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]]>We love roundups like this for keeping updated on the news that matters the most. Make sure to add VoterWatch to your feeds!
]]>The obvious answer was "yes." McNealy articulated a whole host of reasons why it matters, not only to his company, but also for the rest of the world. Dave and I amplified his core thoughts. But for the most part the audience, made up of people from international agencies, foundations, non-profits, think tanks, consulting firms, academia, and publishing, appeared a bit dubious, or perhaps, it was just the first time that they had been exposed to the notion of what sharing and openness means in the 21st century. There is alot of education to be done.
Dave has a detailed write up about the event here.
]]>The obvious answer was "yes." McNealy articulated a whole host of reasons why it matters, not only to his company, but also for the rest of the world. Dave and I amplified his core thoughts. But for the most part the audience, made up of people from international agencies, foundations, non-profits, think tanks, consulting firms, academia, and publishing, appeared a bit dubious, or perhaps, it was just the first time that they had been exposed to the notion of what sharing and openness means in the 21st century. There is alot of education to be done.
Dave has a detailed write up about the event here.
]]>Now, Paul Kiel reports that the Bush Administration has offered a so-called compromise. The most controverisal nominee -- Spakovsky -- remains a nominee, and an administration spokesperson told the The New York Times that they would accept a separate vote on him. In the meantime, the administration has submitted a new nominee to replace FEC Chair David Mason, one of the two setting commissioners.
]]>Now, Paul Kiel reports that the Bush Administration has offered a so-called compromise. The most controverisal nominee -- Spakovsky -- remains a nominee, and an administration spokesperson told the The New York Times that they would accept a separate vote on him. In the meantime, the administration has submitted a new nominee to replace FEC Chair David Mason, one of the two setting commissioners.
But here's the rub: Mason has opposed a move by Sen. John McCain to pull his presidential campaign out of the public finance system. McCain had earlier joined the system and accepted the $54 million spending limit. Mason's position is that the FEC would have to approve his request to leave the system, and that he couldn't just opt out. Meanwhile, the McCain campaign is spending away and has long surpassed the spending limit. Bush's solution...Good bye Chairman Mason.
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My latest column in Locus Magazine, "Think Like a Dandelion," came out of a talk I had with Neil Gaiman about the bio-economics of giving stuff away for free. Mammals worry about what happens to each and every one of their offspring, but dandelions only care that every crack in every sidewalk has dandelions growing out of it. The former is a good strategy for situations in which reproduction is expensive, but the latter works best when reproduction is practically free -- as on the Internet.
But the disposition of each — or even most — of the seeds aren't the important thing, from a dandelion's point of view. The important thing is that every spring, every crack in every pavement is filled with dandelions. The dandelion doesn't want to nurse a single precious copy of itself in the hopes that it will leave the nest and carefully navigate its way to the optimum growing environment, there to perpetuate the line. The dandelion just wants to be sure that every single opportunity for reproduction is exploited!
Think about government data in just that way.
]]>My latest column in Locus Magazine, "Think Like a Dandelion," came out of a talk I had with Neil Gaiman about the bio-economics of giving stuff away for free. Mammals worry about what happens to each and every one of their offspring, but dandelions only care that every crack in every sidewalk has dandelions growing out of it. The former is a good strategy for situations in which reproduction is expensive, but the latter works best when reproduction is practically free -- as on the Internet.
But the disposition of each — or even most — of the seeds aren't the important thing, from a dandelion's point of view. The important thing is that every spring, every crack in every pavement is filled with dandelions. The dandelion doesn't want to nurse a single precious copy of itself in the hopes that it will leave the nest and carefully navigate its way to the optimum growing environment, there to perpetuate the line. The dandelion just wants to be sure that every single opportunity for reproduction is exploited!
Think about government data in just that way.
]]>The alternative energy industry has increased their lobbying outlays eightfold over the past ten years, going from $2 million to almost $16 million. For instance, the American Wind Energy Association spent over $815,000 on lobbying efforts, and the National Biodiesel Board spent more than $1,235,000.
]]>The alternative energy industry has increased their lobbying outlays eightfold over the past ten years, going from $2 million to almost $16 million. For instance, the American Wind Energy Association spent over $815,000 on lobbying efforts, and the National Biodiesel Board spent more than $1,235,000.
