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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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Sunlight has updated and refined our legislative priorities in order to generate greater change and a more transparent Congress.
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Lobbying/Ethics Reform
New disclosure reports lack clarity
Written by Paul Blumenthal on April 29, 2008 - 9:30am.
Read more: Disclosure | Lobbying | Lobbying/Ethics Reform | Transparency (see all terms)
Read more: Disclosure | Lobbying | Lobbying/Ethics Reform | Transparency (see all terms)
Source Name
Politico
Snippit
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.
Party Time
Written by Paul Blumenthal on April 28, 2008 - 9:56am.
Read more: Lobbying | Lobbying/Ethics Reform (see all terms)
Read more: Lobbying | Lobbying/Ethics Reform (see all terms)
Source Name
Roll Call
Snippit
Convention ethics rules have made party-going lobbyists even more skittish than usual. And while many have said they plan to eschew the conventions completely, the C2 Group is taking a stand: The party must go on.
Manufacturers’ group to comply with lobbying law while case is under appeal
Written by Paul Blumenthal on April 23, 2008 - 11:24am.
Read more: Lobbying/Ethics Reform | National Association of Manufacturers | Transparency (see all terms)
Read more: Lobbying/Ethics Reform | National Association of Manufacturers | Transparency (see all terms)
Source Name
The Hill
Snippit
The National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) said Tuesday it would comply with the new ethics and lobbying law and provide a list of all of its members, despite continuing to fight the requirement in federal court.
Lobby Industry Set to Open Itself Up To Greater Scrutiny Under New Rules
Written by Paul Blumenthal on April 21, 2008 - 10:42am.
Read more: HLOGA | Honest Leadership and Open Government Act | Lobbying/Ethics Reform | Transparency (see all terms)
Read more: HLOGA | Honest Leadership and Open Government Act | Lobbying/Ethics Reform | Transparency (see all terms)
Source Name
Wall Street Journal
Snippit
Barring a last-minute reprieve by the courts, corporations, lobbyists and big trade associations will have to file Monday the most extensive public disclosures ever of their efforts to influence Congress, representing the first overhaul of Washington's influence industry in the wake of the jailing of lobbyist Jack Abramoff.
Ethics Law Isn’t Without Its Loopholes
Written by Paul Blumenthal on April 21, 2008 - 10:40am.
Read more: HLOGA | Honest Leadership and Open Government Act | Lobbying/Ethics Reform | Lobbyists (see all terms)
Read more: HLOGA | Honest Leadership and Open Government Act | Lobbying/Ethics Reform | Lobbyists (see all terms)
Source Name
New York Times
Snippit
The optimistically named Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2007 was supposed to prevent lobbyists from securing undue influence by taking members of Congress to intimate dinners at fancy restaurants.
Lobbyists contract out reporting obligations
Written by Paul Blumenthal on April 14, 2008 - 10:58am.
Read more: Lobbying/Ethics Reform | Lobbyists (see all terms)
Read more: Lobbying/Ethics Reform | Lobbyists (see all terms)
Source Name
Washington Times
Snippit
Congressional efforts to rein in lobbyists are helping to create a cottage industry in Washington: businesses that help them comply with a raft of new regulations.
Judge dismisses challenge to lobbying disclosure law
Written by Paul Blumenthal on April 14, 2008 - 10:46am.
Read more: Lobbying/Ethics Reform (see all terms)
Read more: Lobbying/Ethics Reform (see all terms)
Source Name
The Hill
Snippit
The National Association of Manufacturers suffered a major blow Friday in its legal battle against the new ethics and lobbying law.
Super Insider Lobbyists
I'm doing some catch up blogging now that I've had a chance to recuperate from Sunshine Week.
Last Thursday, Congressional Quarterly reported that 18 members of Congress had registered lobbyists serving as treasurer of their re-election campaign or their leadership PACs during 2007. Despite the passage of S.1 Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2007 (HLOGA), last year’s overhaul of lobbying regulations, “those in the business of seeking favors and those in a position to grant favors can be intertwined in such ways without running afoul of lobbying or ethics laws or congressional rules,” CQ write. And if that isn’t enough to raise your eyebrows, CQ says that lawmakers also asked for earmarks for the clients of their lobbyist-treasurers. (We’re trying to dig up a list of those.)
Any good news here? According to the article the number of lobbyists moonlighting as campaign treasurers has dropped over the past couple of years. Wow.
Written by Ellen Miller on March 24, 2008 - 9:48am.
Read more: Lobbying/Ethics Reform (see all terms)
A Jammin’ Fundraiser and Convention Ethics
Written by Paul Blumenthal on March 5, 2008 - 10:44am.
