Immigration, Potential Indictments, & Government Oversight

Starting off today’s Transparency Recap is a Corruption Chronicles blog entry about a Texas immigration law that was ruled unconstitutional this week. City lawmakers in a Dallas suburb enacted the law, which prevented illegal immigrants from renting apartments. Interestingly, the law had backing from community members in addition to the aforementioned legislative support.

According to CC, the unconstitutionality was determined based on the notion that the federal government is the only legal level at which immigration policy can be set. According to CC, “The Farmers Branch council passed the ordinance in 2006 in an effort to curb the illegal immigration crisis that has devastated the entire state of Texas as well as other border states.”

This is just one example of how local governments can easily find themselves in court spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to protect localized laws that are intended to curb illegal immigration. The CC piece is definitely worth the read.

And over on the CREW blog, discussion is centered upon Alaska’s two incumbent candidates—Sen. Ted Stevens and Rep. Don Young and the looming chatter about their potential indictments. While they deny wrongdoing, neither official is willing to discuss details. What the open government community might be interested in, however, is the difficulty associated with charging members of the legislative branch. According to CREW:

“It remains especially difficult to charge members of Congress for matters related to legislation. The Constitution’s Speech or Debate Clause offers a broad shield against interference by the Justice Department and other agencies of the executive branch into how a congressman might have created, for example, an earmark that benefited a campaign contributor, family member or former aide—matters that are part of the investigations of Young and Stevens.”

And over at TPM Muckraker, Andrew Tilghman takes on earmark in an interesting story about Duncan D. Hunter (son of Rep. Duncan Hunter) who is running for his father’s Congressional seat. According to Tilghman, defense contractors who were assisted by the elder Hunter are now donating to his son’s campaign. Some believe that his father’s earmarking has paid off.

In his most recent All Things Whistleblower entry, Dylan Blaylock focuses his energies on a new global warming report. While the report—prepared by the U.S. Climate Change Science Program—highlights negative effects of global warming, Blaylock claims that its release has not been hampered by White House censorship like past initiatives.

And last but certainly not least comes the most recent Secrecy News post about government oversight and the lack of adequate provisions for the monitoring of U.S. intelligence. To sum it up in a few words, a recent report from the Department of Defense (DoD) Inspector General indicates that efforts to perform adequate oversight have decreased in recent times. In March, the DoD Inspector General told Congress the following:

“We have not been able to perform planned audits and evaluations in key intelligence disciplines such as Imagery Intelligence, Measurement and Signature Intelligence and Open Source Intelligence.”

We’ll have to monitor this closely, as Secrecy News reports that the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee discussed amending some of the oversight responsibility that is currently given to the Government Accountability Office back in February. Such a proposal might be necessary if we want to see the proper/sufficient level of oversight.

Our New Newsletter, Corporate Monitors, Campaign Contributors and Much More!

VoterWatch does not endorse the contents of the following video (and he’s no longer in the running, anyway), but it sure is interesting—and worth viewing:

A few days ago, we launched our first newsletter! Our weekly newsletter will provide an overview of our work at VoterWatch, while promoting the initiatives of other transparency and citizen engagement-centered organizations. If you didn’t receive it, be sure to send an e-mail to info@voterwatch.org and we’ll add you to our contact list. Or, visit our homepage and sign up there!

Now that the long weekend has passed (hopefully everyone had a wonderful Memorial Day), we are back with our Transparency Recap. Starting this edition off is the POGO blog with its coverage of a report released by the United States Department of Defense Office of the Inspector General. The report highlights the mismanagement of billions of dollars in taxpayer funds to contractors in Iraq. Even more troubling is the overall lack of oversight and control present in the dispersion process:

“The report is rife with examples of millions of dollars being handed out on the basis of a few hastily scribbled words on slips of paper with no indication of what was being purchased, why it was being purchased, or if the good or service was ever delivered or performed.”

