Stimulus Bill Transparency
A juicy tidbit of info over at the Sunlight Blog and ABC News: Stimulus Bill to go Web 2.0?
They’re planning a Google-like search function to show every program funded by the stimulus package, whether it comes in under or over-budget, whether it is meeting its intended purpose, and how many jobs it is creating.Sounds interesting! Let's hope they follow through. Continue reading
Congressional Transparency, Past and Present
There are a few transparency bills that are up for debate in Congress today: The Presidential Records Act and The Presidential Library Donation Reform Act. The Sunlight Blog has a good write-up summarizing the importance of these two bills, as well as a post by Ellen Miller. I just checked GovTrack.org and here are the House votes results: On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass: H R 35 Presidential Records Act Amendments On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass: H R 36 Presidential Library Donation Reform Act If you are interested in learning more about the history of Congressional transparency reform, checkout Sunlight.org's project, The Transparency Timeline. Continue reading
How Government Should Use Web 2.0
Mark Drapeau, a fellow at the Center for Technology and National Security Policy, writing for PBS' MediaShift blog:
Behind every press release, web page, and social networking account is a person. But when people "hide" behind organizational brands, it reduces the authenticity and transparency that people -- citizens, customers, fans -- have become accustomed to seeing in the Web 2.0 world. New social tools and niche communications can empower people to connect with their audiences on a more personal level through what has been termed "ambient awareness" or ambient intimacy.Read the whole post. Found via FCW Insider. Continue reading
Statistical Abstract of the United States, 2009 edition
The 2009 edition of the Statistical Abstract of the United States is now available from two sites:
- The 2009 Statistical Abstract. PDF and Excel
- Statistical Abstract of the United States, 2006-2009. PDF only.
testing out wiki pages
just testing out the wiki here's an interwiki syntax link: [w:copyrights] here's '''mediawiki''' syntax [http://freegovinfo.info FGI] * bullet point 1 * bullet point 2 ** sub-bullet point 1 Continue reading