In what may be considered one of the greatest feeding frenzies since the Night of Living Dead, lobbyists are working hand-in-foot to get their clients, even if they do not fit the profile, a piece of the $700 billion bank bailout pie. From plumbers to boat dealers, automakers to credit card companies, the type of companies applying for bailout bucks expands by the day.

On Monday, American Express, a credit card company, was approved to receive bailout money. You may ask yourself, “Why American Express? They don’t fit the profile required under the TARP law.” The New York Times, in an article detailing the lobbyist frenzy, explains the logistics of who is able to receive funds under TARP authorization:

Under the terms of the $250 billion capital purchase program announced last month, cash infusions are available to “qualifying U.S. banks, savings associations, and certain bank and savings and loan holding companies, engaged only in financial activities.”

The massive lobbying effort put forth by corporations and industry groups has led to an expansion of those included in the bailout. For others, including American Express, the best option was to have the Treasury Department reclassify them as a bank holding company, thus making them eligible. According to the New York Times, both GE Capital and GMAC, the financial arm of General Motors, are also attempting to reclassify as “a bank or savings and loan holding company.”

The lobbying is intense, putting Treasury Department staffers at the front lines under extreme pressure. Some are even receiving calls from lobbyists representing clients with no interest in receiving funds, like hedge funds, who are trying to gather intelligence for trading in markets. Other companies are hiring lobbyists for the first time to get a piece of the pie.

At this moment there is no way to gauge lobbyist activity outside of the reporting of some journalists. In this “ocean of money” lobbyists operate at depths not viewable by the public. The public will not get to see how much money is being spent until the next quarterly reports are released. Even then, lobbyists are not required to list their contacts with government officials and do not need to list the specifics of what they are lobbying for. In the quest for bailout bucks, the public will never truly be able to know what is going on as more and more companies try and get a piece of the pie.

If we are going to dole out $700 billion in taxpayer money the government ought to mandate real disclosure for lobbyists.  Just as important as how the bailout bucks are spent is how the bailout bucks are acquired. Lobbyists are playing a vital role in helping all sort of corporations and organizations gain access to the bailout pie. They must disclose their activities fully if there is to be real transparency in the bailout give away.

Here’s a good place to start.

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As the Senate moves forward today with the newest version of the bailout bill (now being referred to as the “rescue plan”), Sunlight has been feverishly parsing the text of the new proposal, as provided by the Senate Banking Committee.

We have finished the first part of the bill, Division A, which is now posted for review and commentary on PublicMarkup.org.

If Congress released the data behind the bills they consider, in real time, at the same time as bills are released, then public review and processing would be much MUCH easier. (Details on what that would take are available in this chapter of the Open House Project report.)

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It looks like the Senate is moving forward today with a new bailout bill, which is available through the Senate Banking committee site.

A mirrored copy, and an embeddable version are both available below.

We’re working on parsing the legislation to get it up on PublicMarkup.org, but until Congress starts publishing bills in XML, parsing it is time consuming. Updates shortly.

Update 12:15 PM: Here’s the embedded version:

Get your own - Open publication

Update, 12:21 PM: Here’s a mirrored version of the PDF.

Update 1:05 PM: Also, for additional info, see the one page and section-by-section analysis posted to the Senate Banking Committee site here.

Update 1:52 PM: For the plan for Senate floor consideration, see the Senate Calendar here.

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The unexpected failure of the bailout proposal has given lawmakers and citizens a second chance to understand the details of this sweeping legislation.

You can join the Sunlight Foundation in renewing our call for all legislation to have at least 72 hours online before a vote. Without this minimal public exposure, how can lawmakers and their staff really understand legislation? What hope do citizens have of being truly represented if they can only read bills shortly before passage (or failure, as the case may be)?

We have refined our petition in light of this new opportunity for mindful consideration of the bailout legislation. To sign up, tweet to your friends, or read more details, check out our petition, or read our press release.

Congress responds to public pressure, and posting bills before votes is just common sense. Tell Congress to Read the Bill First! Sign our petition, and check out the latest versions of the bill at PublicMarkup.org.

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Today, the Sunlight Foundation is calling on Congress to exercise restraint, and give Members and the public sufficient time to read and respond to the proposed bailout legislation.

Citizens, irrespective of party identity, are deeply skeptical at the proposal.  If any legislation should be considered publicly, and carefully, the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 should be considered with level heads and in full public view.

We’re happy to see Congress recognizing the public’s interest in this legislation, posting the text of the agreement as soon as a consensus plan was developed among congressional leadership.  Congress should take the next logical step, and hold off on floor consideration until a full 72 hours has elapsed after posting the bill.

As our just issued press release says:

But, before the bailout proposal is considered by lawmakers, it must undergo an even more important test: evaluation and assessment by Americans. That’s why we are calling on citizens to sign a petition to urge Congress to wait 72 hours between when the bill was first posted online and the actual vote. We believe all legislation should posted online for at least three days before a vote to give lawmakers and citizens sufficient time to review and debate it, and this bill is no exception. This isn’t a bill to rename a few courthouses; this bill is Congress’s biggest intervention in the economy in decades. This important legislation deserves more time for public scrutiny.

Sign the petition here, and tell Congress to read the bill first!

