Affording health insurance is tough for many people. Lincoln Hospital located in Bronx, New York lets uninsured New York City artists exchange their art for medical services. Under the program, artists will earn “health credits” for every creative service they perform. In exchange they’ll be able to obtain doctor’s visits, laboratory tests, hospitalization, emergency care,Read… Read more »
Alicia, Matt, and I have been in Detroit for about two weeks now. After we landed, the first thing that struck me was the cold. Brutal, windy cold. But since then, we’ve met a ton of people, and luckily that’s taken over as my picture of Detroit. At City Hall (or CAYMC, for those inRead… Read more »
Earlier this week, appropriators held a hearing on funding for the legislative agencies that make government information available to the public. Three organizations, the Sunlight Foundation, the Participatory Politics Foundation, and PopVox, filed comments on the importance of making legislative information directly available to the public as a downloadable database, instead of item-by-item, which isRead… Read more »
Last week President Obama gave his State of the Union address. Presidents do this partially because they are charged to in the constitution: Article II Section 3: He shall from time to time give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration such Measures as he shall judgeRead… Read more »
On Thursday, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted to favorably report a bill that would require the Supreme Court to allow television coverage of its arguments (S. 1945). Currently, only a limited number of citizens are able to see the court’s sessions in person. Audio files of proceedings are released after the fact, but are notRead… Read more »
For the past several years, I have been hosting something I call the DorobekINSIDER Book Club — it is something like the Oprah Book Club but more wonky. Essentially, we select a book that is tied to my favorite words: It helps the government do its job better. We invite the author… and then weRead… Read more »
Today must be redline day here at the Sunlight Foundation. We’ve taken the just-introduced 2012 version of the DISCLOSE Act and compared it to its 2010 predecessor (which didn’t get cloture in the Senate.) This comparison is much rougher version that I would have liked to generate, but we had to scrape the 2012 versionRead… Read more »
Throughout the presidential campaign season, Mitt Romney has portrayed himself as a Washington outsider. In contrast to his leading Republican rivals — Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum and Ron Paul — Romney has never had a political career in the nation’s capital. Still, when it comes to fundraising, Romney does not appear lacking in inside theRead… Read more »
House Democrats unveiled The DISCLOSE 2012 Act (HR 4010, not up on THOMAS yet) today, a crucial step toward transparency to address the corrupting influence unlimited, secret corporate and union money is having on our elections and our elected officials. Shortly before the second anniversary of the Supreme Court’s disastrous Citizens United decision, the SunlightRead… Read more »
The company benefiting from today’s Nuclear Regulatory Commission decision to approve the construction of the first new nuclear plant in the U.S. in over three decades is an influential powerhouse in Washington. Southern Company, a power company based in Atlanta, has spent $130 million lobbying the federal government since 1998, ranking 17th among all organizations,Read… Read more »