Sunlight Foundation

One of the priorities Sunlight has for the next Congress is improving public access to information about lobbyists — who they meet with, who they call, what they call to talk about. Our position is that people who are paid to lobby should report what they lobby about, within 24 hours of the time of the lobbying. I am not a lobbyist per se, but I am paid, and I am lobbying: so, trying to walk the walk, I have already started out with a stumble, being a few hours late.

Here’s my first report:

Spoke to: Ruchi Bowmak, Senior Policy Person for Obama
When: December 12
Where: On the phone
About Bills: S 2179, S 2180
About topics: 72 hour rule, Online filing, Lobbying Transparency
Relations: I am not an ex-staffer, neice, mother, sister, or other relation to Ruchi, Obama, or any other Member of Congress, but I went to college with Ruchi, and while neither of us remember each other, the odds are decent that we had beers together at least once.

Other delinquent reports include:

Spoke to: Jim Brayton, Webmaster, Obama’s Senate Site
Where: At Union Station
When: December 6
About Bills: None
About Topics: Getting more valuable information on senate sites, such as vote histories and personal financial disclosure and daily calendars
Relations: I am not an ex-staffer, neice, mother, sister, or other relation to Jim, Obama, or any other Member of Congress. I have worked with Jim, and had several beers with Jim, and, in fact, Jim taught me html.

Now that wasn’t so hard! Sort of fun, really.

I’ve also spoken to the receptionists at Capuano and Meehan’s offices, but we did not discuss policy.