Andrew Cuomo, who is running for Attorney General in NY, issues a press release today that sounds like it came from us:

ANDREW CUOMO PROPOSES "PROJECT SUNLIGHT" TO INCREASE GOVERNMENT TRANSPARENCY AND DISCLOSURE

….The Attorney General’s Public Integrity Unit would for the first time integrate and improve existing databases so that campaign finance data, lobbying information and state contracts can be viewed and easily searched by concerned citizens. With Project Sunlight, a citizen frustrated by high drug costs would be able to use her computer at home,  type "prescription drugs" in a search box, and find out if her elected officials take money from drug companies, what drug bills they voted on, and even which companies ended up with lucrative state contracts.

The more I read about what he has in mind, it sounds like a chapter out of our play book. When candidates for office starting offering this kind of access to information as a reform platform, we are clearly onto something big. As I said, imitation is the highest form of flattery.

We know that the public is hungry for this kind of information. We had over 300 participants at the press conference this morning releasing the OMB Watch and CRP databases that will reveal more than we have ever known about government spending and the personal investments and travel of lawmakers.