Over at All Things Whistleblower, Dylan Blaylock covers “corporate monitors”—programs that enable corporations who have engaged in wrongful action to avoid prosecution. According to Blaylock:

“In what is really a shocking abuse of government power, it is now known that at least 30 former government prosecutors in the Bush administration have secured controversial lucrative positions as “corporate monitors...”

Check the story out for more details.

The Washington Posts’ Stephen Barr reports on a new bill that was introduced by Reps. David E. Price (D-N.C.) and Christopher Shays (R-Conn.). The bill “...would create graduate-level scholarships for students who commit to public service.” According to estimates, one-third of the government’s experienced professional/technical employees will be retiring within the next five years. Clearly, this is causing alarm, as this Baby Boomer generation’s exit will free up a plethora of government jobs. This is definitely an interesting proposal to monitor.

And who wouldn’t be completely enthralled by OpenSecrets’ most recent post where you can see who the top industry backers are for McCain, Clinton and Obama? These figures are preliminary—and they’re based on April’s contributions.

Over on the CREW blog, Ron Paul is at the center of political chatter. According to CREW, Paul has a number of family members on his campaign staff. With his campaign money staying “all in the family,” there are some potential ethics issues to consider. While he’s not breaking the law, the public surely has the right to question where these contributions are going—to his campaign, or to his family members.

Secrets to China, Budgetary Games and Much More!

Leave it to The Onion to ask, “Are we failing our lobbyists?”

According to the Corruption Chronicles, a public university professor has been indicted by a federal grand jury for passing on sensitive information about the U.S. military to communist China. According to CC:

“The electrical and computer engineering professor (J. Reece Roth) at the University of Tennessee violated the Arms Export Control Act by disclosing restricted military data about Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, also known as drones, to foreign nationals without required government license or approval.”

Over at All Things Whistleblower, Dylan Blaylock reports (based on an article in The Atlantic) about two attorneys who think that they may have a case against major U.S. energy companies. According to the lawyers, energy firms have not only contributed to global warming, but they have also engaged in campaigns to cover up the health and environmental effects of their operations. According to Blaylock:

“The game-plan is the same methodology used against big tobacco companies in the 1980’s and 90’s. Basically, each industry engaged in the use of shill groups to raise and foster public doubt about the effects of their respective products (or emissions) on public health.”

In other transparency news, Scott Amey is taking Congress to task over its lack of support for a “contractor misconduct database” that would log and make available information on contractors that have become embroiled in criminal, civil, and administrative cases. Ultimately, he argues that such a database would keep the American people informed, while preventing these companies from earning taxpayer dollars.

While bills have been proposed to initiate such a logging system, some government officials are less than keen on the idea. Amey finished his piece by asserting the following:

“The public should have access to a government sponsored comprehensive list of contractors (similar to POGO’s Federal Contractor Misconduct Database) that defrauded the government, violated laws and regulations, had poor work performance, or had their contracts terminated for default.”

Ellen Miller reports on an amazingly useful game and educational tool from American Public Radio. The game—entitled “Budget Hero” allows players to make changes to the federal budget (cut taxes, place higher taxes on the rich, etc.). But, instead of simply showing the monetary cost of decisions made, “Budget Hero” provides a truly educational experience. According to Miller:

“...with Budget Hero, every major decision, such as to repeal the Bush tax cut and raise taxes on the rich are accompanied with a list of pros and cons and potential impacts.”

Be sure to check it out!

Miller also covered Mobile.org’s Democracy 2.0 Entrepreneur Grant Summit - Money in Politics—a competition to foster and promote clean electoral policies/practices. A second grant summary is in the works as well! In the meantime, you might be interested in learning more about the first summit (as per Ellen Miller and Sunlight):

“Every proposal must make creative use of new technologies and the Internet to advance their goals. The winners of this community based contest will receive $3,000 to $5,000 grants to pursue the goals of their proposals.”