Along with lobbying, the alternative energy sector has increased its giving of campaign contributions. So far in the 2008 election cycle, green energy has shelled out almost $528,000 to federal candidates, and is on the pace to match its giving high-water mark of almost $957,000 in 2000 when Al Gore was running for president. In 1998, the industry gave just over $308,000 in contributions.
In 1998, the alternative energy sector accounted for $308,000 in donations to candidates. So far this cycle, green industry donors have given nearly $528,000 - putting them on track to match or surpass their high water mark of nearly $957,000 in 2000, when global warming guru Al Gore topped the Democratic presidential ticket.
As impressive as these increases might be, they continue to be dwarfed by the traditional energy giants: oil and gas ($82,620,985 in 2007 for lobbying, $11,534,676 in contributions so far this cycle) and coal mining ($10,898,700 in 2007 for lobbying, $1,617,787 in contributions this cycle).
As you can see, the old energy industries of oil and gas and coal invest heavily in Congress. And thanks to a Capital Eye article written by CRP's Lindsay Renick Mayer we now know that members of Congress invest their personal wealth heavily in old energy too. Lawmakers' personal financial disclosure reports show they have "at least 45 times more money invested in the oil and gas industry (at least $20.6 million) than in public companies that provide "green" products and services (at least $452,100)," Mayer writes.
And so the beat goes on.
]]>Earlier this week, Roll Call published a story that used LegiStorm's financial disclosures to reveal a potential conflict of interest with an energy business owned by Rep. Steve Pearce. The paper reported that Pearce sold his assets of his oil services company for $12 million to an energy company that had testified before a panel he co-chaired. Pearce's personal financial disclosure listed the value of the company at $1 million to $5 million.
]]>Earlier this week, Roll Call published a story that used LegiStorm's financial disclosures to reveal a potential conflict of interest with an energy business owned by Rep. Steve Pearce. The paper reported that Pearce sold his assets of his oil services company for $12 million to an energy company that had testified before a panel he co-chaired. Pearce's personal financial disclosure listed the value of the company at $1 million to $5 million.
In February, LegiStorm created hysteria on the Hill by releasing a database of staffer personal financial disclosures. Since the database went public, four chiefs of staff for House members have come under public scrutiny over matters contained in the personal financial disclosures.
]]>
The release of the information was one of the last acts of the outgoing centre-left government and has shocked many tax-shy Italians. . . . But it was also hugely popular, and within hours the site was overwhelmed and impossible to access.
The finance ministry described the move as a bid to improve transparency.
The transparency ploy has generally been regarded as an end of term sour grapes move.
]]>
The release of the information was one of the last acts of the outgoing centre-left government and has shocked many tax-shy Italians. . . . But it was also hugely popular, and within hours the site was overwhelmed and impossible to access.
The finance ministry described the move as a bid to improve transparency.
The transparency ploy has generally been regarded as an end of term sour grapes move.
]]>
According to the report, the agency's accounting is so dysfunctional it's impossible for DoD to comply with an 18-year-old requirement by Congress to audit its books. What results is a system that once payments are authorized and money is transferred, there is no reliable way to trace where it ends up. The Portfolio.com article echoes a February article by The (Raleigh, N.C.) News & Observer that profiled DoD's "labyrinth of arcane and incompatible accounting systems." The News & Observer notes that the accounting problems are not new, and quotes Winslow Wheeler, a project director at the Center for Defense Information, as saying if DoD were a public company, "...it would have gone belly up before World War II."
]]>According to the report, the agency's accounting is so dysfunctional it's impossible for DoD to comply with an 18-year-old requirement by Congress to audit its books. What results is a system that once payments are authorized and money is transferred, there is no reliable way to trace where it ends up. The Portfolio.com article echoes a February article by The (Raleigh, N.C.) News & Observer that profiled DoD's "labyrinth of arcane and incompatible accounting systems." The News & Observer notes that the accounting problems are not new, and quotes Winslow Wheeler, a project director at the Center for Defense Information, as saying if DoD were a public company, "...it would have gone belly up before World War II."
Both articles lay much blame on the complexity of layers upon layers of bureaucracy partly caused by continued turf wars between the four branches of the armed services. This results in each branch continuing to maintain separate and increasingly outdated business systems that are unable to communicate with each other, trace money disbursements and detect over billing by private contractors.
