The House of Representatives has released an agenda for its all-day Legislative Data Conference, set for February 2nd. If you are interested in attending, you can RSVP here. House Legislative Data and Transparency Conference Agenda Original post
This piece was prepared in collaboration with Ethan Phelps-Goodman. In the last two decades, finance, insurance, and real estate have made many individuals quite rich, propelling them to stratospheric levels of wealth. It’s also propelled these individuals into stratospheric levels of political giving. More than any other industry, individuals from the finance, insurance, and realRead… Read more »
Tonight’s State of the Union Address raised even less transparency issues than we expected. (See the text at the end of this post.) President Obama called for a ban on insider trading in Congress, and proposes to ban lobbyists from bundling contributions, and to ban bundlers from lobbying. The insider trading ban is a proposalRead… Read more »
As House Republicans reopen efforts Wednesday to win approval for the Keystone XL energy project, new lobbying records filed over the weekend reveal a lopsided spending battle over the controversial proposed pipeline. The Keystone pipeline has become an emblematic fight for those who see the pipeline as a North American job creator versus those 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: Government The collapse of SOPA and PIPA, after protest from the tech industry and general public last week, has opened the door for alternative legislation being proposedRead… Read more »
MPAA head lobbyist Chris Dodd threatened Congress and the President last week, suggesting that lawmakers should remember that they’ve been bought, and that if they want to continue to enjoy their piece of the entertainment industry’s largesse, they should mind their leash: “Candidly, those who count on quote ‘Hollywood‘ for support need to understand thatRead… Read more »
Bill Clinton famously tried to claim he hadn’t lied about his relationship Monica Lewinsky by saying, “It depends on what the meaning of the word ‘is’ is.” Newt Gingrich similarly contorts the English language by claiming “I was never a lobbyist.” Perhaps Gingrich’s claim depends on what the meaning of the word “lobbyist” is. IfRead… Read more »
Tonight, President Obama will deliver his fourth State of the Union address, and we’ll be watching to see how his reform and transparency ambitions fit within this most public description of the President’s priorities. In an election year when an anti-Washington campaign theme will still be required, Obama may continue to cast his transparency workRead… Read more »
State Freedom of Information laws are in the limelight again. This time from Minnesota. The state’s proposed revision’s on FOIA have bloggers writing about the importance of accessing government data before a crisis happens. Charles Leck offers his view on how the state’s proposal on what constitutes as public data may affect access to informationRead… Read more »
Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., may be taking her name off her congressional office and the 2012 ballot, but that doesn’t mean she can’t be a player in a state that will be one of the top political battlegrounds this year. The congresswoman’s announcement that she will be giving up her House seat this week toRead… Read more »