McCain’s Lobby Loss, the CBP and Rep. Fossella

Check out today’s interesting transparency video from the John Locke Foundation.  See what Chad Adams and Joseph Coletti have to say about budget transparency:

According to ABC’s The Blotter Blog, McCain has lost a number of campaign workers/lobbyists due to “conflicts of interest.” Interestingly, while some aides have resigned, at least one was fired from the McCain campaign after it initiated a new “conflict of interest” policy. According to The Blotter Blog,

“The departures of lobbyists for Saudi Arabia and energy companies brings to five the total number of aides who have had to cut ties with the Republican presidential candidate over their conflicting roles as both influence-peddlers and campaign officials.”

In other news, another U.S. border worker has been imprisoned. According to the Corruption Chronicles, a Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) officer named Luis Francisco Alarid is currently being held at a San Diego jail and has been placed on leave. Authorities aren’t offering up much in terms of an explanation of charges. That said, the bigger issue is the vast level of corruption that has been seen within CBP—an agency that was created as an aggregate force after the 9/11 attacks. According to CC,

“CBP has been rocked by numerous scandals involving corrupt agents at airports, seaports and checkpoints along the southern border...Officers throughout the agency have been charged with trafficking drugs, taking money for migrant smuggling, witness tampering and embezzlement.”

Over at All Things Whistleblower, Dylan Blaylock covers food safety and the increasing pressures that consumers are placing on the American government for better explanations as to where the food they consume comes from, what it contains and whether the materials that comprise it are harmful or adequately nourishing.

In a piece on the Sunlight Foundation blog called “Hyper-Hyper Classification” Ellen Miller covers the Bush Administrations ultra-secret nature:

“The Washington Post’s Walter Pincus reports on how earlier this month the Bush White House issued a memorandum outlining new Executive Branch rules on the handling of sensitive but not classified information. They coined the term “Controlled Unclassified Information.”

The administration’s creation of this new, tightened measure are said to be aimed at increasing government secrecy. Miller ends her piece with hopes that the new administration in November reverses measures that lead to an overall lack of transparency—measures she feels this administration has championed.

And on the CREW blog, it’s reported that Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington has sent a complaint to the House Ethics Committee. The complaint seeks to learn whether Rep. Vito Fossella (R-NY) violated House ethics rules by utilizing taxpayer money to conduct an adulterous affair. For a full disclosure of details, visit the CREW blog.

The DOD, Cyber Security & Congressional Committee Fundraising

Before I delve into Friday’s Transparency Recap, I want to let the open government community know about a very encouraging conversation VoterWatch had with C-SPAN. On Thursday, VoterWatch’s co-founder, Perla Ni, and I joined C-SPAN’s co-president, Robert Kennedy, for a phone conversation about the availability of C-SPAN’s Congressional content.

The conversation went swimmingly and showed us first hand the rapid speed at which C-SPAN has met (and is continuing to meet) the demands that are posed in today’s technological age. Aside from taking the time to discuss VoterWatch’s work, Kennedy offered us a variety of options that will assist us in our quest for high-quality Congressional committee content. After all, high quality content is an essential component for our VoterWatch media player. As details unfold, we will be sure to cue you in.

We would like to give a round of applause to C-SPAN for stepping up to the plate and assisting the open government community in its quest for engagement and full government disclosure. And now, for Friday’s recap:

Today, the CREW blog reported on a letter that the Department of Defense wrote in response to CREW’s concerns over Sioux Manufacturing. CREW’s initial concerns were voiced to the DOD over evidence that Sioux Manufacturing “...has been outfitting our nation’s troops with substandard Kevlar helmets.” Some of these helmets were allegedly used by U.S. troops in Afghanistan and Iraq.

On a different—but equally interesting note—the Corruption Chronicles published an entry about North Carolina’s educational ban on illegal immigrants. According to CC, the North Carolina community college system is the first state system to issue such a ban.

“[They] announced a statewide policy this week barring undocumented students entirely from seeking degrees at any of its 58 schools. A handful of public institutions forbid illegal immigrants from enrolling, but this marks the first statewide policy blocking illegal aliens seeking a taxpayer financed college education.”

