Show me THIS data
By Bill Allison Mar 26 2009 3:20 a.m. 4 commentsDerek Willis, with whom I was lucky enough to work with at the Center for Public Integrity, critiques the recent Show Us The Data effort (full disclosure: Sunlight was involved in building the site, and I helped a good deal with the conceptualization). He offers eight solid suggestions for data sets that should be publicly available -- and didn't make the cut for the Show Us The Data site. No arguments here with his wish list, and there's some really good suggestions there.
In defense of Show Us The Data, voting was open to the general public, many of whom might not know about things like the super secret House Appropriations Committee earmark database, and it did ask for people's most wanted data and documents (sadly, Show Us The Data Or Documents, Whichever You Prefer made for an unwieldy title).
In any case, check out Derek's list, and add your own suggestions.
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I'd like to know which companies Rep. Jack Kingston (GA) earmarked funding for. I'd like to find the contracts, the amount and the dates.I know of at least one Defense contractor and their lobby firm who are top donors to his campaign.
You can start here with a list of Kingston's earmarks from the Seattle Times Favor Factory series. It covers 2008 earmarks (that is, proposed in 2007 for fiscal year 2008). The nice thing about the Times effort is that it's the only one that links up earmarks and campaign finance data.
Bingo! I knew it. I knew it was Intergraph that got the earmarked funding. Kingston's staff told me it wasn't their responsibility to help me. It was the Senate's.However, both Georgia senators ALSO get funding from Intergraph and their lawyers. Intergraph is one of Kingston's top donors, and so is their lobbyist, Hurt Norton Associates.Thank you very much for the link.
We aim to please!