CNC: Ask Your Lawmaker

A tool that allows citizens to provide the questions that journalists ask lawmakers.

Who are you calling Shorty?

By Laura Hertzfeld | Published: March 5, 2010

It’s Oscar weekend, but in the world of social media, a set of honors for a more prolific crowd went out this week – the Shorty Awards, which praise the best Twitterers on the planet. Some of the most impressive are from the world of finance, who’ve had some success in explaining the economic crisis in 140 characters or less.

The top six finance Twitterers include personal finance guru Suze Orman (@SuzeOrmanShow), debt help radio program The Dave Ramsey Show (@RamseyShow), finance blog site Mint.com (@mint), UK markets strategist Ashraf Laidi (@alaidi), LendingClub founder Rob Garcia (@robgarciasj), and finance site Bulls on Wall Street (@BullsOnWallSt).

How much of a difference can you make in 140 characters? The David Ramsey Show, which claimed second place in the awards reports on how listeners can learn to be debt-free and shares their stories on Twitter:

Blake: Total debt paid off by just those who got thru on the phones today on #TDRS = $876,000. Year to Date = $9,149,900

The popular personal finance blog Mint shares links to content on their main site over Twitter, like the pros and cons of offshore banking and the urban legends surrounding credit scores. But Mint also provides real-time news and advice solely on Twitter, like today’s project where they are retweeting savings tips from readers:

RT @ekmurphy: automatic savings plan helps build savings every time I get paid, not just at the end of the month when I look at what’s left

Outside of finance, but still in the realm of news in the public interest, The Diane Rehm Show @DRShow and Matt Laslo @MattLaslo of Capitol News Connection were both finalists in the news category. Washington, D.C. radio legend Diane Rehm shares inside views of her guests, like health care expert and NIH director Francis Collins, and asks listeners to answer questions on relevant news topics.

Matt Laslo at Capitol News Connection gives real-time updates from his reporting escapades on Capitol Hill. A recent adventure found him hearing about Texas Independence Day:

Did you know it’s Texas Independence Day? Me neither, until Cornyn (R-TX) started talking about it on the Senate floor.

Who are your favorite economics and news experts on Twitter? My favorites are listed here, on the @economystory bloggers list.

Also posted in Econstory, NPR: Local/National Collaboration, PRX: Public Radio Archive | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Health care reform around the country

By Laura Hertzfeld | Published: February 26, 2010

It was hard to miss: The White House confab this week with the warring sides in Congress meeting over the heated issue of health care reform. National shows and local stations each weighed creative approaches to coverage:

KQED in San Francisco (home city of Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., who has been a leading advocate of health care reform), put together a page for comments and a live blog of the event. The Sunlight Foundation provided a tool to track donations to members of congress Congressional representatives as they spoke during the summit.

Tennesee had three representatives in their delegation: – two republicans and one democrat, some open to compromise on the health care bill, and one, Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), who made the case as other Republicans did to “start from scratch,” as WPLN in Nashville, with Capitol News Connection reported .

Nashville is a hub for the health care industry, which doesn’t seem to be hurting as the health care reform debate continues. WPLN reported that four major health are providers in Nashville, including HealthStream, posted positive year-end financial results.

But the urgency of health care reform certainly hasn’t gone away with a few hours of debate at the White House. As WAMC in Albany, NY found, thousands of people in New York alone are at risk without some serious changes:

The failure to enact health care reform this year will lead in the next decade to approximately 13,900 premature deaths of people between 25 and 64 years old in New York according to a report released today by the consumer health group Families USA.

Similar stories are cropping up around the country. For a full video roundup of health care coverage, PBS has a collection of clips from Frontline, NewsHour and more.

Also posted in Econstory, KQED, NPR: Aggregated Local News Feed, NPR: Local/National Collaboration, NewsHour: Economic Patchwork Map, PBS: Video, Public Interactive | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Recalling the recall

By Laura Hertzfeld | Published: February 23, 2010

Lawmakers in Washington are hearing from Toyota executives and auto industry experts this week to determine why some models have uncontrollable acceleration problems and whether Toyota tried to cover up flaws on the many thousands of vehicles that have now been recalled.

Capitol News Connection’s Matt Laslo was at today’s congressional hearings and has been tweeting updates. A snippet of what he’s seen today:

Some conservative members of Congress were more hesitant to slam Toyota outright. Capitol News Connection’s Sara Schiammaco noted in a roundup of opening remarks:

Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., scolded her colleagues on the panel who she said came in during the eleventh hour of the congressional examination to politicize the issue. “This should not be a trial, but rather a hearing to get to the bottom of safety issues,” Blackburn said. “This is a serious issue that has resulted in the loss jobs.”

Michigan Public Radio followed the state’s delegation at the hearings in Washington:

U.P. Congressman Bart Stupak is chairing today’s hearing. He suggests Toyota executives may be trying to hide problems with their vehicles.

