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 »
From the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments: “The District of Columbia was recently selected as one of five capital cities to receive the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Greening America’s Capitals technical design assistance. This assistance will focus on green design and pedestrian/bicycle safety in the public spaces surrounding the Anacostia Metro Station and its proximityRead… 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 »
Facebook decides whether photos of nursing mothers are allowed to be displayed in its site (including in Australia and other nations where such photos are legal). Google leaves China to avoid complying with its national censorship laws. Gaming and gambling websites base themselves in jurisdictions where they are legal while attracting most of their customersRead… Read more »
From the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University: “The Department of Political Science at the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University invites applications for a full-time, two year term position in Public Law and Policy at the rank of Assistant Professor, to begin August 2012. The successful candidate will be expectedRead… 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 »
The Code for America model puts questions first, coding later. So if you were to ask us what the fellows will build, or the Brigade deploy, or the Accelerator start up — we honestly couldn’t say. This makes the task of weaving together common threads sometimes difficult. As our Government Relations Director mentioned last week,Read… 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 »