List members, consider voting for MAPLight below.

- J


-------- Original Message --------
Subject:  Get Big Money Out of Politics - Vote for MAPLight.org
Date:  Tue, 10 Apr 2007 17:52:47 -0700
From:  Dan Newman <dan@...>
To:  'Dan Newman' <dan@...>



Dear friend,

I need your help. MAPLight.org, the organization that I started, has
entered an unusual web contest, for nonprofits. We need you to vote for
MAPLight.org on the web. The top 20 vote-getters, out of 150 choices,
will win a share of $100,000! The money will be divided unequally
between the top 20 nonprofits at a conference in May called NetSquared.

MAPLight.org illuminates the connection between money and politics. We
provide unprecedented transparency for the California legislature and,
starting next month, U.S. Congress.

Please help by **voting for MAPLight.org**. It takes just three
minutes--I timed it. The deadline is this Saturday at noon. **Please do
it now: **

1. Go to http://www.netsquared.org/user/register
<http://ent.groundspring.org/EmailNow/pub.php?module=URLTracker&cmd=track&j=1340\
63857&u=1286291>
and create an account.

You only have to complete the fields with a red “*”.

2. Check your email for a link to login to the NetSquared site. Click
that link.

3. At the very top of the page, click “My Ballot,” or this link:
http://www.netsquared.org/projects/my-ballot
<http://ent.groundspring.org/EmailNow/pub.php?module=URLTracker&cmd=track&j=1340\
63857&u=1286292>

4. Type your name and for your first choice, pick “**A Light on Money
and Politics: MAPLight.org.**”

It’s near the top of the list. It begins with the letter “*A*.”

5. Choose four other projects. You can pick projects that sound good to
you, or just pick any four projects at random.

6. At the bottom of the page, click Submit!

7. Now, please ***forward this email*** to at least ten of your friends.
It will help support our work to get big money out of politics.

We’ll tell you next week if we made the top 20. We can’t win this
contest without your help.** Please vote online now.**

Thank you!

Dan Newman
Executive Director

MAPLight.org












Spread the word--please forward this to a friend.

If you've received this from a friend and would like to join
MAPLight.org's e-mail list please go to: http://www.maplight.org/sign_up
<http://ent.groundspring.org/EmailNow/pub.php?module=URLTracker&cmd=track&j=1340\
63857&u=1286293>

<http://ent.groundspring.org/EmailNow/pub.php?module=URLTracker&cmd=track&j=1340\
63857&u=1286294>

Hello,

I'm working on a site that allows you to vote on active legislation.
When you vote, you will be able to send your vote to your
representatives. You'll also be able to keep a running tally of how
you voted vs. your representatives. There will also be some social
networking tools as well.

I'm currently working on the design. I'm debating between "simple" vs.
"fun". Which do you like better?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/69723062@N00/

Thanks for your thoughts and inspiration.

Taylor

The procedural votes is tough. The votes will sort by the most active.
This means the site will rely knowledgeable active members to get the
voting activity started.

The esoteric nature of government is also tough. Need tools to help
people help each other out with the legislation. Right now I've got
"Comments" for the bills. Also hoping groups and friends can help out.


I'll get a working beta up soon to show you how it's working.

Thanks for the input.


Taylor




--- In govtrack@yahoogroups.com, "Tim McGhee" <timtom@...> wrote:
>
> That's a very interesting idea.  It sounds like a Fantasy Congress
kind of
> site!
>
> It will be interesting to see how you/people handle a lot of the
procedural
> votes that happen.  Most people have no idea what most of the votes are
> about.
>
> At first glance, your "fun" design looks simpler than the "simple"
design.
> I can't tell exactly how you have it set up, but I would mention
that I'm
> not a fan of hiding primary functions behind mouseover requirements.
> Simplicity is good.
>
> Tim
> 10,914 days <http://numberyourdays.com/?d=June+5+1977>
>
>
> On 4/23/07, tay199 <tay199@...> wrote:
> >
> >   Hello,
> >
> > I'm working on a site that allows you to vote on active legislation.
> > When you vote, you will be able to send your vote to your
> > representatives. You'll also be able to keep a running tally of how
> > you voted vs. your representatives. There will also be some social
> > networking tools as well.
> >
> > I'm currently working on the design. I'm debating between "simple" vs.
> > "fun". Which do you like better?
> >
> > http://www.flickr.com/photos/69723062@N00/
> >
> > Thanks for your thoughts and inspiration.
> >
> > Taylor
> >
> >
> >
>
>
>
> --
> Tim McGhee
> 703-798-3227
> 38.8205, -77.0445
> http://tim.mtopgroup.com
>
> Psalm 90:12
> So teach us to number our days,
> That we may gain a heart of wisdom.
> http://numberyourdays.com
>

Hey, all.

