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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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Lobbyists
Seats of Power: A Return to Skybox Lobbying?
Written by Paul Blumenthal on May 14, 2008 - 10:10am.
Read more: Gift Rules | Gifts | Lobbying | Lobbyists (see all terms)
Read more: Gift Rules | Gifts | Lobbying | Lobbyists (see all terms)
Source Name
Washington Post
Snippit
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.
K St.’s ‘Max Out’ Crowd
Written by Paul Blumenthal on May 12, 2008 - 10:36am.
Read more: Campaign Finance | Lobbying | Lobbyists (see all terms)
Read more: Campaign Finance | Lobbying | Lobbyists (see all terms)
Source Name
Roll Call
Snippit
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.
Oil Lobby Reaches Out to Citizens Peeved at the Pump
Written by Paul Blumenthal on May 9, 2008 - 10:03am.
Read more: Lobbyists | Oil and Gas Industry (see all terms)
Read more: Lobbyists | Oil and Gas Industry (see all terms)
Source Name
Washington Post
Snippit
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.
No slowdown on K Street
Written by Paul Blumenthal on April 22, 2008 - 9:45am.
Read more: Lobbyists (see all terms)
Read more: Lobbyists (see all terms)
Source Name
The Hill
Snippit
Much changed and much stayed the same Monday when all of K Street scrambled to file the first-ever quarterly accounting of lobbying firm revenues.
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.
Dodd Courts Lobbyist
Written by Paul Blumenthal on April 21, 2008 - 10:39am.
Read more: Chris Dodd | Lobbyists | Revolving Door (see all terms)
Read more: Chris Dodd | Lobbyists | Revolving Door (see all terms)
Source Name
Roll Call
Snippit
As lawmakers struggle to contain the fallout from the widening housing crisis, a lobbyist for mortgage brokers is in talks to leave his K Street perch to become a top staffer to Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Chairman Chris Dodd (D-Conn.).
Baucus staffers in lobbyist pipeline
Written by Paul Blumenthal on April 14, 2008 - 10:59am.
Read more: Lobbyists | Max Baucus | Revolving Door (see all terms)
Read more: Lobbyists | Max Baucus | Revolving Door (see all terms)
Source Name
Missoulian
Snippit
Since 1996, one-fifth of U.S. Sen. Max Baucus' highest-paid staff members have left their jobs to become lobbyists, usually for industries regulated by the powerful committee that Baucus heads, a Missoulian State Bureau analysis shows.
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.
Labeling Lobbyists
Would you talk to this man?
The San Francisco Examiner reports on a proposed bill by San Francisco Supervisor Chris Daly that would require lobbyists to wear identification badges when they contact city officials. This seems kind of silly to me. Lawmakers know these lobbyists and should know when they are being lobbied. They don't need to read badges to figure out what is going on. If anything greater and more timely, as in immediate, disclosure to the public should be implemented and not some sort of cattle branding.
(Pictured above: The Open House Project's John Wonderlich, our lobbyist for Big Transparency.)
Written by Paul Blumenthal on March 3, 2008 - 2:17pm.
Read more: Lobbyists | San Francisco | Transparency (see all terms)
Lobbyist Trent Lott Under Federal Investigation
After the President signed his name to the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2007, members of Congress had until January 1st to vacacte their seats if they wanted to trade the black suit and American flag lapel of Capitol Hill for the black suit and American flag lapel of K Street. The ethics reform bill extended the "cooling off" period for lawmakers-turned-lobbyists from one year to two years, which would leave retired members of Congress with 2 years to find something to do - write your memoirs or teach a class at the university that got so many earmarks they named a building after you - before they can make the big bucks on K Street. When Sen. Trent Lott announced his sudden retirement before the "cooling off" extension took effect it was clear that he wasn't looking to settle down at the Trent Lott Leadership Institute at Ole Miss. No, Lott was getting out early to work with his old bipartisan pal John Breaux on K Street.
There were, however, rumors that avoiding the "cooling off" extension was not the exact reason for Lott's early exit from his long congressional career. The Wall Street Journal puts those rumors to rest by publishing details of a federal investigation into Lott's possible role in a case involving the bribing of Mississippi judges by his half-brother Richard "Dickie" Scruggs:
Written by Paul Blumenthal on February 21, 2008 - 11:58am.
Read more: Bribery | Dickie Scruggs | Federal Investigation | Lobbyists | Trent Lott (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
A word from our Sponsor
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 ]