In other news, the Secrecy News blog reported that the Senate Armed Services Committee feels as though the new Cyber Security Initiative is too secretive. The Senate report stated the following:

“It is difficult to conceive how the United States could promulgate a meaningful [information warfare] deterrence doctrine if every aspect of our capabilities and operational concepts is classified.”

And some encouraging news: OpenSecrets.org is now tracking fundraising information by Congressional committee. Clearly, this will prove useful in terms of government transparency and accountability. According to the Capital Eye bog,

“Congressional committees are the legislative trenches—and the bigger the bill, the higher the stakes, the more generous the campaign donations to members of the committee with jurisdiction over the issue.”

That’s all for today. Stay tuned for Monday’s Transparency Recap!

Street Dollars, Wikis & Corporate Sponsorship

Over at the Corruption Chronicles blog, conversation is centered upon Hillary Clinton’s alleged use of “street dollars.” And the specific charges against Clinton? According to the C.C. blog,

“Hillary Clinton paid poor minorities in two states thousands of dollars for primary votes in their respective communities by using a controversial and ethically suspicious campaign tool.”

While the campaign tool is entirely legal, ethical questions have surrounded its use.

And on the Free Government Information blog, Paul highlights a Wall Street Journal piece that focuses on the federal government’s use of Wikis. Collaborative measures occurring within the federal government are an encouraging sign that things are headed in the right direction.

According to All Things Reform, Public Citizen is asking for public support for government whistleblowers. Efforts are aimed at urging Congress to pass a final whistleblower bill. All Things Reform does a great job characterizing the nature of the problem/legislation:

“When scientific research is altered or suppressed, government contractors waste millions of taxpayer dollars, or national security documents are falsified, witnesses need to know that they can blow the whistle without reprisals endangering their careers and their lives.”

On the always-informative Sunlight blog, Ellen Miller points readers toward GOOD Magazine. Ellen points out the more than intriguing video and editorial transparency content that GOOD Magazine has been presenting over the past few weeks.

Yesterday, Miller published a piece “about the 56 national corporations, from Allstate to Xerox, that are sponsoring/funding this summer’s Democratic National Convention in Denver.” Corporate access to and sponsorship of political leaders creates a problematic cohesion that should most definitely be explored

Also, be sure to check out The Daily Muck. Today, topics range from the drugging of illegal immigrants/detainees to Obama and McCain’s disdain for negative political advertisements.

REAL ID, The First Amendment, Tax Returns & Nuclear Materials

Before delving into today’s recap, we’d like to say a special thank you to Ellen Miller at the Sunlight Foundation for her write-up on our new Transparency Recap. Thanks, Sunlight! Now, for today’s recap:

Sophia Cope at the Center for Democracy and Technology penned an interesting piece entitled, “DHS Can’t Admit Its Own Mistakes.” In the piece, Cope once again takes on the REAL ID program, stating that Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff told the Senate an untruth when he testified that personal information cannot be skimmed from an encrypted barcode that will be present on licenses and ID cards. Since the testimony, DHS is sticking with their story:

“The Department again shirked responsibility for ensuring that Americans’ personal information stored on REAL ID cards is protected and not accessible by unauthorized parties—businesses and government agencies alike.”

In other news, the National Freedom of Information Coalition blogs about the First Amendment and reporter rights. A former USA Today reporter is facing heat (not to mention fines) for not revealing sources for stories she wrote following the 2001 anthrax attacks. According to the The FOI Advocate blog, the reporter—Toni Locy—said:

“...news organizations need to go on the offensive in the fight to protect the First Amendment. The First Amendment needs some help...In this environment that we’re in now, it needs some help.”

The POGO blog also wrote about Toni Locy. According to POGO,

“Federal Judge Reggie Walton had ruled that Locy would have to pay $5,000 out of her own pocket for refusing to identify sources for stories she had written about the 2001 anthrax attacks that had identified former Army scientist Steven Hatfill as a possible suspect.”