If you're using GovTrack data, or plan to, could you let me know?

In a short presentation I'll be making in a week (more on that in about
a week), I'd like to run off a list of ways people are using GovTrack
data, or ideas for using GovTrack data that people have in the works,
etc. (No, the audience is not the type to steal anyone's ideas.)

Also, I'd like to start a links page on GovTrack to other sites using
GovTrack data.

Obviously I know about the sites that have been mentioned on this list,
but I'm fishing around in case no one's told me about a site yet, and
even if I know about your site (i.e. Andrew's) it wouldn't hurt to drop
me an email anyway and let me know:

    The current title of the project
    The URL, and if it's not public yet, when you expect it to be public
    What data you use from GovTrack (and elsewhere, if it's interesting)
    What the site does or will do and why it's important (i.e. selling
points that I can use to convince people that having a database of
legislative information can be put to use in a multitude of useful ways)

Even if the use of data is for private use, or is
not-for-public-knowledge, or whatever, I'd still like to know about it.

Thanks all.

--
- Josh Tauberer

http://razor.occams.info

"Yields falsehood when preceded by its quotation!  Yields
falsehood when preceded by its quotation!" Achilles to
Tortoise (in "G�del, Escher, Bach" by Douglas Hofstadter)

Hey Josh, et al.

I put up a site a few days ago: Where a Bill becomes a Law
(http://www.whereabill.org/). It's basically a clone of Google's
driving directions, except that it tracks the steps a bill has taken
through Congress. It's meant to be sort of a fun and educational way
of seeing a bill's history. It's still rudimentary, but you will get
the idea.

I am using:
- the bill status data (/data/us/*/bills/*.xml)
- the roll vote data (/data/us/*/rolls/*.xml)
- the people database (/data/us/110/repstats/people.xml)
- the popularity listing (/data/us/bills.technorati.xml)
- the search service (www.govtrack.us/congress/billsearch_api.xpd)

Thanks, Josh, for providing the data.


Kevin

That's fantastic! I can't wait to mention it next week.

- Josh

--- In govtrack@yahoogroups.com, "Kevin Henry" <k@...> wrote:
>
> Hey Josh, et al.
>
> I put up a site a few days ago: Where a Bill becomes a Law
> (http://www.whereabill.org/). It's basically a clone of Google's
> driving directions, except that it tracks the steps a bill has taken
> through Congress. It's meant to be sort of a fun and educational way
> of seeing a bill's history. It's still rudimentary, but you will get
> the idea.
>
> I am using:
> - the bill status data (/data/us/*/bills/*.xml)
> - the roll vote data (/data/us/*/rolls/*.xml)
> - the people database (/data/us/110/repstats/people.xml)
> - the popularity listing (/data/us/bills.technorati.xml)
> - the search service (www.govtrack.us/congress/billsearch_api.xpd)
>
> Thanks, Josh, for providing the data.
>
>
> Kevin
>

--- In govtrack@yahoogroups.com, "Marjorie Roswell" <mroswell@...> wrote:
>
> Would anyone have any idea where I found this data? Who provided it? The
> file is people.xml. I searched the net and found it once, but can't
find it
> again. It might've just been on *xml*.house.gov/ but if it's on there, I
> can't seem to navigate to find it again.

You've come to the right place! That's my file.
(http://www.govtrack.us/source.xpd)

- Josh

Hey Josh, et al.

I put up a site a few days ago: Where a Bill becomes a Law
(http://www.whereabill.org/). It's basically a clone of Google's
driving directions, except that it tracks the steps a bill has taken
through Congress. It's meant to be sort of a fun and educational way
of seeing a bill's history. It's still rudimentary, but you will get
the idea.

I am using:
- the bill status data (/data/us/*/bills/*.xml)
- the roll vote data (/data/us/*/rolls/*.xml)
- the people database (/data/us/110/repstats/people.xml)
- the popularity listing (/data/us/bills.technorati.xml)
- the search service (www.govtrack.us/congress/billsearch_api.xpd)

Thanks, Josh, for providing the data.

Kevin

Hey, all. On Tuesday, the Open House Project released its report at a
press conference in the Capitol building before a handful of House
staffers. I gave a 5-minute speech about the section of the report on
creating an open database of legislative information.

More here, including the final report:
http://www.theopenhouseproject.com/

Two videos are available, one is a sort of fun promotional video, the
type of thing to spread around to get people interested in the project,
the other is a video of the press conference itself.

Comments on the report are welcome on the OHP website (each chapter is
comment-enabled). I'm pasting part of the press release below.

