Blog - Congress Links

“The Attorney General Cannot Investigate Himself”

The AP:

>A group of Senate Democrats called Thursday for a special counsel to investigate whether Attorney General Alberto Gonzales perjured himself during Capitol Hill testimony.

TPMmuckracker has a copy of the letter that Sens. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Russ Feingold (D-WI) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) sent to Solicitor General Paul Clement to request the special counsel.

Open Source Naval and Missile Database Reporting System?

Apparently. And that’s just one of 1,776 earmarks that have been requested for funding in next year’s Defense Appropriations bill. Porkbusters has the whole list up on their site (the details are in the attachment). Unfortunately, they don’t have the dollar amounts.

Capitol Hill’s Hottest

The Hill has released their fourth annual list of the 50 most beautiful people on Capitol Hill. You might as well check them out.

Lawmakers on the list include Brad Ellsworth (D-IN), Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Connie Mack (R-FL), Mary Fallin (R-OK), Yvette Clark (D-NY), Sherrod Brown (D-OH),and Heath Shuler (D-NC).

A Healthy Blend Sunlight and Helium

Now you can debate the Sunlight Foundation’s transparency platform at Helium. “Sunlight’s partnership with Helium leverages the power of the Internet to strengthen citizen engagement in the democratic process,” said Ellen Miller, executive director of the Sunlight Foundation. “Bloggers and citizen journalists will have a new haven at Helium to participate in conversations about the importance of transparency in promoting greater accountability in Congress.”

Check it out:

Should all pending federal legislation be posted online for a minimum of 72 hours before voting can take place?

Or,

Should bloggers and citizen journalists have an opportunity to get credentials so they can cover Congress the same way mainstream media journalists do?

More questions here. Press release here.