As chairman of the House Republican Conference, Rep. Adam Putnam has been busy with the #dontgo protest, in which angry House Republicans have stayed at the Capitol building during August recess, calling on Rep. Nancy Pelosi to schedule a vote on their energy plan that would seek an end to the long-standing moratorium on off shore drilling.

Does that mean Putnam “won’t go” to his scheduled fundraiser in Walt Disney World this weekend?

We have in our possession an invitation to said fundraiser, billed as a “weekend at the Walt Disney Resort,” specifically at the Polynesian Resort, proceeds to benefit “Putnam for Congress.” There’s also a special guest, fellow Republican Florida Rep. Ander Crenshaw. The invitation came to us as part of our preparation for launching Party Time, a new Sunlight project, which will make its debut in the next couple of weeks. (Stay tuned for an announcement soon.)

“We only have 15 rooms, so it’s going to be a small event,” says the email accompanying the invitation.

Putnam isn’t exactly hurting for cash in his reelection bid. He has raised $1.4 million to his opponent’s $50,000. Over the course of his Congressional career, he’s taken about $70,000 from the oil and gas industry.

Supporting off-shore drilling is a new thing for Floridians, where in the past Democrats and Republicans alike have opposed the idea for fear it would hurt tourism. Recently Gov. Charlie Crist, one of many reputed to be on Sen. John McCain’s list for a possible vice presidential pick, reversed his long-standing support for the federal moratorium on offshore drilling.

We don’t know if any oil and gas lobbyists rsvp’ed for Putnam’s Walt Disney getaway, or if the #dontgo protest will end in time for him to catch a plane to Polynesia in Florida. It seems like a good question for his constituents to ask.

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Here’s an interesting new report — The Blogging Revolution: Government in the Age of Web 2.0. Think of it as a kind of "Blogging for Dummies" without the humor. (No disrespect to the author or to the "…for Dummies" series.)

This report could be very helpful to any Member of Congress, mayor, state legislator, bureaucrat, corporate CEO who is looking to get an understanding of blogging and Web 2.0. In a straightforward and non-threatening manner, the report explains the Web; its history, its now, and its future. It also attempts to encourage decision makers to engage this brave new world. In common language, the author explains everything from how to start a blog, to social networking, to why blog in the first place. And he makes the case that Web 2.0 tools can increase civic engagement and strengthen our democracy.

The author includes many examples of government sponsored blogs such as Sen. Inhofe, Delaware Gov. Ruth Ann Miller and even the LAPD. He includs a list of corporate CEOs who blog, such as Dallas Mavareck’s owner Mark Cuban and Sun Microsystem’s Jonathan Schwartz. He lists all the Members of Congress who blog as of April of this year:

Rep. John Boozman (R-Ark.)

Rep. Mike Conaway (R-Texas)

Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.)

Rep. John T. Doolittle (R-Calif.)

Rep. Jack Kingman (R-Ga.)

Rep. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.)

Rep. John Linder (R-Ga.)

Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.)

Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.)

Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.)

Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.)

Rep. Mike Pense (R-Ind.)

Rep. George Radanovich (R-Calif.)

Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.)

Blogs are the fastest growing part of Web 2.0, the report says, and are becoming more respected. The benefits to government of blogging are pretty obvious. In addition to allowing government officials to communicate directly with the community, bypassing both internal and news based editorial control and encouraging openness, accountability and transparency, the study notes that Blog readers tend to be better educated, more diverse, more engaged in public decision making than the public at large.

We couldn’t have written the recommendations better ourselves.

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