- Josh Tauberer
http://razor.occams.info


Sunlight’s Open House Project Publishes Transparency Recommendations to
Strengthen Public Access to Congress

[The report is available at the following URL:
http://www.theopenhouseproject.com/the-open-house-project-report/ and as
a PDF at
http://www.theopenhouseproject.com/report/openhouseproject_may8_07.pdf]

May 8, 2007

Contact: Gabriela Schneider
202-742-1520, ext. 236

WASHINGTON, DC - In a presentation to congressional staff and
Representatives, members of the Open House Project delivered today
recommendations for a series of technological reforms that would
increase transparency and public access to the work and members of the
U.S. House of Representatives.

“Americans are communicating with each other in a ‘Web 2.0′ dynamic
environment, but Congress is restricted in its online activities by
outdated rules implemented when the Web first launched over 10 years
ago,” said Ellen Miller, executive director of the Sunlight Foundation.
“The Open House Project convened a diverse, bipartisan group of experts
to help open the proceedings of the House of Representatives so it can
be the transparent, open-source kind of legislature appropriate for the
21st century.”

A project of the Sunlight Foundation - the Open House Project - is a
collaborative effort by government and legislative information experts,
congressional staff, non-profit organizers and bloggers to study how the
House of Representatives currently integrates the Internet into its
operations, and to suggest attainable reforms to promote public access
to its work and members.

The group, which includes renowned technologist Clay Shirky, Bush/Cheney
2004 eCampaign Director Mike Turk, Govtrack creator Joshua Tauberer, and
leading blogger Markos Moulitsas-Zuniga of the Daily Kos, devised its
transparency recommendations online in thoroughly collaborative way —
from choosing topics through conversations on a list-serve, to
researching House institutions and reforms through blog posts and a
wiki, to authoring sections of the report with shared documents online.

“We look forward to working with members and their staff to get their
feedback on best ways to implement these reforms, which will help
citizens be more confident that their Representatives are working in
their interest,” said John Wonderlich, program director of the Sunlight
Foundation. “This is truly exciting because our simple and
straightforward recommendations will discourage corruption and increase
accountability, fostering a deeper connection between civically
empowered constituents and their legislators.”

The Open House Project’s reforms include:

      * Legislation Database-publish legislative data in structured formats
      * Preserving Congressional Information-protect congressional
information through archiving and distribution
      * Congressional Committees-recognize committees as a public
resource by making committee information available online
      * Congressional Research Service-share non-partisan research beyond
Congress
      * Member Web-Use Restrictions-permit members to take full advantage
of internet resources
      * Citizen Journalism Access-grant House access to non-traditional
journalists
      * The Office of the Clerk of the House-serve as a source for
digital disclosure information
      * The Congressional Record-maintain the veracity of a historical
document
      * Congressional Video-create open video access to House proceedings
      * Coordinating Web Standards-commit to technology reform as an
administrative priority

“Our recommendations make up the most significant reforms since the
mid-1990s, when then-Speaker Newt Gingrich oversaw the creation of the
online legislative database called THOMAS and paved the way for members’
Web sites,” said Rob Bluey, director of the Center for Media & Public
Policy at The Heritage Foundation. “Congress now has a unique
opportunity to bridge the partisan divide on an issue that should win
broad support among Democrats and Republicans.”

What I find intriguing is how someone with an account in govtrack can't
get their password back when its been lost. I tried SEVERAL TIMES to get
it and ZERO response.

gensha_2006@... wrote:
> What I find intriguing is how someone with an account in govtrack can't
> get their password back when its been lost. I tried SEVERAL TIMES to get
> it and ZERO response.

You'll need to make sure that the emails aren't getting thrown into a
junk mail folder or deleted by a spam filter on your end. As far as I
could tell, the password reminder feature is working fine.

(Apologies to the rest of the list for allowing support-type mail here.
I suspect for the same reason the poster did not receive the password
reminder, I was also not able to contact him/her directly.)

--
- Josh Tauberer

http://razor.occams.info

"Yields falsehood when preceded by its quotation!  Yields
falsehood when preceded by its quotation!" Achilles to
Tortoise (in "G�del, Escher, Bach" by Douglas Hofstadter)

Just worked perfectly for me. Perhaps you should check your spam folder?

gensha_2006@... wrote:
>
> What I find intriguing is how someone with an account in govtrack can't
> get their password back when its been lost. I tried SEVERAL TIMES to get
> it and ZERO response.
>
>

I can try it again but my T Bird spam program has rarely given me fits.
I guess I must have just been lucky.

--
TO MY WIFE'S SO-CALLED FRIENDS:
I WANT TO KNOW HOW YOU WOULD FEEL IF I WERE AIDING AND ABETTING YOUR SPOUSE?

It doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me. A bunch of numbers and
graphs.  They needed to include some statements and ability to discuss.

Right now I'm facing eviction and homelessness because of a damned V.A.
pension law so my head is pretty wrapped up in my personal issues
instead of trying to help others.

