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Minnesota librarians push to curb NSA snooping
“With mass collection of private data, whether library records or cellphone activity, the decision on privacy has been taken away from the individual. The potential harm comes from not knowing what has been collected or how it will be used.” Great quote from Kirsten Clark, our own Regional FDLP Librarian at the University of Minnesota. […]
Secrecy in Making Laws
CRS has a new report that outlines the historical tension between secrecy and transparency in the congressional process and identifies various closed door lawmaking activities and more.
- Congressional Lawmaking: A Perspective On Secrecy and Transparency, by Walter J. Oleszek, Congressional Research Service, R42108 (November 30, 2011).
Congressionally Mandated Reports Act (ACMRA) Heads to House Floor
Legislation that would require copies of congressionally mandated reports to be published online by GPO cleared a major hurdle when it unanimously passed the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform at a business meeting on Wednesday. The "Access to Congressionally Mandated Reports Act," introduced by Rep. Mike Quigley and joined by 12 co-sponsors, will now advance to the floor of the House of Representatives. "Access to Congressionally Advances to the House Floor" by Daniel Schuman, Sunlight Foundation (June 23, 2011). Continue reading
How a bill is *actually* made
This was just tweeted by the folks at the Sunlight Foundation and I thought the infographic was really sweet:
Compare that with the simplified version on GPO's Ben's Guide which makes no mention of CBO scores, markup, lobbyists, filibusters, reconciliation etc.
The graphic above (see full size here) was one of the winners in the Sunlight Foundation's recent Design for America contest. There's also an excellent guide to the Senate rules, and a brilliant, user-friendly redesign of the IRS website. You can see all the winners here.
Thanks Mike Wirth for the killer infographic and thanks Sunlight Foundation for a well done Design for America contest!
Continue readingMcCain’s “Internet Freedom Act” = dangerous oxymoron
[w:Net neutrality] is again in the news. John McCain has just come out with the oxymoronic S. 1836 "Internet Freedom Act" (as opposed to Representative Markey's H.R. 3458 "Internet Freedom Preservation Act of 2009"). The bill's actual title is "A bill to prohibit the Federal Communications Commission from further regulating the Internet." This is wrong for so many reasons. Net neutrality is the core tenet upon which the internet was built (all packets created equal!"). So in other words the FCC's proposed net neutrality regulations (and remember, the FCC has regulated every form of media communication in the 20th century!) will actually protect the non-regulation of internet traffic from telcos and ISPs who would like to turn the internet into a toll road. The Sunlight Foundation's Real Time Investigations points out that telecom companies worried about net neutrality have been spreading a lot of $$ around DC and the #1 recipient of their largesse is Senator McCain, the self-professed technological "illiterate", who, took in $894,379. But don't take my word for it, listen to Xeni Jardin and Jon Stewart describe the silliness of McCain's "Internet Freedom Act":
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