And guess who picks up the tab for the waste, fraud, and abuse?
Hat tip: TPM.
]]>
First of all, it is always easier to identify the problem than to solve it, no matter which policy arena you are playing in. But in this case, it's even hard to identify the problem. Is it that lawmakers get to decide where to spend government money and the process is too subjective? (If not them, would a government bureaucrat know the needs of a district better?) Is it that the private financing of public elections corrupts public officials absolutely (or partially), and so we can't trust the spending of government money to them because they simply can't make unbiased decisions? (I kind of think the latter is a big part of the problem if not the whole of it.) Is it because some lawmakers have private investments in companies that might execute the contracts to perform the work designated by earmarks or that they make decisions to benefit their own personal holdings. (See Dennis Hastert.). It's probably all of the above and more. (See Bill Allison's frequent blog postings on earmarks.)
Second, proposals for reform have to be realistic. (Yes, they can be idealistic and realistic at the same time.) It is simply not realistic to propose to ban earmarks, I mean, someone has to decide which bridges and roads need to be fixed, which universities are doing great research and need to be supported, which community health clinics deserve government money, and yes too, how many new bombers we need. And while I understand that calling for an earmark ban is useful as an organizing vehicle, as policy it doesn't make a lot of sense. Who would decide how to spend the money? And even if you suspend my disbelief, a history of reform efforts show us that such a "ban" would most likely drive the spending underground and make it even hard to track how Congress spends taxpayer money. The money will get spent.
]]>First of all, it is always easier to identify the problem than to solve it, no matter which policy arena you are playing in. But in this case, it's even hard to identify the problem. Is it that lawmakers get to decide where to spend government money and the process is too subjective? (If not them, would a government bureaucrat know the needs of a district better?) Is it that the private financing of public elections corrupts public officials absolutely (or partially), and so we can't trust the spending of government money to them because they simply can't make unbiased decisions? (I kind of think the latter is a big part of the problem if not the whole of it.) Is it because some lawmakers have private investments in companies that might execute the contracts to perform the work designated by earmarks or that they make decisions to benefit their own personal holdings. (See Dennis Hastert.). It's probably all of the above and more. (See Bill Allison's frequent blog postings on earmarks.)
Second, proposals for reform have to be realistic. (Yes, they can be idealistic and realistic at the same time.) It is simply not realistic to propose to ban earmarks, I mean, someone has to decide which bridges and roads need to be fixed, which universities are doing great research and need to be supported, which community health clinics deserve government money, and yes too, how many new bombers we need. And while I understand that calling for an earmark ban is useful as an organizing vehicle, as policy it doesn't make a lot of sense. Who would decide how to spend the money? And even if you suspend my disbelief, a history of reform efforts show us that such a "ban" would most likely drive the spending underground and make it even hard to track how Congress spends taxpayer money. The money will get spent.
Fundamentally, banning earmarks is like throwing out the baby with the bathwater. It's a political point now being made by all those who attempt to represent themselves as populists - faux or real.
Instead, how about full and complete transparency for earmarks: who is requesting them, for what, with lots of details about costs and disclaimers about personal connections by lawmakers, along with a requirement that they all be posted for a minimum of 72 hours online in a downloadable format before they are voted on? We could easily craft such a policy. (No neither the House nor Senate went as far as what needs to be done to get real 21st century style disclosure in their last round of reforms. Minimally this ought to be a first step.
]]>His recent talks about his latest project -- Change Congress -- don't disappoint. And now he's making it all available for remixing. Dig in here.
(Full disclosure: Larry serves on Sunlight's advisory board.)
]]>His recent talks about his latest project -- Change Congress -- don't disappoint. And now he's making it all available for remixing. Dig in here.
(Full disclosure: Larry serves on Sunlight's advisory board.)
]]>“Wall Street Comes to Washington” is the title of the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association event convening Thursday. Attendees will be entertained by media celeb Tucker Carlson and will hear from House Minority Leader John A. Boehner (R-Ohio). They’ll have dinner with Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) and Rep. Joseph Crowley (D-N.Y.), and they’ll participate in panel discussions about the ongoing credit crunch and the regulatory future for their industry.
This industry doesn't have trouble attracting lawmakers to their lobbying-fest. They represent Rep. John Boehner's fifth largest source of campaign funds; and Sen. Richard Burr's seventh largest. As for snaring Rep Joseph Crowley's? No problem. They are his largest contributor.
