This past Sunday, the Sunlight Foundation’s Political Party Time database was featured on HBO’s "Last Week Tonight" with John Oliver.
Oliver, using Party Time data, broke down how more than 2,800 fundraising parties were held by members of Congress and candidates in 2013-2014 to support their election efforts. He also amusingly points out that 948 “breakfast fundraisers” have been held at a seafood restaurant calledJohnny’s Half Shell, which is just a short walk from the Capitol building.
The piece highlights the outsized role fundraising plays in the daily lives of our congressional representatives. This includes the estimated four hours of “call time” lawmakers go through each day to hit their fundraising goals, numbers which are set by Democratic and Republican party leadership. It's an alarming amount when you consider that means about 20 hours are spent fundraising during the average congressional work week.
John Oliver's 'Last Week Tonight' dives into congressional partying with Sunlight data - Sunlight Foundation Blog
No comments:
Post a Comment