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The Sunlight Foundation was founded in 2006 with the goal of using technology to enable citizens to learn more about what their elected representatives are doing, to help reduce corruption, ensure greater transparency and... [more]
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FEC
Good bye Chairman Mason
We've written fairly often about unbelievable situation over the Federal Election Commission. Always regarded as a toothless watchdog even in the best of days, since there's been a partisan stalemate over new appointments, it's been totally neutered.
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.
Written by Ellen Miller on May 7, 2008 - 4:11pm.
Read more: David Mason | FEC | Federal Election Commission | Paul Kiel | Sunlight Foundation | Talking Points Memo (see all terms)
A Bungled Start For Bundling Rule
Written by Paul Blumenthal on April 3, 2008 - 10:47am.
Read more: Bundled contributions | Bundling | FEC (see all terms)
Read more: Bundled contributions | Bundling | FEC (see all terms)
Source Name
Roll Call
Snippit
Last year, wrangling over disclosure of bundled campaign checks nearly derailed the Democratic effort to overhaul lobbying and ethics rules. The provision survived, helping earn the broader package praise from government reform advocates who called it the most significant in a generation. It appears they spoke too soon.
Meeks to pay $63,000 in FEC fines for financial improprieties
Written by Paul Blumenthal on February 6, 2008 - 11:27am.
Read more: FEC | Gregory Meeks (see all terms)
Read more: FEC | Gregory Meeks (see all terms)
Source Name
The Hill
Snippit
Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.) has agreed to pay $63,000 to the Federal Election Commission (FEC) for using funds from his campaign committee for personal expenses, misstating its finances and accepting contributions above federal limits during the 2004 election cycle.
Feingold, Obama go after corporate jet travel
Written by Paul Blumenthal on November 15, 2007 - 11:15am.
Read more: Barack Obama | FEC | Private Travel | Russ Feingold (see all terms)
Read more: Barack Obama | FEC | Private Travel | Russ Feingold (see all terms)
Source Name
The Hill
Snippit
Two Democratic lawmakers are urging the Federal Election Commission (FEC) to adopt a rule change that would limit the influence corporations have on legislators by requiring federal candidates and officials from their leadership political action committees and campaigns who fly on non-commercial jets to pay the full charter cost.
'04 election-law violation to cost Vitter $25,000
Written by Paul Blumenthal on October 30, 2007 - 9:52am.
Read more: Campaign Finance | David Vitter | FEC (see all terms)
Read more: Campaign Finance | David Vitter | FEC (see all terms)
Source Name
New Orleans Times-Picayune
Snippit
Sen. David Vitter, R-La., has agreed to pay a $25,000 fine for violating federal election laws during his campaign for the Senate in 2004.
FEC to pols: Blow whistle on yourself
Written by Paul Blumenthal on December 1, 2006 - 12:31pm.
Read more: Campaign Finance | FEC (see all terms)
Read more: Campaign Finance | FEC (see all terms)
Source Name
AP
Snippit
The Federal Election Commission on Thursday took steps to encourage politicians and contributors to report their own possible violations of campaign finance laws by offering them significantly reduced fines.
FEC Holds the Line on Interest Group Spending
Yesterday’s decision by the Federal Election Commission to hold the line on spending rules for interest groups – essentially a vote not to open a new loophole allowing the kinds of unrestricted ad budgets we’ve seen in the past – was revealing in a couple of different ways.
First I should define the word “decision” in this case. Like so many FEC rulings, it was really a non-decision – the result of a 3-3 split between Democrats and Republicans on the six-member commission.
Hidden in Plain Sight
I began this day with an IM conversation with Larry Makinson about trying to get our hands on the most recently campaign contribution reports for the Lieberman-Lamont race. It dawned on us that the records could be pretty interesting. My thought had been to simply to direct our readers to the reports that were on line and let them search around. I guess we should have known it wouldn't be that easy. Our dialogue is instructive. Imagine if two novices were trying to find this information.