]]>“Wall Street Comes to Washington” is the title of the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association event convening Thursday. Attendees will be entertained by media celeb Tucker Carlson and will hear from House Minority Leader John A. Boehner (R-Ohio). They’ll have dinner with Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) and Rep. Joseph Crowley (D-N.Y.), and they’ll participate in panel discussions about the ongoing credit crunch and the regulatory future for their industry.
This industry doesn't have trouble attracting lawmakers to their lobbying-fest. They represent Rep. John Boehner's fifth largest source of campaign funds; and Sen. Richard Burr's seventh largest. As for snaring Rep Joseph Crowley's? No problem. They are his largest contributor.
]]>According to Jeanne Cummings:
....this first round of reports, which does include some of the more modest new disclosure requirements, represents an inauspicious beginning to what was supposed to be a new age of enlightenment about K Street and Congress.
Duh.
]]>According to Jeanne Cummings:
....this first round of reports, which does include some of the more modest new disclosure requirements, represents an inauspicious beginning to what was supposed to be a new age of enlightenment about K Street and Congress.
Duh. Sunlight has recommended what we think would make a big difference when it comes to transparency reforms for lobbyists: Everyone who is paid to engage in direct issue advocacy with lawmakers and their staff should be required to register, and all registered lobbyists should disclose all legislative contacts (by name and office), all legislation and regulations discussed, and any relationship to a current member of Congress, staff member, or executive branch employee. And all these reports should be filed online within 24 hours of any meeting or contribution.
Frankly, let's make it even easier. How about a Twitter feed for lobbyists? That way, lobbyists could tweet the information from their BlackBerry as they are leaving their appointments. Nothing could be easier.
]]>There are so many things wrong with this agency that it would be hard for me to even know where to begin, but CREW is focusing on the lack of commissioners which puts the agency's oversight of the current campaigns at a complete standstill, as in nonexistent. And guess who they are blaming? Yup, none other that Sen. "No-Electronic-Filing-for-Senators" Mitch McConnell. The full background is here.
Use their tool to write to Sen. McConnell and tell him what you think about his holding up a vote on the FEC nominees that have a majority supporting them for their appointment. McConnell has a bad habit of stopping the Senate in any attempt to assure better accountability for its work.
]]>There are so many things wrong with this agency that it would be hard for me to even know where to begin, but CREW is focusing on the lack of commissioners which puts the agency's oversight of the current campaigns at a complete standstill, as in nonexistent. And guess who they are blaming? Yup, none other that Sen. "No-Electronic-Filing-for-Senators" Mitch McConnell. The full background is here.
Use their tool to write to Sen. McConnell and tell him what you think about his holding up a vote on the FEC nominees that have a majority supporting them for their appointment. McConnell has a bad habit of stopping the Senate in any attempt to assure better accountability for its work.
]]>Einhorn says:
The story you are about to read exposes the grim realities of unchecked corporate misconduct by a bad company and the failures of proper regulatory oversight. . . . The story I am telling is one that has been surprising and unexpected - even to me. I think it is important and needs to be told. This book reveals some serious problems in the regulatory landscape that I am in a unique place to discuss. I care that the SEC and other regulators seem to have stopped enforcing laws against corporate malfeasance. I care that company officials can lie with impunity on public conference calls. And I have been appalled that the government officials overseeing the lending programs that Allied has defrauded are so indifferent and unwilling to act even when presented with clear evidence of abuse. The overall lack of law enforcement is startling.
]]>
Einhorn says:
The story you are about to read exposes the grim realities of unchecked corporate misconduct by a bad company and the failures of proper regulatory oversight. . . . The story I am telling is one that has been surprising and unexpected - even to me. I think it is important and needs to be told. This book reveals some serious problems in the regulatory landscape that I am in a unique place to discuss. I care that the SEC and other regulators seem to have stopped enforcing laws against corporate malfeasance. I care that company officials can lie with impunity on public conference calls. And I have been appalled that the government officials overseeing the lending programs that Allied has defrauded are so indifferent and unwilling to act even when presented with clear evidence of abuse. The overall lack of law enforcement is startling.
