When did Tom Delay become majority leader? Late 2002.
Contracts surged after he became majority and until he resigned from the House in 2006. In 2006, over 80% of federal contracts to his district were no-bid. You can also look up the recipients of the funds.
You could tinker with this search engine for days...
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BEST OF OBAMA's Transparent Gov Bills = Please Copy + Pass Out As You Canvass Today + "Blog Everyhwere"""
Obama on Ethics and Lobbying Reform""http://obama.senate.gov/issues/ethics_and_lobbying_reform/ Throughout his political career, Barack Obama has fought for open and honest government. As an Illinois State Senator, he helped pass the state’s first major ethics reform bill in 25 years. And as a U.S. Senator, he has spearheaded the effort to clean up Washington in the wake of numerous scandals.In the first two weeks of the 110th Congress, Senator Obama helped lead the Senate to pass the ..........Legislative Transparency and Accountability Act = http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c110:s.1.es: , a comprehensive ethics and lobbying reform bill, by a 96-2 vote. This landmark bill was signed into law by the President in September 2007.The final bill that the Congress passed closely mirrored and drew key provisions in a bill (S. 230) that Senators Obama and Feingold introduced in January 2007 to establish a “gold standard” for reform. Among the provisions in the Obama-Feingold bill that were adopted by the Senate and the House were: strict bans on receiving gifts and meals from lobbyists; new rules to slow the revolving door between public and private sector service; and an end to the subsidized use of corporate jets.Most importantly, the final reform bill contained a provision pushed by Senator Obama to require the disclosure of contributions that registered lobbyists “bundle” – that is, collect or arrange – for candidates, leadership PACs, and party committees. The New York Times called this provision “the most sweeping” in the bill, and the Washington Post said: “No single change would add more to public understanding of how money really operates in Washington.” In January 2006, Senator Obama laid the groundwork for the reform package that the Senate eventually adopted a year later. He started building a coalition for reform by helping to author the
...........................Honest Leadership and Open Government Act = http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c109:s.2180: introduced with 41 Democratic sponsors.
The bill proposed lengthening the cooling off period to two years for lawmakers who seek to become lobbyists and requiring immediate disclosure as soon as public servants initiate any job negotiations to become lobbyists. The bill would have opened conference committee meetings to the public and required that all bills be posted on the Internet for 24 hours before they can be voted on by the Senate. Finally, the bill would have ended all lobbyist-funded gifts, meals, and travel and strengthened the Senate office that monitors lobbyist disclosure forms. All of these provisions were incorporated in either identical or similar form into the final bill passed in 2007.In addition, Senator Obama sponsored three other ethics-related bills in the 109th Congress that went even further on ethics, earmarks, and legislative transparency. By the time of the 110th Congress, his ideas for reform had gained support, and many of his proposals were passed by the Senate.....................
The Congressional Ethics Enforcement Commission Act = http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c109:s.2259:
The bill would create an outside ethics commission to receive complaints from the public on alleged ethics violations by members of Congress, staff, and lobbyists. The commission would have the authority to investigate complaints and present public findings of fact about possible violations to the House and Senate Ethics Committee and Justice Department. By taking the initial fact finding out of the hands of members of Congress, who are often reluctant to investigate their colleagues, the bill ensures prompt and fair disposition of public complaints.To avoid manipulation of the commission for political purposes, any person filing a complaint that they knew to be false would be subject to a fine and/or imprisonment. No complaints could be filed against a member of Congress for 30 days before a primary election and 60 days before a general election.The bill was widely endorsed by reform groups. According to Common Cause: "This legislation would do more to reform ethics and lobbying than any other piece of legislation introduced thus far because it goes to the heart of the problem: enforcement." Public Citizen praised Senator Obama "for having the courage to challenge the business-as-usual environment on Capitol Hill and introduce far-reaching legislation.
" Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington stated: "This is the first bill that deals seriously with the lack of oversight and enforcement in the existing congressional ethics process.
. . .
This bill will help restore Americans' confidence in the integrity of Congress..............
The Transparency and Integrity in Earmarks Act = http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c109:s.2261:This bill would shed light on the almost 16,000 earmarks that were included in spending bills in 2005. Under the bill, all earmarks, including the name of the requestor and a justification for the earmark, would have to be disclosed 72 hours before they could be considered by the full Senate. Senators would be prohibited from advocating for an earmark if they have a financial interest in the project or earmark recipient. And, earmark recipients would have to disclose to an Office of Public Integrity the amount that they have spent on registered lobbyists and the names of those lobbyists.