Ellen (9:00:14 AM): Got a blog idea for you this morning!
Written by Ellen Miller on August 7, 2006 - 11:02am.
Read more: FEC | Joe Lieberman | Lamont (see all terms)
Today the FEC announced that it is fining Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) $11,000 for failing to properly report a $1.44 million loan that he took out for his 2000 re-election campaign.
In June 2000, Senator Frist took $1 million of the money that had been contributed to his 2000 Senate campaign and invested it in the stock market, where it promptly began losing money. In November 2000, Senator Frist sought to collect $1.2 million he had lent his 1994 Senate campaign committee. As a result of the stock market losses, however, Frist 2000, Inc. did not have enough money to repay the loan. Senator Frist solved this problem by having the 1994 and the 2000 campaign committees jointly take out a $1.44 million bank loan at a cost of $10,000 a month interest. Frist 2000, Inc. did not report this debt on its FEC disclosure forms.
-- Paul Blumenthal
Groups Want Rules on Ads, Elections:
Read more: FEC | McCain-Feingold (see all terms) continue reading | login or register to post commentsThe AFL-CIO, the Chamber of Commerce, and other groups are asking the FEC to write new guidelines for political activity by outside groups in the months immediately preceding elections, according to the Washington Times. In January, Wisconsin Right to Life challenged the 30- to 60-day prohibition on outside groups that take corporate or union money from running advocacy ads that mention a candidate’s name. The Supreme Court ruled that “grass-roots groups have ways to lobby and mention the name of a federal candidate without being seen as actively campaigning.” The groups petitioning the FEC are asking for guidelines on what they can or cannot do in time for the 2006 elections.
-- Paul Blumenthal
Current Projects
PublicMarkup.org An experiment to open bills to online, public review.
Where Are They Now? Former Congressional Staffers head through the Revolving Door on to K Street.
Punch Clock Map: Putting congressional transparency on the map
Earmark Watch: Bringing Citizen Oversight to Congressional Spending
Wiki the Vote: Giving constituents the ability to report on candidates running for the House and Senate
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Ongoing Projects
Realtime Investigations: Follow along as Bill and Anu detail their investigative reporting adventures.
LOUIS is the beginning of a comprehensive, completely indexed and cross-referenced depository of federal documents.
The OpenHouse Project: Working to identify areas where Congress can open up and improve access to relevant and timely information.
OpenCongress: Bringing together official government information with news and blog coverage to give you the real story behind what's happening in Congress.
Past Projects
Visualizing Earmarks: Select Visualizations of 2005 OMB Earmark Data.
Mashup Congress and Win:
And the Winner is... Unfluence! We received more than a dozen entries to Sunlight's first Web 2.0 Mashup Contest.
Congressional Web Site Investigation:Employing citizen oversight to find out if we are getting our money’s worth from congressional Web sites.
