- Wired - The See-Through CEO
The nonprofit Sunlight Foundation has begun putting zillions of public documents in elegantly searchable online databases, leaving it to interested citizens to connect the dots. One adroit digger recently discovered that former House Speaker Dennis Hastert had earmarked $200 million for a highway to be built near a property he had a stake in. When the property was sold, Hastert made a 500 percent profit on his original investment, provoking a wave of negative coverage.
- Roll Call - Group Says Web Sites Fall Short
Ad hoc researchers recruited by an open-government advocacy group were unable to extract even rudimentary information from the Web sites of many Members of Congress such as legislation the Members had introduced or committees they served on, according a report being released today.
- The Hill - Watchdog works with agency to make feds’ largest database
In the upside-down world of Washington politics, the watched is now working with the watcher.
The White House’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the thorn in its side, OMB Watch, are holding meetings to develop the government’s largest database; all federal spending will be searchable and available online for the public by Jan. 1, 2008, per the agency’s schedule.