RollCall ($$) reports that Senators can now legally post YouTube videos on their Web sites. "Until now, any Senator who embedded a YouTube video or linked to a Flickr album was in violation of outdated rules that required them to keep within the senate.gov domain. Some posted such links anyway, and few were reprimanded."

"The House is still struggling with the issue. Democrats and Republicans agree that the current restrictions are unrealistic; with everyone violating the rules, true enforcement is impossible. The House servers can't keep up with the demand for online multimedia, and Members are forced to find free outside sites that can."

A New York Times editorial puts the situation bluntly; "there is no excuse - except a desire to slow the public's right to know - for their ongoing efforts to block electronic filing of their reports on campaign donations."

The editorial is referencing the stalled Senate bill S.223 to require senators to file their contribution reports electronically. OMB Watch has supported this measure for a long time. Presidential candidates and candidates running for the House of Representatives file their campaign contributions in electronic form, allowing citizens quick access to such information. However, the in the Senate, filers do not have to file electronically. This delays disclosure by weeks and possibly till after the election.

As the New York Times observes; "the Senate is still cynically mired in the dark age of paper filings. Candidates submit required reports on political money and donors via paper sheaves that wend through slow-mo typing, re-typing and mailing, ensuring that full disclosure only occurs sometime after Election Day."

In August Pass223.com was launched to find out which senators are willing to officially support the bill. Visit Pass223.com and call your senators!

The Center for Public and Nonprofit Leadership at the Georgetown Public Policy Institute will hold a series of issue forums on philanthropy. Each forum will examine the intersection of philanthropy and public policy through a specific issue: race, social justice for children, the global fight against HIV/AIDS, and local public education reform. The first one will take place next Friday Oct. 3 titled, Taking Account of Race: A Philanthropic Imperative. Gara LaMarche, the President and CEO of The Atlantic Philanthropies will be the keynote speaker.

For more information on the issue forums and to attend this event, click here.