The Open Government
Directive encouraged states to put valuable government data online. In this series we're reviewing each state's efforts in this direction.
This week: Arizona
Website: www.azcheckbook.com
Arizonans finally got a government spending website in February with azcheckbook.com, joining 35 other states that offer such data online. Transparency efforts there still have a long way to go, however. USPIRG, in an April report, rated Arizona last among states that have such open government sites.
State Treasurer Dean Martin, who calls AZcheckbook a "labor of love," says he completed it in his spare time and ...
Labs Olympics: Sunlight 2D
Recently, the Labs broke into teams and spent two days doing projects entirely of our own devising, given free rein. Our team consisted of two developers, a designer, and Sunlight's prized sysadmin. So for our project, we wanted to do something for the office, that blended software and design with the physical world. Inspired by some recent internal work in inventorying items using QR codes, we thought it'd be fun to make a system that lets Sunlighters print out QR codes for anything they wanted.
What people do with those codes is up to them - document internal events for posterity, lead coworkers on a scavenger hunt, plant jokes, write QR slam poetry, whatever. The design goal here was to make it dirt easy, through their computer's browser or their mobile phone, for a Sunlighter to print out a QR code with some text and/or a picture attached.
Continue readingPodesta’s lobbying ties
Last week we pointed out several fundraisers that BP lobbyists planned for lawmakers since 2008. At least nine of the eleven fundraisers invites we collected had Tony Podesta of the Podesta Group listed as a host.
Today, the Daily Caller using data from the Center for Responsive Politics has more details on Podesta's clients -- a list that includes other oil companies such as Sunoco as well as a range of green businesses.
According to the piece, "The couple [Tony and Heather Podesta] lobbies on behalf of a range of green businesses, too. For instance, the Securing America’s ...
Reporter’s Notebook: How we got the latest FTA disappearmark data
When we first reported about how we attempted to track down disappearmarks from the Federal Transit Administration, we recounted the difficulties in getting data in an electronic format. In response to our first Freedom of Information request, we were given a 121-page printout of a database, which in the end didn’t accurately include the information we sought: which SAFETEA-LU earmarks went unspent.
When our story ran, the FTA contacted us and said that one reason that FOIA requests are often returned in a printout and not a database form is to allow for the FOIA office to redact or ...
Disappearmarks: Millions in SAFETEA-LU transit earmarks are unspent
Nearly $120 million in Federal Transit Administration earmarks that were introduced and approved by Congress have sat untouched in FTA accounts for years and have now lapsed, according to an FTA list.
The list of unallocated earmarks, which the Sunlight Foundation Reporting Group obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request, show that funds for these projects should have been used by September 30, 2009 at the latest, but due to various reasons, were never spent. (See spreadsheet below for the full list. Some projects appear ... Continue reading
OGD: Medicare data shows trouble spots for nursing homes
A couple of weeks ago we looked at one Florida nursing home to see what available government data could tell us about the quality of care. Today we'll take a look at what the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) data can tell us about nursing homes throughout the nation as a whole.
A few well-respected researchers (such as Charlene Harrington and her colleagues at the University of California, San Francisco) have tackled these questions in depth, but reporters can still glean useful nuggets through their own quick and dirty analysis.
We used the Nursing Home Compare data ...
Former government officials hired to lobby as Congress looks to rewrite telecom law
As leaders in Congress announced a series of hearings this June to tackle huge telecommunications issues with a focus on... View Article
Continue readingRep. Flake Op-Ed
Thursday’s Roll Call featured a fantastic Op-Ed from Representative Jeff Flake, about ethics, earmarks, campaign contributions, and the Office of... View Article
Continue readingDeath Knell for Secret Holds
Sen. Claire McCaskill spent the past few months moving from Senate office to Senate office seeking supporters of her provision... View Article
Continue reading“How Our Laws Are Made”: Now in Poster Form
Just a quick note: we've been getting a few requests from folks saying they'd like to buy a printed copy of How Our Laws Are Made, one of the winning entries from Design for America. Well, good news: the folks responsible for this fantastic infographic have made it available from an on-demand print service, letting you get a physical copy in whatever format you think would best suit your classroom, office or other source of blank wall space. Even as I type this a print should be winging its way to Sunlight's offices -- if you'd like one, too, you know where to click.
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