Read more: Lobbying/Ethics Reform (see all terms)
Read more: Lobbying/Ethics Reform (see all terms)
Source Name
Roll Call
Snippit
At the 2004 Democratic convention, F/S Capitol Consulting lobbyist Tom Hogan helped plan each detail of his firm’s shindig at Prezza restaurant in Boston’s North End. But this year, with a brand-new and sometimes ambiguous ethics regime in place, Hogan will leave the specifics to someone else.
Ethics Reform not just about Corruption
The Hill and Roll Call are both covering the political struggle to reform the ethics review process within the House. These articles cover very real concerns about how effective oversight can be negotiated for the most bottom-up of our three branches of government. Legislators are understandably reluctant to relinquish control over their own standards and affairs, regardless of how ineffective Congress's current enforcement mechanisms may be.
Written by John Wonderlich on February 28, 2008 - 12:59pm.
Read more: Lobbying/Ethics Reform (see all terms)
Current Projects
Fortune 535 Running the numbers on congressional wealth
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
Seats of Power: A Return to Skybox Lobbying?: Not long ago, lobbyists regularly entertained lawmakers and their aides in skyboxes at local sports arenas. But after a series of scandals on Capitol Hill, the law was changed to forbid congressional officials from accepting anything of value from lobbyists without repayment -- let alone the best seats in the house. (Washington Post)
Companies Start to Lift Veil on Political Spending: Ever wonder how much companies really spend to influence government through trade associations? Well, a few corporations are coming clean, or at least cleaner. (Washington Post)
Dems, GOP together nix Murtha earmark: Democrats and Republicans joined together to strip a pet project of Rep. John Murtha’s (D-Pa.) from the 2009 intelligence authorization bill — the same project Democrats defended last year. (The Hill)
NAPA launches collaboration Web site: If you’ve ever wished your federal agency could adopt wikis, use YouTube or delve into the virtual world but feared the security, technology and political barriers were too high to overcome, take heart. You’ve got supporters, and they have success stories. (NextGov)
Jefferson lawyers cite race case in change of venue request: Rep. William Jefferson’s (D-La.) lawyers have asked a federal judge to reconsider a ruling denying a change of venue for his corruption trial. (The Hill)
Jefferson Tries New Argument: Rep. William Jefferson (D-La.) has asked a federal court to use an international criminal law treaty to force the depositions of three people in Nigeria who have been implicated in corruption charges levied against him. (Roll Call)
Foreign Gifts Test Rules: Even as new ethics restrictions have made it difficult for Members and staff to accept gifts — aside from token baseball caps or T-shirts — one area remains where lawmakers and their staffs can collect trinkets more or less guilt-free: foreign travel. (Roll Call)
K St.’s ‘Max Out’ Crowd: The 20 top K Street donors this election cycle have handed federal candidates nearly $1.8 million in personal cash. The majority of that money, $1.3 million, has gone to help Democrats as the party in charge of Capitol Hill looks to expand its majority. (Roll Call)
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)
[ More in the Archive ]
Companies Start to Lift Veil on Political Spending: Ever wonder how much companies really spend to influence government through trade associations? Well, a few corporations are coming clean, or at least cleaner. (Washington Post)
Dems, GOP together nix Murtha earmark: Democrats and Republicans joined together to strip a pet project of Rep. John Murtha’s (D-Pa.) from the 2009 intelligence authorization bill — the same project Democrats defended last year. (The Hill)
NAPA launches collaboration Web site: If you’ve ever wished your federal agency could adopt wikis, use YouTube or delve into the virtual world but feared the security, technology and political barriers were too high to overcome, take heart. You’ve got supporters, and they have success stories. (NextGov)
Jefferson lawyers cite race case in change of venue request: Rep. William Jefferson’s (D-La.) lawyers have asked a federal judge to reconsider a ruling denying a change of venue for his corruption trial. (The Hill)
Jefferson Tries New Argument: Rep. William Jefferson (D-La.) has asked a federal court to use an international criminal law treaty to force the depositions of three people in Nigeria who have been implicated in corruption charges levied against him. (Roll Call)
Foreign Gifts Test Rules: Even as new ethics restrictions have made it difficult for Members and staff to accept gifts — aside from token baseball caps or T-shirts — one area remains where lawmakers and their staffs can collect trinkets more or less guilt-free: foreign travel. (Roll Call)
K St.’s ‘Max Out’ Crowd: The 20 top K Street donors this election cycle have handed federal candidates nearly $1.8 million in personal cash. The majority of that money, $1.3 million, has gone to help Democrats as the party in charge of Capitol Hill looks to expand its majority. (Roll Call)
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)
[ More in the Archive ]