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Congress took a real step today toward legislative transparency, proactively posting the proposed bailout legislation in public, online, in advance of floorconsideration.

To give citizens a chance to fully digest and comment on the proposed legislation, we’ve posted the text of the legislation to PublicMarkup.org for public review.

On Friday Ellen blogged a request for legislative transparency, calling on Congress to release the bailout draft as early as possible:

The Sunlight Foundation is calling on Congress to publish the proposed bailout legislation as soon as possible, to give constituents and lawmakers themselves as much time as possible to examine the specifics of the proposal before it’s voted on.  We will post the draft legislation to PublicMarkup.org as soon as possible, to give citizens a chance to weigh in on the proposal’s specifics.

Any lack of transparency in consideration of this legislation would be especially ironic since lawmakers have blamed the current crisis on financial malfeasance that was hidden from public view.

Before the bailout proposal is considered by lawmakers, it must undergo an even more important test: evaluation and assessment by the public.

Today, Congress responded, and Speaker Pelosi and the House Financial Services Committee posted the bill they’ve designated as the final version.

From remarks Speaker Pelosi delivered at a press conference today:

Before I yield to Senator Reid, I just want to tell everyone that I am now informed that at this moment, you can find the plan on financialservices.house.gov, and then if not there, on speaker.gov. It’s there for all Americans to see, for our Members to read so they can make the important decision they have to make tomorrow in the House.

I also want to say that later when this bill passes and is implemented, all of the transactions related to this legislation will be on the Internet within 48 hours and that represents change. That transparency, that oversight, will be very important to the health of our economy.

In the midst of rare political urgency, as congressional leaders are pushed well beyond their comfort zones, facing the Bush Administration, unclear political consequences, a skeptical public, and posturing from the presidential candidates, Pelosi chose to assert the role of an empowered public.

Ellen identified two shortfalls in transparency; one real, helping cause the finance situation, and one potential, as Congress responds with legislation.  Speaker Pelosi’s statement addresses both.

First, on finance data, Pelosi says “all of the transactions related to this legislation will be on the Internet within 48 hours…”  While I don’t know finance well enough to speak to the details of publishing such data, I can say that this is the same sort of transaction tracking transparency that has made FedSpending.org (and USASpending.gov ) immensely successful — the same transparency that the individual US states are experimenting with (as Grover Norquist recently noted on The Next Right ).

On the second point, Speaker Pelosi points the public to the two sites where the legislation had just been posted.  Now, putting legislation online is nothing new.  THOMAS has been around since the mid 1990s.  Referencing online access to legislation in the midst of intense negotiations, whipping, and public pressure, however, is.

The expectations here, of course, are much higher than with most legislation.  The dollar amounts are enormous, the legislative process has slipped into urgency-mode, and rank-and-file lawmakers are scrambling to establish a position.

Regardless of the incentives facing congressional leadership, and regardless of the substance of the bill, this episode shows one thing very clearly: the bar for public disclosure has been raised.

Ellen, in her post, also points out the distinction between public dialog and “compromises and deal making — the real stuff of urgent policy-making.”  If public dialog is going to remain separated, to some degree, from “the real stuff of urgent policy-making,” as it is sure to in a legislature controlled by centralized party leaders, then the role of the informed public needs to be clearly staked out, asserted, and defended.

Even if many Americans dislike this legislation, and even if much of the legislation was created in informal pre-legislative meetings, public scrutiny and input has been welcomed into that process.

The legislative process, just like finance regulation, depends on public scrutiny for stability and legitimacy.  It’s good to see Congress recognize both.

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As news spreads that a consensus Wall Street bailout plan is being finalized, and leaders negotiate between proposals submitted from the Treasury Department, Senator Dodd, Representative Barney Frank, and others, two separate conversations are taking place. One is public, as the nation struggles to evaluate the urgency of the economic situation, and to understand the best course of action.  The other, however, is not public, as the compromises and deal making — the real stuff of urgent policy-making — are held in the dark.

The Sunlight Foundation is calling on Congress to publish the proposed bailout legislation as soon as possible, to give constituents and lawmakers themselves as much time as possible to examine the specifics of the proposal before it’s voted on.  We will post the draft legislation to PublicMarkup.org as soon as possible, to give citizens a chance to weigh in on the proposal’s specifics.

Congress faces urgent pressure from the Administration and from constituents to act. Regardless of the course of action Congress ultimately chooses, this is a decision that must be made in full public view. If citizens don’t have a chance to evaluate the legislation, how can Congress possibly represent their constituents’ needs?

The need for sunlight is especially required for urgent or emergency legislation. All too often, Congress praises transparency as a democratic value, but violates it in practice. Any lack of transparency in consideration of this legislation would be especially ironic since lawmakers have blamed the current crisis on financial malfeasance that was hidden from public view.

We have called the relevant congressional committees and have asked for copies of the new consensus legislation.  As soon we get it, we’ll be posting the text of the legislation online at PublicMarkup.org.

Now more than ever,  Congress must represent the needs of all Americans, and to give everyone - citizens and lawmakers alike — a chance to participate actively in the legislative process.

Before the bailout proposal is considered by lawmakers, it must undergo an even more important test: evaluation and assessment by the public.

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