Washington Post: Disclosure in the Information Age

[PhilipShore]

Washington Post
Disclosure in the Information Age
February 20, 2006

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/19/AR2006021900873.html

Republicans and Democrats have trouble agreeing on anything these days. But leading thinkers in both parties have one simple notion in common: Citizens should be able to find out easily who's lobbying their elected representatives.

That doesn't sound controversial, but it is. As things stand, it's near impossible to learn who has lobbied a lawmaker and how much that lobbyist has raised for the lawmaker as a way of trying to close the deal.

Two former chairmen of the Federal Election Commission -- Republican Trevor Potter and Democrat Scott Thomas -- are speaking out about the need for fast, complete disclosure of both lobbying and campaign giving.

A growing number of people in both parties are pushing for a mega-disclosure provision as part of an effort to revise the capital's ethics laws.