If we are going to permit the retribution against the whistleblowers shown in this story - defamation, investigation, invasion of privacy and so forth - then we surrender public free speech. If we allow the people in this story to operate outside the law, then we nourish a corrupt business culture. Rather than turn a blind eye to the fraud I witnessed, I made a decision to stand up and speak out despite the consequences. I hope my story inspires regulators and government agencies to do the right thing
The book's gotten some terrific reviews. And half the profits from the book (it was released two days ago and it's already No. 40 at Amazon) are going to two Watchdog Group that Sunlight knows well - POGO and the Center for Public Integrity - because absent government these two nonprofits are among the best in keeping their eyes on this kind of bad behavior.
]]>Lott retired from the Senate in December and then joined former Sen. John Breaux (D -La.) to launch The Breaux-Lott Leadership Group, a Washington lobbying operation. The Associated Press quotes Craig Holman at Public Citizen and a spokesperson from the Center for Responsive Politics as saying Lott's stockpile, $1.1 million at the end of March, is the largest they can remember, and is drawing scrutiny of the Mississippi Republican. The clients he has signed on to promote, the proposed Delta-Northwest airline merger and Northrop Grumman's $35 billion contract to build tanker jets for the Air Force, are drawing attention too.
]]>Lott retired from the Senate in December and then joined former Sen. John Breaux (D -La.) to launch The Breaux-Lott Leadership Group, a Washington lobbying operation. The Associated Press quotes Craig Holman at Public Citizen and a spokesperson from the Center for Responsive Politics as saying Lott's stockpile, $1.1 million at the end of March, is the largest they can remember, and is drawing scrutiny of the Mississippi Republican. The clients he has signed on to promote, the proposed Delta-Northwest airline merger and Northrop Grumman's $35 billion contract to build tanker jets for the Air Force, are drawing attention too.
Congress passed the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2007 which extends the time a senator has to "cool off period" where they can't lobby their former colleagues from one to two years. But Lott retired days before the law took effect, so he is only held to the one year standard. But in the meantime, he gets the attention of members by making $5,000 checks. And the AP reports that he is in the process of turning the left over campaign cash into a political action committee, freeing him to make even larger contributions.
]]>In the contests for Congress, 1st Quarter fundraising totals for some congressional candidates -- many of them incumbent senators -- still haven't come out electronically from the FEC. (Senators insist on filing their reports on paper even though everyone else files electronically, so this usually explains the delay in getting electronic information -- it has to be keyed in at your expense, taxpayer.)
OpenSecrets.org will update their congressional profiles as the data becomes available. Expect deeper analysis next month.
]]>In the contests for Congress, 1st Quarter fundraising totals for some congressional candidates -- many of them incumbent senators -- still haven't come out electronically from the FEC. (Senators insist on filing their reports on paper even though everyone else files electronically, so this usually explains the delay in getting electronic information -- it has to be keyed in at your expense, taxpayer.)
OpenSecrets.org will update their congressional profiles as the data becomes available. Expect deeper analysis next month.
]]>This morning's panel on new forms of reporting has some really interesting insights (live-blogging here so forgive any typos or errors).
There is a real appetite for innovative approaches to politics on the web, says Matthew Wait, news technologist from St. Pete Times who starts his presentation by saying that he hates politics. When you don't have a team of seven like the Times does, he suggests crowd sourcing, particularly for local politics. Check out Twine as a local politics meme watcher; Google Docs as a Source Collector. Twitter. Think election day problems for the latter. Long discussion about Polifact which has matured a lot since I first checked it out.
Aron Pilhofer says the NY Times where he leads a team of seven (!) journalist developer types, to work on news-focused, data-drive projects; e.g. ‘web development' at newsroom speed. (I like that! Really like that.)
]]>This morning's panel on new forms of reporting has some really interesting insights (live-blogging here so forgive any typos or errors).
There is a real appetite for innovative approaches to politics on the web, says Matthew Wait, news technologist from St. Pete Times who starts his presentation by saying that he hates politics. When you don't have a team of seven like the Times does, he suggests crowd sourcing, particularly for local politics. Check out Twine as a local politics meme watcher; Google Docs as a Source Collector. Twitter. Think election day problems for the latter. Long discussion about Polifact which has matured a lot since I first checked it out.
