Our friends at the Sunlight Foundation are working for a more transparent "Super Committee" process and have developed five recommendations:
- Provide a live webcasts of all official meetings and hearings
- Make available the Committee's report for 72 hours before a final committee vote
- Disclose every meeting held with lobbyists and other powerful interests
- Disclose all campaign contributions as they are received (on their campaign websites)
- Provide financial disclosures of Committee members and staffers
Check out Sunight's campaign page at http://sunlightfoundation.com/opensupercongress/ with additional resources for individuals and groups to take action.
In addition to all the resources available through the above link, please take a moment to explore the following incredible Sunlight tools:
- Influence Explorer
A user-friendly, one-stop guide for information on how companies, politicians, and other prominent individuals and organizations are influencing our political system. Take it for a test drive: run a search for a top lobbying firm, and you'll be able to see how much money they contribute to politicians, who they're contributing to, the issues they care about, who they employ, and more.
- Follow the Unlimited Money
Looking to find who's paying for political communication? From PACs and Super PACs to party and non-party committees, Follow the Money has the data you need to trace the flow of money into elections. Great overview (with visuals) here: http://reporting.sunlightfoundation.com/outside-spending/totals
- Party Time
From the early hours of the morning until late in the evening, politicians are partying. To keep up with which special interest soirees your elected official is attending, who's throwing them, and where, Sunlight's party time is the place to go.
- Congress, The App:
Sunlight's Congress app lets you keep track of Capitol Hill while you're on the go. The app lets you follow the latest bills and laws, keep track of meetings and key documents, and track your representatives across news and social media.