“A staff analysis of the documents Toyota provided to the committee, shows that roughly 70 percent of the sudden, unintended acceleration events, recorded in Toyota’s own customer call data base, involve vehicles that are not covered by the floor mat or sticky pedal recalls,” says Stupak.

But the problems for Toyota run even deeper than Congress’s questions. PBS NewsHour’s Gwen Ifill spoke with a reporter in Detroit and analysed the criminal charges Toyota could face if a federal grand jury finds its executives at fault.

Toyota’s complete list of operations and plants in the U.S. can be found here. Take a look and see how your state is being represented at the hearings. If there’s a plant in your area, how has the recall had an impact locally?

Also posted in Econstory, NPR: Aggregated Local News Feed, NPR: Local/National Collaboration, NewsHour: Economic Patchwork Map, PBS: Video, Public Interactive | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Snow slammed

By Laura Hertzfeld | Published: February 10, 2010

The east coast got a one-two punch of snow this week – but can they afford to? Snow removal budgets have been blown away, and with schools, the federal government, and most businesses shut down, how will the region make up for it?

NPR’s Planet Money takes a look at the DC area, which has been hit hardest:

“Virginia has already exhausted its [snow removal] funds for the season plus a $25 million emergency reserve, and the District of Columbia is also over budget.”

Snow removal is an expensive process, and typically Washington doesn’t get much, but when it does, the corners the city cuts to save money become clear. A Washington Post story elaborates:

In the mid-Atlantic region, every state has a snow budget, but it’s anybody’s guess as to how much snow will fall in a given year.

Does “budget accordingly” for the Washington area mean preparing for a season with 3.2 inches of snow (2001-02) or for 40.4 inches (2002-03)? Will it be a December with one-tenth of an inch of snow (2004-05) or one like this month, where a single storm drops more than two feet in some areas around Washington?

Getting necessities to those least capable of coping with two-feet of snow (whose numbers have certainly increased in the past year) is also a huge challenge. WAMU’s Kojo Nnamdi Show spoke with non-profits delivering food to the homeless during the storm.

And a little further downtown, Capitol Hill came to a complete standstill, blocking votes on the jobs bill and stalling budget talks. Capitol News Connection’s Elizabeth Johnson spoke with Sens. George Voinovich (R-Ohio) and Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va)

If you’re going to have two snowstorms that break all records, there’s not much I can do about that so can’t look at what might have been. The bigger question is, what about the recess coming right after that? That’s more of a threat to progress.”

Congress breaks for the Presidents’ Day recess next week. If it now seems doubtful the Senate can vote on a jobs bill before then. Senator Voinovich, for one, isn’t willing to rush. He says both parties tend to play the same game.

But the city shutting down doesn’t mean the news stops. Here’s the NPR staff in Washington, braving the storm outside of headquarters:

NPR Staff in Washington/Credit: NPR (www.twitter.com/nprmorningprod)

NPR Staff in Washington/Credit: NPR (www.twitter.com/nprmorningprod)

Also posted in Econstory, NPR: Aggregated Local News Feed, NPR: Local/National Collaboration | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Campaign finance, then and now

By Laura Hertzfeld | Published: January 21, 2010

Today’s Supreme Court ruling on campaign finance reform will allow corporations to give as much money as they want to support candidates, overturning a ruling that had been in effect for the past 20 years. But what was the scenario before 1990?

NPR takes a look at campaign finance through the years in a timeline of legislation from 1900 to the present. The timeline include events such as the 1907 ban on corporate contributions to Congressional and Presidential campaigns, the start of Political Action Committees in 1943, and the start of modern campaign finance in 1971.

Watchdog organizations like Open Secrets and the Sunlight Foundation will clearly play a larger role as this decision takes effect. The Obama campaign was defined by the numerous smaller donations from individuals – will the new rules take away the importance these types of donors play in elections? The non-partisan Campaign Finance Institute provides reports on campaign finance in the 2008 election.

Not surprisingly, President Obama was not satisfied with the court’s ruling. Two notes on the President’s Twitter feed discussed the issue this afternoon:

@BarackObama: Today’s Supreme Court ruling gives special interests more power, and undermines the influence of average Americans. http://bit.ly/7-a

The @WhiteHouse will work immediately w/ bipartisan Congressional leaders to develop a forceful response to this decision http://bit.ly/-I

Public Media Texas gives an overview of NPR’s coverage of today’s proceeds and what their effects may be.
Political Junkie reported:

Today’s decision overturns a 20-year ruling — Austin v. Michigan Chamber of Commerce — that prohibited corporations or labor unions from paying for campaign ads. The decision removes spending limits for independent expenditure groups. It threatens to remove spending limits already established in 24 states. And it struck down part of the McCain-Feingold campaign finance law that bars issue ads paid for by corporations or unions in the closing days of a campaign.

Questions about campaign finance and what the ruling means? Ask Congressman Steve Scalise (R-La.) on this week’s Ask Your Lawmaker podcast, or submit a question to any Congressperson on Ask Your Lawmaker.

Also posted in Econstory, NPR: Aggregated Local News Feed, NPR: Local/National Collaboration | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment