Eyebrows were raised in June when ABC News wrote about an inquiry by the Treasury Department to the Department of Justice as to whether the Special Inspector General for TARP (SIGTARP) was under the thumb of supervised and directed by the Treasury Secretary.

In 2008, K Street received $86 million from foreign sources to pursue their interests with representatives of the American people.  While states and populations abroad certainly have legitimate interests in U.S. domestic and foreign policy, the origins of much of that money are still largely shrouded in secrecy.  The data, until now, has been difficult for most Americans to access.  As a result, the Sunlight Foundation and ProPublica joined together to track which foreign governments and corporations are lobbying for representation in the U.S. Congress.

FederalReporting.gov opened up for business today. Prime recipients and first-tier sub recipients of Recovery Act funds can now begin reporting on their use of those funds.

The websites of U.S. senators are a poor place to look if you are interested in their views on climate change, according to a recent analysis. Although websites are one of a politician's best ways to present their views and educate and engage their constituents about important issues, many of the nation's senators fail to do so, based on a review of websites by Grist, the environmental news outlet.