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The Curtailing Lobbyist Effectiveness through Advance Notification, Updates, and Posting Act (The CLEAN UP Act) = http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c109:s.2179:This bill aims to improve public access to information about all legislation, including conference reports and appropriations legislation, in particular after hurried, end-of-session negotiations. Conference committee meetings and deliberations would have to be open to the public or televised, and conference reports would have to identify changes made to the bill from the House and Senate versions. Finally, no bill could be considered by the full Senate unless the measure has been made available to all Senators and the general public on the Internet for at least 72 hours.Statements on Ethics and Lobbying Reform =
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Senate Rules Committee Testimony - February 8, 2006 http://obama.senate.gov/press/060208-obama_testifies_about_plan_to_reduce_lobbyist_influence_and_clean_up_washington/
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Lobbying Reform Summit Speech - January 26, 2006 http://obama.senate.gov/speech/060126-remarks_of_senator_barack_obama_at_the_lobbying_reform_summit/
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PodcastsEthics and Lobbying Reform – January 8, 2007 http://obama.senate.gov/podcast/070108-010807_ethics_legislation_a_chance_to_change_the_game/index.html
Ethics and Lobbying Reform - February 9, 2006 http://obama.senate.gov/podcast/060209-lobbying_and_ethics_reform/
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""Barack Obama Unveils Unprecedented Plan for Open Government""http://cairns.typepad.com/blog/2007/11/barack-obama-un.html
George Bernard Shaw once wrote, “All professions are conspiracies against the laity,” and nowhere is this more the case than in a democracy where we organize government as the closed domain of governmental professionals. And what’s the result? Because we assume that government alone possesses the expertise to make public-policy decisions, the way we “do politics” is broken.Under Bush, agencies are able to make closed-door decisions about the standards for cross-ownership of newspapers and broadcasting and limiting overtime pay for workers. They use ideoglogically-driven junk science to justify the failure to confront global warming. Public information that belongs to the taxpayers is hidden in government files and, when available on the Web, not in a form that’s accessible to or usable by Americans. Even when manipulation is not at issue, government is hampered by the lack of quality technology that would make information with which to make decisions available.
""Alone among the U.S. Presidential candidates"", Barack Obama is confronting the question of how to produce more accountable and effective politics in our democracy.His just-released Tech Plan (Download Obama Tech Plan) uniquely understands that the time, expertise and enthusiasm that ordinary people invest in making Wikipedia better, for example, can be transformed into practices to make government work better and more accountably. So he doesn't just call for making information more transparent to citizens; he wants to hear what we have to say and enable us to participate. The Plan calls for citizen engagement in the work of federal agencies and demonstrates respect for the intelligence and expertise of the American people. He calls for opening up the closed practices of government and using new technology to enable genuine citizen participation and engagement in our democracy.
This is a major and unprecedented step. No other candidate “gets it.” They pay lip service to transparency.
He proposes making government data available online as well as ensuring that agencies do their work in public.They talk about citizen congresses that would deliberate in quaint town hall meetings having nothing to do with real world politics or power. He proposes engaging citizens in the actual and ongoing work and decision-making of government -- not Americans talking to elected officials but Americans genuinely participating.They talk about technology and innovation. He offers a comprehensive broadband strategy, commitment to media diversity, and a proposal to improve patent quality, including the practice of rigorous, public peer review like Peer-to-Patent. They talk about strong IP. He balances his support of strong IP with recognition of the need to promote collaboration and innovation.I am excited about Obama’s Tech Plan. In fact, it should be called the “Democracy Plan.”
He alone does what a President should do, namely articulate a vision for democracy in the digital age.He wants to:Establish pilot programs to open up government decision-making and involve the public in the work of agencies. Solicit expertise and opinions from Americans, not just talk to or at them.
Use the Web to allow people to participate, not just observe the business of democracy. Make government information openly available in accessible formats. Enable people to make use of government data to comment, derive value, and take action in their own communities.
For example, he describes how greater access to environmental data can help citizens learn about pollution in their communities, provide information about local conditions back to government and empower people to protect themselves. Deploy the latest Web 2.0 technologies such as blogs, wikis and social networking tools to make government more effective and more efficient. Hire a CTO to ensure more rational and effective use of technology and compliance with the openness requirements of the E-Government Act.As the Plan says: “Obama’s forward-thinking 21st century technology and innovation policy starts by recognizing that we need to connect all citizens with each other to engage them more fully and directly in solving the problems that face us. In tandem with that goal, Barack Obama understands that we must use all available technologies and methods to open up the federal government, creating a new level of transparency to change the way business is conducted in Washington and giving Americans the chance to participate in government deliberations and decision-making in ways that were not possible only a few years ago.” I am excited about a political race for the first time. Why? Because Senator Obama's proposal to open up government decision-making represents a powerful commitment to democracy and one that I am proud to support publicly and wholeheartedly.For more on the Obama Tech Plan, also see: Download
Obama Tech Plan = http://www.openleft.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=2369
Download Expert Statements_of_Support = http://cairns.typepad.com/blog/files/statements_of_support_innovation_and_technology_plan.pdf
Expert Statements Web Page = http://www.barackobama.com/2007/11/14/experts_praise_barack_obamas_t.php
OpenLeft = http://openleft.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=2369
Lessig = http://lessig.org/blog/2007/11/4barack.html
San Jose Mercury News = http://www.barackobama.com/2007/11/14/obama_shares_his_tech_plan_tod.php
Campaign Website = http://www.barackobama.com/index.phpLater in the day.....
New York Times = http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/washington/politics-usa-politics-obama.html?
Chicago Tribune = http://www.chicagotribune.com/services/newspaper/printedition/thursday/chi-google_thursnov15,0,1097323.story
Wonkette = http://wonkette.com/politics/the-face/barack-obamas-technology-plan-sleeper-hit-of-2007-322819.php
Wired = http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2007/11/obama-unveils-s.html
Tech President = http://www.techpresident.com/blog/entry/13129/daily_digest_obama_unveils_his_tech_policy
Patently-O = http://www.patentlyo.com/patent/2007/11/barak-obamas-pa.html
Information Week = http://www.informationweek.com/shared/printableArticle.jhtml?articleID=203100216
Craig Newmark = http://www.cnewmark.com/
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