Sunlight Foundation Reporting Group

1. Who's manning the TARP desk?

   By Anupama Narayanswamy Apr 10, 2009 5:54 p.m.

   Less than half a dozen people are responsible for making the final decisions about which banks get part of the $700 billion in bailout money available through the Troubled Asset Relief Program, according to Department of Treasury officials. In response to a Freedom of Information Act request made by the Sunlight Foundation in January for the members of the TARP Investment Committee, a FOIA officer recently responded with just four names, including Assistant Secretary, Neel Kashkari; Chief Investment Officer, James Lambright; Acting Assistant Secretary for Financial Markets, Karthik Ramanathan and Acting Assistant Secretary for Economic Policy, Ralph Monaco, all holdovers from the Bush administration.

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2. Former PMA Group Clients Get Defense Earmarks from Murtha for 2010

   By Anupama Narayanswamy Apr 3, 2009 9:54 p.m.

   Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., has requested defense related funding for five companies that hired the PMA Group last year, according to a review of the earmark requests released on the Congressman's website. Murtha has requested a total of $23.8 million to be directed to these companies.

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3. Murtha's PMA Group Connections

   By Anupama Narayanswamy Feb 10, 2009 8:51 p.m.

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4. North Carolina Businessman Pays for Campaign Ads

   By Anupama Narayanswamy Oct 14, 2008 2:50 p.m.

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5. FARAdb Reveals Who Lobbyists Meet to Influence Congress

   By Anupama Narayanswamy Oct 2, 2008 7:11 p.m.

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6. Who's Paying for Election Ads? Follow the 527 Widget...

   By Anupama Narayanswamy Oct 1, 2008 7:16 p.m.

   The 30-second ad is typical fare for a campaign: the taxing and spending of a candidate, in this case former Gov. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., is pilloried. Her Republican opponent, Sen. John Sununu, facing a tough race, did not pay for the ad out of his own campaign funds. Instead, FEC filings show, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce ponied up the $750,000 to attack Shaheen.

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7. Financial Bailout: A Look at Gregg and Blunt

   By Anupama Narayanswamy Sep 26, 2008 9:03 p.m.
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8. Financial Bailout: Lobbyists' Donations to House Financial Services Committee

   By Anupama Narayanswamy Sep 26, 2008 3:28 p.m.

   The chairs and ranking members of the House Financial Services Committee and its subcommittees have received less from lobbyists hired by financial and investment firms compared with members of the Senate Banking Committee from the eight firms we surveyed. Six of the 12 chairs and ranking members received more than $144,000 in the first six months of this year.

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9. Financial Bailout: Lobbyists' Donations to Senate Banking Members

   By Anupama Narayanswamy Sep 25, 2008 8:42 p.m.

   In-house lobbyists and other major Washington lobbying firms hired by eight investment and securities companies have given Senate Banking Committee members more than $380,000 in campaign donations in the first six months of 2008, according to the LD-203 lobbying disclosures filed with the Senate Office of Public Records.

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10. Hal Rogers' Yearly Earmarks

    By Anupama Narayanswamy Sep 24, 2008 8:37 p.m.

    In the House Defense spending bill released last night, Rep. Hal Rogers, R-Ky., sponsored an earmark worth $2 million for U-60 Leak Proof Transmission Dip Pans, an earmark he has backed for four years now. In the past this earmark has been awarded to Phoenix Products, Inc., a small company in McKee, Ky.

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11. Democratic Convention Receives More PAC Money

    By Anupama Narayanswamy Aug 21, 2008 1:01 p.m.

    More political action committees are giving to the Democratic convention scheduled for next week than the Republican one, to be held in September, according to the recently disclosed lobbyists contribution data available online with the Senate Office of Pubic Records. At least six company PACs have given more than $436,000 to the Democratic National Convention Committee so far, whereas, the Republican National Convention has attracted only $55,000 from company PACs.

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12. Did Congress write a prescription for Chantix?

    By Anupama Narayanswamy Jun 24, 2008 2:02 p.m.

    Last week, some members of Congress called for an immediate suspension of a drug testing program administered by the Department of Veterans Affairs after ABC News and the Washington Times reported that one of the side effects a specific drug that helps kick the smoking habit could possibly be suicide.

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13. Following Hastert Through the Revolving Door

    By Anupama Narayanswamy Jun 2, 2008 9:39 p.m.

    Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert's days raising money for his political campaigns might come in handy when he sits down with the clients of his new employer, law and lobbying firm Dickstein Shapiro LLP.

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14. Legislation Languishes in Congress as Miners Fight for their Benefits

    By Anupama Narayanswamy May 14, 2008 4:28 p.m.

    Glen Charles, who had been a miner in West Virginia for 42 years, was diagnosed as having black lung, for which he received benefits under the Black Lung Act up to the time of his death in August 2005. Under federal law, surviving spouses of miners who die from the disease are eligible to continue receiving those benefits. But soon after Charles died, his checks stopped arriving, leaving Emma Charles, his 75-year-old widow, financially unstable.

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Investigations by Sunlight Foundation reporter Anupama Narayanswamy