Today's Ethics Watch
Senator’s Ties to Real Estate Draw Criticism: He has made millions as a title insurance executive, landlord and real estate developer in this college town, where the economy, despite trouble nationwide, is still growing nicely. Now, as a United States senator, with the mortgage mess fueling a national economic slowdown, Richard C. Shelby has more say over the revamping of housing finance laws than almost anyone else in Congress. (New York Times)
Oil Lobby Reaches Out to Citizens Peeved at the Pump: Faced with a national outcry over the high price of gasoline and soaring profits for energy companies, the oil and gas industry is waging an unusually pricey campaign to burnish its image. (Washington Post)
Lawmakers Accused of Flouting Rules on Use of Staff: Democratic Reps. Jane Harman and Neil Abercrombie spent more than $2 million on their 2006 reelection campaigns but paid only $5,000 to campaign workers, according to campaign finance reports. (Washington Post)
NAM discloses member list: The National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) disclosed certain member companies on Thursday after failing to win a reprieve from the U.S. Supreme Court. (The Hill)
Clinton introduces bill to post contractor violations on the Web: Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., has introduced a bill that would force contractors to self-report criminal actions or government overpayments to agency inspectors general under the threat of potential disbarment or suspension. The misconduct would then be made publicly available on a searchable Web site. (GovExec)
Rep. Abercrombie questions ethics of ethics bill handling: Rep. Neil Abercrombie (D-Hawaii) is challenging actions by his Democratic leaders and plans to ask the ethics committee to determine whether House rules were broken during a recent ethics vote. (The Hill)
A futile walk down Coconut Road?: The House agreed Wednesday to ask the Justice Department to investigate the now infamous Coconut Road earmark, but don’t hold your breath waiting for indictments. (Politico)
Young, Jefferson quiet as Coconut Road earmark nears vote in House: Reps. Don Young (R-Alaska) and William Jefferson (D-La.) are keeping mum on whether they will vote for a bill that includes language calling on the Department of Justice (DoJ) to investigate the notorious Coconut Road earmark when that measure comes to the House floor Wednesday. (The Hill)
Ethics Complaints Sheathed: Even though both Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) recently called for the ethics committee to investigate members of the other’s party — fighting words by any standard — neither took the next step of triggering an investigation, effectively pulling their punches. (Roll Call)
New disclosure reports lack clarity: The much-touted new lobbying disclosure reports are now available. But beware: They do little to make it easier to track the nation’s influence class. (Politico)
Lawmakers Want Hearing on Ties Between Sect, Defense Contracts: The Defense Department has contracted with three companies that are closely tied to the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and some lawmakers want to know if money from those deals supported the sect, whose ranch was raided this month after allegations of child abuse. (Washington Post)
[ More in the Archive ]
Oil Lobby Reaches Out to Citizens Peeved at the Pump: Faced with a national outcry over the high price of gasoline and soaring profits for energy companies, the oil and gas industry is waging an unusually pricey campaign to burnish its image. (Washington Post)
Lawmakers Accused of Flouting Rules on Use of Staff: Democratic Reps. Jane Harman and Neil Abercrombie spent more than $2 million on their 2006 reelection campaigns but paid only $5,000 to campaign workers, according to campaign finance reports. (Washington Post)
NAM discloses member list: The National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) disclosed certain member companies on Thursday after failing to win a reprieve from the U.S. Supreme Court. (The Hill)
Clinton introduces bill to post contractor violations on the Web: Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., has introduced a bill that would force contractors to self-report criminal actions or government overpayments to agency inspectors general under the threat of potential disbarment or suspension. The misconduct would then be made publicly available on a searchable Web site. (GovExec)
Rep. Abercrombie questions ethics of ethics bill handling: Rep. Neil Abercrombie (D-Hawaii) is challenging actions by his Democratic leaders and plans to ask the ethics committee to determine whether House rules were broken during a recent ethics vote. (The Hill)
A futile walk down Coconut Road?: The House agreed Wednesday to ask the Justice Department to investigate the now infamous Coconut Road earmark, but don’t hold your breath waiting for indictments. (Politico)
Young, Jefferson quiet as Coconut Road earmark nears vote in House: Reps. Don Young (R-Alaska) and William Jefferson (D-La.) are keeping mum on whether they will vote for a bill that includes language calling on the Department of Justice (DoJ) to investigate the notorious Coconut Road earmark when that measure comes to the House floor Wednesday. (The Hill)
Ethics Complaints Sheathed: Even though both Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) recently called for the ethics committee to investigate members of the other’s party — fighting words by any standard — neither took the next step of triggering an investigation, effectively pulling their punches. (Roll Call)
New disclosure reports lack clarity: The much-touted new lobbying disclosure reports are now available. But beware: They do little to make it easier to track the nation’s influence class. (Politico)
Lawmakers Want Hearing on Ties Between Sect, Defense Contracts: The Defense Department has contracted with three companies that are closely tied to the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and some lawmakers want to know if money from those deals supported the sect, whose ranch was raided this month after allegations of child abuse. (Washington Post)
[ More in the Archive ]