Fab Ohio Billboard Hits Boehner Where it Hurts

Special thanks to @watergatesummer on Twitter, picture via twitpic.

Copyright 2010 (text only). The Zaftig Redhead. All Rights Reserved.

The Deficit You're Freaking Out About Is Bush's Fault

Copyright 2010 (text only). The Zaftig Redhead. All Rights Reserved.

Battle Royale from Our Friends at OpenCongress: The Must Have Accessory this Holiday Season

There are some great sites on the Internet to help you track the political issues of your choice, as well as the hottest issues du jour. One of the best things about the web is that it allows people quicker, faster access to information than ever before -- so you, too, can help change the world, one person at a time. Many of the best sites serve a critical watchdog function by educating and informing the populous. Only a truly informed electorate can make good decisions and solid choices -- but the information needs to come from respected sources, too. One of the best, most trusted sources for that information comes from our friends at OpenCongress.gov. And, just in time for the season of giving -- but mostly just in time for the new Congress teeing up on January 6th -- they've introduced Battle Royale. Read their missive below -- a holiday gift for us all.

Dec. 11, 2008

Hi everyone,

We just launched a really fun new tool on OpenCongress called "Battle Royale" -- take a look ::

http://www.opencongress.org/battle_royale

Like a Billboard Chart for legislation or a Digg for Congress, Battle Royale lets you see what bills people are loving or hating.

Battle Royale builds on all the votes and comments that OpenCongress users generate every day. For the first time ever, we’re creating a dynamic data set of public opinion on Congress. You can easily see:

- The most- and least-popular bills in Congress, with more than two thousand bills in the mix

- The highest- and lowest-rated senators and representatives, including your own elected officials

- The most tracked and commented-on bills, issues, and Members of Congress

… for more info, visit today’s announcement on our blog: http://www.opencongress.org/articles/view/782

… and if you have a Digg account, give a quick digg and help spread the word:
http://digg.com/politics/Digg_for_Bills_in_Congress

This new tool is a key part of our work to harness the social wisdom created on OpenCongress and make it accessible & useful across the web. Dive in to vote up or down on bills and lawmakers you care about, see what’s hot with our open user community, and let us know what you think!

Thanks,

-David & the OC Team

http://www.opencongress.org/

"Insanely Useful Websites for Government Transparancy"

Ever heard of The Sunlight Foundation? It's a great organization, essentially a group to empower watchdogs — uh, that would be us, folks, the voters! The foundation is using the power of the Internet to "shine a light on the interplay of money, lobbying, influence and government in Washington in ways never before possible." They have compiled a great list of helpful sites for those of us wanting the insider's scoop on all things government and politics.

As their website says: “The following sites and resources are 'insanely useful Web sites' for government transparency. They provide a broad range of information available to track government and legislative information, campaign contributions and the role of money in politics. Many of these resources apply the Web 2.0 ethos to sift, share and combine this information in innovative ways — often times by mashing data together from disparate sources to maximize the usability of that information.”

Just a few of the sites that the Sunlight Foundation features — and in some cases, funds — include:

Congresspedia.org — The “online wiki-based citizens’ encyclopedia on Congress” from the Sunlight Foundation and the Center for Media & Democracy.

Contractor Misconduct Database — The government awards contracts to companies with histories of misconduct such as contract fraud and environmental, ethics, and labor violations. The Project On Government Oversight (POGO) is providing such data about the top 50 contractors.

EarmarkWatch.org — Ever wanted to be an investigative reporter? Want to follow the money? This site is a user-friendly, online investigative tool that lets citizens determine "if earmarks address pressing needs, favor political contributors or are simply pure pork." The unique site guides users step by step through the process that an investigative reporter would follow — associating different kinds of political information with each earmark, and also guides users about how to use online resources on campaign finance, lobbying and federal spending for their research — tying the pork to the source. Users can also comment on and fact-check one each other's work, or send messages — including tips and suggestions — to others.

Fedspending.org — OMB Watch’s combination of data from the Federal Procurement Data System and the Federal Assistance Award Data System has created a free, searchable database of federal government contracting and spending. The database allows you to search contracts and grants by state, congressional district, contracting agency or type of award, and shows where the money is being spent and — very important — whether it was competitively bid or just given to Haliburton.

GovTrack.us — This site uses THOMAS data and others to provide Congressional profiles and searchable legislative data. Users can sign up for email alerts to track Members, legislation and votes.

LOUIS — Sunlight Foundation’s Library of Unified Information Sources – “a search engine that combs through seven different sets of government documents. The seven sets of documents are Congressional Reports, the Congressional Record, Congressional Hearings, the Federal Register, Presidential Documents, GAO Reports, and Congressional Bills and Resolutions.”

OpenSecrets.org — This site is the premiere source of data on money in national politics. The user is able to search by member of Congress, by donor, or by industry sector. The site also contains four separate databases: lobbying, personal financial disclosures, congressional travel and revolving door.

VoterWatch — “...combines C-SPAN video of Congress with the accompanying text from the Congressional Record to allow viewers to search the video for comments made by a member of Congress.”

WashingtonWatch — This site determines the average cost, or savings, per individual of each bill introduced in Congress by performing calculations on government estimates compared to the US population. The Web site provides users with pro and con arguments for each bill, allows comments on each bill, allows users to vote “yes” or “no” on the bills and provides a “write your rep” function.

Watchdog.net — "...is a hub for data about politics. The site brings together census data, voting records, lobbying forms, campaign finance reports, and much more in one easy-to-understand place. And then it gives you the tools to actually do something about it."



To this list, The Information Knot — where I found some of the sites on this list — also added this resource:

Washington Post’s U.S. Congress Votes Database
From the Washington Post; provides House and Senate roll call votes from the 102nd Congress (1991) to the present. Also groups vote results by state, gender or zodiac sign of the Members. A convenient way for constituents to compile a Member’s entire floor voting record for recent Congresses or track missed votes or voting with one’s party.


Use these sites in good health, my friends. And please, use them to speak your minds, or better yet, speak truth to power.