Over at the CREW blog, there’s an interesting video clip from CNN about Cindy McCain’s refusal to release her tax returns.

Secrecy News provides some intriguing information about a new program that is “...working to gather information on the status and security of nuclear materials around the world and to characterize them for forensic purposes.” Ironically, this has never been done in a viable or systematic manner. The program—Nuclear Materials Information Program (NMIP)—was established by a classified presidential directive.

And David Weller at AllThingsReform.org has released a new blog entitled, “Understand Priorities.” In his own words, he describes his new initiative in the following words:

“It is mostly entries from reference books on the topic of politics: quotes, aphorisms, poems and a lot more. I discuss each entry and am open for your comments, too...Here is your opportunity to reflect on the major thoughts related to government, politics and people.”

And over at All Things Whistleblower, Dylan Blaylock provides information on events aimed at raising awareness about whistleblower issues in Washington D.C. For more information on these events, click here. Also, be sure to keep OpenTheGovernment.org’s calendar of open government events on your radar.

VoterWatch’s Transparency Recap: An Introduction to Our New Recap of the Blogosphere!

We’re excited to be launching our Transparency Recap, a new regularly-updated overview of what’s happening on the blogosphere in terms of government transparency and accountability.  We’ll regularly recap some of the most interesting and informative blog entries, commentary and discussion. If you have a tip for us, send us an e-mail at info@voterwatch.org and we’ll be sure to follow up. Here’s the day’s scoop:

If you don’t know about PublicMarkup.org, you’re missing out. PublicMarkup.org is a new collaborative project from the Sunlight Foundation. After drafting a comprehensive piece of legislation (Transparency in Government Act of 2008), Sunlight decided that it would be best to place the text of the legislation online for public review and scrutiny - a measure Sunlight believes will increase the bill’s chances of earning lawmakers’ support.

In Sunlight’s own words, “This project is not intended to be the ultimate technical solution to the challenge of drafting legislation online, but an experiment in online collaboration.” Be sure to check it out!

Speaking of Sunlight, Ellen Miller penned an interesting piece about the current debacle going on with the Federal Elections Committee:

“[David] Mason [one of the two sitting commissioners] has opposed a move by Sen. John McCain to pull his presidential campaign out of the public finance system...Mason’s position is that the FEC would have to approve his request to leave the system...Meanwhile, the McCain campaign is spending away and has long surpassed the spending limit. Bush’s solution...Good bye Chairman Mason.”

Meanwhile, over at the Free Government Information blog, chatter centers upon a report about the National Archives’ plan to provide online access to the Founding Fathers papers. When completed, the digital files from America’s founding era will provide quite a rich resource! According to a press release published by FGI,

“This report is the National Archives response to concerns raised by the Committees that the complete papers of America’s Founding Fathers are not available online. The Founders Online is a plan for providing online access, within a reasonable timeframe, to researchers, students and the general public.”

And yesterday, All Things Whistleblower focused on the raid on the Office of the Special Counsel and on the home of Special Counsel Scott Bloch. Interestingly, ATW’s Dylan Blaylock reported the following:

“While FBI spokesman would not publicly state what the nature of the raid was, Bloch has been under severe scrutiny since last November when he hired an outside service, Geeks On Call, to erase an unknown amount of information from OSC computers. Bloch has been investigated by the Office of Personnel Management’s IG over allegations that Bloch “retaliated against career employees and obstructed an investigation.”

Over on the Legislative Analysis Community Blog, Josh Tauberer features a piece that discusses the debate over electronic voting systems. Discussions are currently underway to address whether paper should be required - and whether a paper trail is truly needed. The entry explains that,

“The lack of a paper trail has...spurred Congress to action on the issue. There are currently two pieces of Democrat-sponsored legislation still alive and proceeding toward becoming law.”

And, if you’re a fan of OpenSecrets.org, head on over to their site to catch a sneak preview of all their new design! There are some big differences on the new site, but don’t take my word for it. Take the tour!