When Mike Klein took me out to lunch last fall – and started off by quoting Justice Brandeis’ adage “Sunlight in the best of disinfectants….” I responded: “…Electric light the most efficient policeman.” If you can finish someone else’s somewhat obscure quote about “transparency” odds are you are destined to be partners.

Even though Mike and I didn’t know it at the time, it was at that moment that the idea of creating the Sunlight Foundation came into existence – the notion of creating a new institution that focuses on enabling citizens to become their own watchdogs for the express purpose of giving them the tools to shine thousands, indeed perhaps millions, of flashlights on what Congress is doing. Sunlight’s goal is to provide tools, information and resources to encourage citizens, bloggers and investigative media to explore whether and/or how their representatives influenced by money and lobbyists, to provide ways to engage their natural curiosity about who their representatives really represent and what they do in Washington, and to provide forums and interactions to build the community of people who care about our democracy.