Sunlight Foundation Reporting Group

Watergate + 40: What have we unlearned?

Libertarian think tank: Get behind DISCLOSE (or something like it)

A bill requiring super PACs and other outside political groups to include the names of top donors on their ads will hit the Senate floor next month, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., said Friday. Meanwhile, an unlikely source warned the Republicans who are expected to filibuster it that they are standing in the way of the inevitable. 

FEC says that using "Obamacare" counts as election ad

Americans for Prosperity campaigns without leaving a paper trail in Wisconsin

Guess who's giving to lawmaker trying to repeal tax on medical devices?

The Minnesota congressman leading the charge to repeal a medical device excise tax that is meant to generate a big chunk of funding for the health care reform law has taken the most campaign money--more than $64,000--from medical device manufacturers this election cycle. 

House Subcommittee blocks funds for online political ad disclosure

Today a House subcommittee voted to defund a Federal Communications Commission initiative announced in April that would provide online access to spending for political ads on some local television stations. In the current election cycle, outside spending has already reached record levels, more than doubling what was spent as of the same date in 2008.

Zynga places bet on lobbyists, hires two D.C. firms

Following a familiar path for high tech companies, social networking game platform Zynga has hired its first Washington lobbyists, filings with the Senate Office of Public Records show. The company seeks to influence legislation "pertaining to regulation and taxation of Internet gambling" as well as online privacy policy.

Realtors take out big mortgage on California House race

Tuesday's contest in California's 31st Congressional District morphed into the biggest outside money spending spree of any House primary so far, thanks a massive influx of funds by the National Association of Realtors on behalf of Rep. Gary Miller.

Super PACs loom large in today's primaries in California, New Mexico, Montana

As voters go to the polls in six states today, super PACs and other outside groups are playing an outsize role in some of the high profile contests, as incumbent members of Congress square off against other incumbents due to redistricting, special interests duke it out in one district, and Democrats try to avoid being beaten out by an indepedent for the fall ballot. Here's a rundown of some of the spending:

In running for Congress, plumber showcases his company

Is congressional candidate Markwayne Mullin touting himself to voters or to customers? That was the question before the Federal Election Commission earlier this week, where the Oklahoma businessman is seeking permission to have TV ads for his plumbing company not treated like campaign communications. But some of Mullin's neighbors say his plumbing business figures so heavily in his campaign ads that it's impossible to distinguish the two.

Bloomberg sugary drink ban has powerful opponents

Mayor Michael Bloomberg's announcement that the city will pursue a ban on large sugary drinks sold at restaurants, movie theatres, and other locations is just the latest attempt in his campaign against obesity--one that has so far met with little success in the face of a powerful food lobby, one sometimes joined by odd bedfellows.

More JPMorgan meetings with Treasury on Volcker rule

JPMorgan executives, including CEO Jamie Dimon, attended several meetings at the Treasury Department last month to discuss the controversial Volcker rule and other matters related to the Dodd-Frank financial reform law, according to new meeting logs released by the agency Thursday.

Big donors to Democratic super PACs visited White House

Though President Barack Obama called super PACs a "threat to democracy" before embracing them last February in his own reelection effort, he and members of his inner circle had no trouble meeting with the kind of people who contribute to them. At least 16 individuals who gave money to some of the major outside spending groups had meetings with White House officials--including Obama himself. 

Did Sunlight silence Jeff Miller's tweets?

Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Fla., took his Twitter account private on Wednesday shortly after the Sunlight Foundation reported that he had deleted a tweet including a link to a poll about President Obama's birthplace.