Making Government Transparent and Accountable
The Sunlight Foundation uses cutting-edge technology and ideas to make government transparent and accountable. Underlying all of our efforts is a fundamental belief that increased transparency will improve the public's confidence in government
The Sunlight Foundation Blog
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The Other Provisions in the Senate Bailout Bill
An Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) patch, a mental health parity bill, a package of tax break extensions, and tax breaks and relief for victims of natural disasters, specifically Hurricane Ike. These don’t sound like they have any relation to the relief of an financial crisis, but, as of today, they will all play a major role. The new massive bailout package — sorry, “rescue” package — introduced in the Senate includes all of these measures. The inclusion of these measures could help push the underlying Emergency Economic Stabilization Act through Congress or torpedo it by injecting inter-chamber politics into an already tense political situation.
At the heart of the tacked-on legislation is a combination of an AMT patch and tax break extensions for corporations and renewable energy investments. Senate Democrats, most prominently Sen. Max Baucus, believe that the inclusion of these measures will help draw the support of House Republicans who previously voted down Monday’s bailout bill. However, this measure is already drawing the ire of House Democrats, including Blue Dogs and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer.
The AMT/tax break extension package was previously passed by the Senate, but House leaders, pushed by Hoyer and the Blue Dogs, intended on shelving the proposal due to its failure to abide by pay-as-you-go rules (providing offsetting cuts to go with revenue reductions). The inclusion of the package in the bailout bill will revive the animus between the two Democratic factions. Hoyer has already stated that the inclusion of the “tax extenders” is “controversial” and was included only because “they thought that’s the only way they could get it passed.” Of course, the Blue Dogs, being prominent supporters of the bailout bill, may find themselves in a situation where this compromise is the best they can get.
Seeing as how every vote counts at this point — the bailout only needs 12 votes to pass in the House — the inclusion of the mental health parity legislation previously passed by the House could help sway one or two votes. The chief Republican cosponsor of the bill, Rep. Jim Ramstad, voted against the bailout bill on Monday. Also, one the bill’s seven cosponsors, Rep. Pete Stark, also voted against the bailout. The inclusion of the defining bill of Ramstad’s career, as he retires this year, could be enough to sway this one vote into the “yes” column.
In classic congressional fashion, the Senate has decided to use a crisis piece of legislation as a way to push through a massive package of other priorities forcing an inter-chamber factional battle to come to a head. The inclusion of this controversial legislation could also serve as a remedy to the current failure in the House.
Poison pill or appeasing antidote? We’ll wait and see.
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Urge Congress to Read the Bill First, Part 2
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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Publish the Mortgages on Line
Dan O’Neill (of Everyblock fame) is calling for publication of all mortgages that the government (read “we”) is going to buy in the bailout bill.
…. I’d like them to publish a list of all of the mortgages they purchase — the loan number, the address of the property, the lender, the amount of the loan, the status of the loan, the plaintiffs and defendants in any associated foreclosure cases, and so on.
As far as I can tell, it’s not currently possible for the public to determine the underlying assets of any of the mortgage security instruments that have been the subject of so much pop-culture sturm und drang. We all know that this is a big story, because the papers scream it and the numbers are enormous.
But we also know that it’s a big story because it is a local story. Foreclosures are plainly visible all of us, all over the country. We all know people — or are someone — affected directly by failing mortgages, decreasing home prices, and the accompanying social problems like crime, blight, homelessness, downward mobility, and despair.
Though it goes without saying, we assume Dan’s talking about publishing these lists with an API or in a downloadable format so that the information can be mashed by developers.
Do you hear us Congress? (I’m going to note this suggestion at PublicMarkup.org.)
