Citizens can Markup Bailout Bills on PublicMarkup.org

Sunlight also analyzes ties between financial industry and Congress

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

September 23, 2008

Contact: Gabriela Schneider 202/742-1520

WASHINGTON, DC - As Congress grapples behind closed doors with the administration's unprecedented bail out of distressed financial firms, the Sunlight Foundation is providing citizens with a means of weighing in on the debate about what policies are best to steer the nation through this crisis. Sunlight has posted the two leading proposals for dealing with the crisis on its open source policy making site, PublicMarkup.org, so that anyone can review and comment on the bills.

PublicMarkup.org's blog-like layout allows users to comment on the entire bill, or on specific sections. Since we posted proposals put forth by the Treasury Department and Sen. Christopher Dodd late yesterday, citizens have contributed well over 100 comments, with most focused on the oversight and executive compensation provisions.

"We posted these proposals as a public service, so that citizens can use the power of the Internet to share their knowledge and show Congress what they really want to see in this vital legislation," said Ellen Miller, executive director and co-founder of the Sunlight Foundation. "Legislative proposals should not be drafted in secret. We believe, as Justice Brandeis said, that 'Sunlight is the best of disinfectants,' and that all legislation ought to be open to public comment and consideration in real-time, not just after the fact. By posting the bills online on PublicMarkup.org, we hope to inspire Congress to follow our example."

On its Real Time Investigations blog, Sunlight posted a thorough analysis of who has contributed to House and Senate committee members who are debating this historic legislation. Sunlight's research uses data from the Center for Responsive Politics (which receives funding from Sunlight) to examine how much of the campaign cash raised by members of the House Finance and Senate Banking committees has come from the industries at the epicenter of the crisis - finance, insurance and real estate - over the course of their careers. Sunlight's findings include:

• Since 1989, Sen. Dodd, chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, has raised $13,163,356 from employees, their family members, and PACs from the Finance, Insurance & Real Estate sector out of a total of $43,344,186 - 30.3 percent of his total take
• Since 1989, Sen. Richard C. Shelby, ranking member of the Senate Banking Committee, has raised $4,240,502 from employees, their family members, and PACs from the Finance, Insurance & Real Estate sector out of a total of $20,741,533 - 20.4 percent of his total take
• Rep. Barney Frank, chair of the House Financial Services Committee has received $2,430,361 of 7,800,282, or 31.1 percent
• Rep. Spencer Bacchus, ranking member of the House Financial Services Committee has received $3,579,199 of $8,478,461, or 42.2 percent.

"Over the course of their careers, these members of Congress have raised a lot of money from people whose interest now is a bailout on the most generous terms available for their industry," said Bill Allison, senior fellow at Sunlight who authored the analysis. "How will they balance all the competing interests?"

The Sunlight Foundation supports, develops and deploys new Internet technologies to make information about Congress and the federal government more accessible to the American people. Through its projects and grant-making, Sunlight serves as a catalyst to create greater political transparency and to foster more openness and accountability in government. Visit SunlightFoundation.com to learn more about Sunlight's projects, including The Open House Project, EarmarkWatch.org and OpenCongress.org.
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