Plum Book to be available Wednesday
The Government Printing Office has announced that its eagerly awaited "Plum Book," which lists more than 8,000 federal positions that can be filled by appointment as a new administration takes office, will be available Wednesday from the GPO's bookstore for $38. The press run will be 2,717 copies. But only 1,000 hard copies are for sale- the rest are given away to members of congress and other officials. (The Plum Book: Washington's Hottest Read.) http://bookstore.gpo.gov/actions/GetPublication.do?stocknumber=052-070-07534-1 The text also will be posted on gpoaccess.gov and available there at no charge. Continue reading
What Don’t We Know About The Bailout?
OpenTheGovernment.org has set up a Bailout Transparency page: What Don't We Know About The Bailout?. OpenTheGovernment is using this page as a clearinghouse for information on the bailout as information becomes available. Currently, most of what we know is coming from news reports rather than from the government directly. Continue reading
Court Rejects White House on Missing E-mails
Court Rejects White House on Missing E-mails, National Security Archive, November 10, 2008.
A court ruled today that the National Security Archive may proceed with its effort to force the White House to recover millions of Bush Administration Executive Office of the President (EOP) e-mail records before the presidential transition.Continue reading
The Transition: Moving Toward a 21st Century Right-To-Know Agenda
Sean Moulton, the Director of Federal Information Policy at OMB Watch, announced a new collaboratively written government transparency report: Moving Toward a 21st Century Right-To-Know Agenda: Recommendations to President-Elect Obama and Congress You can sign on here and download the report at either of these two links. Continue reading
72 Days to Government Information Liberation
Ok. It just hit me. I just set myself up with the goal of blogging for each of the next 72 days about government information that will court and spark, to steal a line from Joni Mitchell, in order to get people excited about their constitutional structures and the best values of civic information. What was I thinking? So, here is what caught my eye today, from the Nov. 9, 2008 "After the Imperial Presidency" article in the NYTimes Sunday Magazine (http://www.nytimes.com/pages/magazine/index.html.) But it wasn't just this article, there was another that, juxtaposed with the Presidency one -- Check Cashers, Redeemed -- that struck me there might be some lessons here about government information and neighborhood services. In a very real sense the constitutional functions work because it requires the president and congress to exhcange trust and information -- much like a bank's liquidity -- and either part of the relationship freezes up, or ignores the other -- then we have severe information dislocation. Libraries and other cultural institutions are like local branches in this national information exchange. The technology and social organization of these institutions should work hand in hand to keep the citizens constantly informed of what is happening inside their governing bodies. Again, the opportunities are out, if we can just risk and grab at the opportunity. Talk to you on Day 71 -- an hope we start getting some two-way traffic going.... Continue reading