Aron Pilhofer says the NY Times where he leads a team of seven (!) journalist developer types, to work on news-focused, data-drive projects; e.g. ‘web development' at newsroom speed. (I like that! Really like that.)
There are two kinds of readers at the Times. The Bart Simpson types who want headlines, just the headlines, and the Lisa Simpson types who want depth. Most Times readers want headlines but the Times wants their readers to want more depth. The challenge is to provide that level of interaction that will help people want more depth. How to do that?
Tools for users to explore: Times doing a lot here. 1) Politics map, Released on Super Tuesday. Highest trafficked page on the site on election night. As races unfolded info was updated, You get popups at deeper resolution. 2) Candidate travel map. 3) Using ManyEyes to visualize data and to help build community around it. (Another Sunlight mention for our Earmarks Visualization!) Uses as an example the Gonzales testimony before Congress.
Opportunities for readers to interact with each other. Candidates taking questions on line from citizens. Real Time Investigations mentioned as an example of opportunity to engage people as reporting is happening. PublicMarkup.org gets a mention too.
Create toys for users: games -play the candidate match game;, presidential pong game (on CNN.com), CBC match candidate to kid photo game. (I'm thinking about our forthcoming game...)
Empowering the nerds among your audience: APIs. Nothing wrong with data dump but as a nerd reader there is nothing they can do with this. He likes this: and then shows a slide of the xmls from ...ta da...the National Institute on State Money and Politics! APIs coming soon from the Times.
]]>Over 11,700 Members of Congress have served this great Nation. Overwhelmingly, they have been hard working, dedicated, intelligent, and deserving of the courtesy title "The Honorable." But then there are the Congressional BadBoys, the one-half of one percent, or so, of rotten apples, done in by their all too human frailties. It's the same old story: power, money, booze, drugs, and sex.
Here's the sexual harassement caucus. Those who've gone to jail but still collect their pensions and the full prison caucus. Here's the probation caucus.
You get the picture.
]]>Over 11,700 Members of Congress have served this great Nation. Overwhelmingly, they have been hard working, dedicated, intelligent, and deserving of the courtesy title "The Honorable." But then there are the Congressional BadBoys, the one-half of one percent, or so, of rotten apples, done in by their all too human frailties. It's the same old story: power, money, booze, drugs, and sex.
Here's the sexual harassement caucus. Those who've gone to jail but still collect their pensions and the full prison caucus. Here's the probation caucus.
You get the picture.
]]>]]>Breaking news: the House has just passed H.R. 3033 (the "Contractor and Federal Spending Accountability Act"). The bill, introduced by Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), would essentially formalize POGO's Federal Contractor Misconduct Database by establishing a government database with centralized information on federal contractors who have broken the law and violated federal regulations. As of now, there are almost no safeguards in place to prevent irresponsible contractors from receiving future taxpayer dollars. The proposed database would allow procurement officials to become more informed about a company's corporate history before making contracting decisions.
This is a huge victory for taxpayers that will improve contractor accountability. POGO strongly supported Rep. Maloney's legislation, which now goes to the Senate, where Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) has already introduced a companion bill.
]]>Breaking news: the House has just passed H.R. 3033 (the "Contractor and Federal Spending Accountability Act"). The bill, introduced by Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), would essentially formalize POGO's Federal Contractor Misconduct Database by establishing a government database with centralized information on federal contractors who have broken the law and violated federal regulations. As of now, there are almost no safeguards in place to prevent irresponsible contractors from receiving future taxpayer dollars. The proposed database would allow procurement officials to become more informed about a company's corporate history before making contracting decisions.
This is a huge victory for taxpayers that will improve contractor accountability. POGO strongly supported Rep. Maloney's legislation, which now goes to the Senate, where Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) has already introduced a companion bill.
Although the extent to which family members are employed is unclear, it is a common practice among British MEPs which evolved because of the need to run a political office at home, out of normal office hours.
A group inside the Parliament is currently considering the rules for MEPs and their assistants before a final decision is made by parliament's internal political body. Seems like a little research might be in order.
Hat tip: Scott
]]>Although the extent to which family members are employed is unclear, it is a common practice among British MEPs which evolved because of the need to run a political office at home, out of normal office hours.
A group inside the Parliament is currently considering the rules for MEPs and their assistants before a final decision is made by parliament's internal political body. Seems like a little research might be in order.
Hat tip: Scott
]]>