Dark money has haunted the psyche of good government reformers. Recent changes in campaign law raise the prospect of unlimited donations, routed to political action committees through 501(c)4 “social welfare” organizations that don’t have to disclose contributors’ names. That could allow innocuously named groups to shelter powerful individuals and corporations and the influence they’re exercisingRead… Read more »
A Sunlight analysis of the fight on Capitol Hill over SOPA is generating some pushback in the online community from activists who think we overstated the role of money and corporate lobbying in the debate. In the interest of broadening and deepening the conversation, we asked one of our critics, Mike Godwin, a former counselRead… Read more »
Sunlight Executive Director Ellen Miller responds to this guest post by Mike Godwin: There is little in Mike Godwin’s response that we disagree with. As he writes, the debate over SOPA and PIPA was changed not by “politics as usual” or a late infusion of interest group lobbying cash, “but the participation of the onlineRead… Read more »
The revolving door is alive and well in Washington. In less than three years, at least 378 House staffers employed in personal and committee offices have left Capitol Hill to become registered lobbyists, a Sunlight Foundation analysis of House disbursement data and federal lobbying records finds. More than two in five former House staffers whoRead… Read more »
Policy Fellow Matt Rumsey wrote this post. Here is Tuesday’s take on transparency-related news items, congressional committee hearings, transparency-related bills introduced in Congress, and transparency-related events. News Roundup: Campaign Finance More than a third of advertising related to the presidential race has come from nonprofit groups that can keep their donors secret. (Washington Post) Rep.Read… Read more »
As if independent expenditures by super PACs weren’t enough, two major political players have notified the Federal Elections Commission of recent electioneering communications in states likely to be battlegrounds this fall. Crossroads GPS reported spending $500,000 on ads against President Obama in Arizona, Michigan, Minnesota and Missouri, while Planned Parenthood Action Fund Inc., spent $36,000Read… Read more »
By an overwhelming majority, Senators passed the STOCK Act, a bill Majority Leader Reid described as, “a critical step toward restoring Americans’ faith in Congress” but failed—in fact actively prevented—to allow a vote on an amendment that would have required Senators and Senate candidates to electronically file their campaign finance reports. Sunlight wrote a letterRead… Read more »
Lapidus is an Analytics Dashboard we developed in response to our desire to track metrics for all of our projects, whether they are web sites, APIs, mobile apps, etc. Sunlight has multiple projects that target different audiences and have different uses, but it is important for us to understand how all of these projects areRead… Read more »
Last night’s announcement came as no surprise — that the President would formally align himself with super PAC run by former White House staffers. The corrupting influence of money in politics, according to the President’s public persona, is a threat wielded by rank-and-file lobbyists and insider trading. It’s been about a year since the postRead… Read more »