Government Integrity - The Power of Facts from the Web
“What used to take hours to dig up and analyze is now laid bare for you to see in seconds or minutes.” California Progress Report
Read : Jeremy Caplan's article "The Citizen Watchdogs of Web 2.0" Time. 30 Jun. 2008 http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1819187,00.html
Harness the web sites mentioned in the article to examine the record of one of your legislators.
1. Who are their top 5 contributors?
2. How many people in your community made a contribution to their recent election campaign?
3. Select an Issue at Tracking the Payback
Evaluate your legislator's votes regarding the issue.
What groups, lobbyists or individuals related to the issue made a donation to the legislator's election campaign?
Is your legislator voting in the best interest of people of your state or district?
Extend your efforts:
Identify 3 "good government" advocacy groups in your state or commonwealth.
What is an good government issue in the news in your community, region or state?
Write a 5 paragraph statement that is rich in facts. What is your opinion regarding the issue?
"Voters are often so confused by what their party is selling,
they vote for people who do them more harm than good. ." BuzzFlash
Resources:
Most legislators have their own web site use your online research skills to find it.
Your America: Take action resources
| Personal Democracy Forum | OpenSecrets.org |
| Sunlight Foundation | OpenCongress.org |
| Congresspedia | |
| THOMAS - legislative information from the Library of Congress | Help: How to research congressional records and positions |
| How to track Federal Legislation using THOMAS | Project on Government Oversight |
| Budget of the United States Government | Evaluate your Senator or Representative |
| Government Accountability Office | Change Congress |
| Government Accountability Standards Board | |
| PA Open Records Law 2008 Project | Public's Right to Know project |
| USA.gov is the official web portal to all federal, state and local government web resources and services. | Watch Google Docs video - How could you use Google Docs to do a project? |
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developed by Cynthia J. O'Hora Released to public domain and Posted 7/2008
Use a Digital Answer Format : Highlight the text of the questions on this web page, copy them - Edit .. Copy. Open a text document or word processing document. Paste the questions into the blank document. Answer the questions in the word processing document in a contrasting color (not yellow)or font ( avoid fancy fonts like: 
, Symbol, 
or 
. Save frequently as you work. I do not like losing my work. You will not like it either. Put your name and the date in a header. Bad things happen. Retain a copy of your work on your computer.
Proof your responses. It is funny how speling errors and typeos sneak in to the bets work. 
Make Your Own Printed answer sheet.