve Ricchetti, who will take over the post in mid-December, is a former lobbyist and Clinton administration official who has been working as a counselor to Biden since 2012. (New York Times)
- Bahrain is looking to boost transparency through a national strategy to promote electronic participation in government. The strategy, which official's hope to launch soon, would be the first of its kind in the region. (Future Gov)
- Ireland is looking to raise some of the fees it ties to Freedom of Information requests, which might be in conflict with European and international regulations. (Access Info)
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Continue readingImproving How Politwoops Displays Retweets
Politwoops, our project to archive the deleted tweets by U.S. politicians, is now more useful than ever as it includes a link to help you find the source of retweets. We also fixed a minor bug that was cutting off some links and messing up screenshots.
Whenever a politician retweets something and then thinks better of it, we will now include a link back to the original tweet, as seen in the example in the upper right from earlier today by Senate challenger Karen Hadel, R-Ga. She retweeted a fan who asks if she can be cloned and then deleted it, but you can now follow the link labeled "Original tweet by @FiercelyRight" to see that the source is still live.
Happy Birthday Louis Brandeis, Muse of Sunlight!
Today is the 157th anniversary of the birth of Louis Brandeis, a trailblazing advocate for civil liberties, individual rights and, yes, sunlight.
For us, it's a day to celebrate and take stock of our mission, for Brandeis is our inspiration: The Sunlight Foundation takes its name from one of his most famous observations.
Make a Louis Brandeis birthday donation to Sunlight!
Against the ‘Against Disclosure’ column in the New York Times
In this today’s New York Times’ Gray Matter column, political scientist David M. Primo has penned a piece with a provocative title: “Against Disclosure.” In it, he highlights his own survey research, in which respondents given a hypothetical ballot measure and exposed to news reports that included campaign finance disclosure data did no better identifying the position of different interest groups than those votes who merely read news accounts and saw a voter guide. Both the Times article and Primo’s underlying research are misleading.
Continue readingThe Week on Politwoops: Post TV, Tuesday’s Elections and Kittens
While Wall Street minted a few billionaires and many millionaires with yesterday's Twitter IPO, Sunlight's non-profit Politwoops got to celebrate the occasion with some recent deletions on the Washington Post's In Play show:
Don’t Let Farm Bill Limit Access to Information
On Wednesday the Sunlight Foundation joined with more than 40 other organizations to urge members of the conference committee on the Farm Bill to maintain public access to vital information about agricultural and livestock operations.
Language included in the House passed version of the Farm Bill, which is serving as the basis for conference negotiations, would undermine the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and prevent the public from accessing information that might have a direct effect on their quality of life. Similar language was previously removed from the Senate version of the bill.
The language, which is very broad and very vague, requires the government to withhold basic information about the location of livestock and agricultural operations. The language was intended to protect the privacy of small family farms, but it is so broad that it can be applied to large corporate operations. Furthermore, there are already strong exemptions in the FOIA for personal, private information that provide small farmers with protection.
You can view the full text of the letter here, or by clicking below.
The EU lobbyist register needs fixing
After a summer of debate, the EU working group responsible for reviewing the joint lobbyist register of the European Commission and European Parliament is poised to make recommendations for the future of the register. Strong regulations can shed light on how lobbyists shape the policy making process in the EU. However, the register in its current form is “unsustainable, misguided and simply not credible” -- according to a detailed report by the ALTER - EU, a coalition of about 200 civil society groups, trade unions, academics and public affairs firms concerned with the increasing influence exerted by corporate lobbyists on the political agenda in Europe.
The Sunlight Foundation applauds efforts to create more transparency around lobbying in the EU and encourages everyone to sign the petition launched by the ALTER-EU coalition.
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