--
TO MY WIFE'S SO-CALLED FRIENDS:
I WANT TO KNOW HOW YOU WOULD FEEL IF I WERE AIDING AND ABETTING YOUR SPOUSE?

Dude, I LOVE that idea!!!  If there's a way to incorporate a little
of both fun and simplicity I'd vote for that.  However, for me, the
bottom line would be that it serves specifically the purpose
detailed in your summary here.  I'm really looking forward to being
actively involved in this when you have it up and running.
Chris

--- In govtrack@yahoogroups.com, "tay199" <tay199@...> wrote:
>
> Hello,
>
> I'm working on a site that allows you to vote on active
legislation.
> When you vote, you will be able to send your vote to your
> representatives. You'll also be able to keep a running tally of how
> you voted vs. your representatives. There will also be some social
> networking tools as well.
>
> I'm currently working on the design. I'm debating between "simple"
vs.
> "fun". Which do you like better?
>
> http://www.flickr.com/photos/69723062@N00/
>
> Thanks for your thoughts and inspiration.
>
> Taylor
>

Yah, ditto. That sounds like a really great project. I'd vote for
simple, but engaging. Don't make it silly or goofy. Fun is OK, but these
are serious issues and should be treated seriously (especially if you
want members to take it seriously).

Chris Joyner wrote:
>
> Dude, I LOVE that idea!!! If there's a way to incorporate a little
> of both fun and simplicity I'd vote for that. However, for me, the
> bottom line would be that it serves specifically the purpose
> detailed in your summary here. I'm really looking forward to being
> actively involved in this when you have it up and running.
> Chris
>
> --- In govtrack@yahoogroups.com <mailto:govtrack%40yahoogroups.com>,
> "tay199" <tay199@...> wrote:
> >
> > Hello,
> >
> > I'm working on a site that allows you to vote on active
> legislation.
> > When you vote, you will be able to send your vote to your
> > representatives. You'll also be able to keep a running tally of how
> > you voted vs. your representatives. There will also be some social
> > networking tools as well.
> >
> > I'm currently working on the design. I'm debating between "simple"
> vs.
> > "fun". Which do you like better?
> >
> > http://www.flickr.com/photos/69723062@N00/
> <http://www.flickr.com/photos/69723062@N00/>
> >
> > Thanks for your thoughts and inspiration.
> >
> > Taylor
> >
>
>

Yah, ditto. That sounds like a really great project. I'd vote for
simple, but engaging. Don't make it silly or goofy. Fun is OK, but these
are serious issues and should be treated seriously (especially if you
want members to take it seriously).

Chris Joyner wrote:
>
> Dude, I LOVE that idea!!! If there's a way to incorporate a little
> of both fun and simplicity I'd vote for that. However, for me, the
> bottom line would be that it serves specifically the purpose
> detailed in your summary here. I'm really looking forward to being
> actively involved in this when you have it up and running.
> Chris
>
> --- In govtrack@yahoogroups.com <mailto:govtrack%40yahoogroups.com>,
> "tay199" <tay199@...> wrote:
> >
> > Hello,
> >
> > I'm working on a site that allows you to vote on active
> legislation.
> > When you vote, you will be able to send your vote to your
> > representatives. You'll also be able to keep a running tally of how
> > you voted vs. your representatives. There will also be some social
> > networking tools as well.
> >
> > I'm currently working on the design. I'm debating between "simple"
> vs.
> > "fun". Which do you like better?
> >
> > http://www.flickr.com/photos/69723062@N00/
> <http://www.flickr.com/photos/69723062@N00/>
> >
> > Thanks for your thoughts and inspiration.
> >
> > Taylor
> >
>
>

Not officially launched yet, but I'd appreciate some people banging on
critterwatch.org and telling me what breaks.

It's a site to track how you state senators and congressmen vote. Right
now it only has information for Georgia, but I'm working on adding the
next state (namely, South Carolina) right now.

My long-term goal is to have info for all 50 states. We'll see how long that
takes.

Feedback appreciated.

Thanks
--B

As I announced recently, I'm currently working on a project at
www.critterwatch.org. The overall goal is to provide people with
up-to-date information on how their state represenatives and senators
are voting, as well as data on legislation. Long term goals include an
API to make this information available to other projects.

The near term goal, however, is to load all the data for all 50 states
into the database, and keep it updated. That's where you can come in:

If you're interested in helping this project by writing some scripts to
get the information for your state, please reply to me off-list. I
haven't worked everything out just yet, but essentially you'd be
screen-scraping your state legislature's website and putting the
information into a standard format, which would be loaded into the database.

The backend is written in Python, using the most excellent framework
Django (www.djangoproject.com).

Another way to help is to suggest new features. You can also be my BFF
if you submit ideas on how to make the interface look better.

As always, any feedback at all is appreciated.

Thanks
--B

Bryan L. Fordham wrote:
> As I announced recently, I'm currently working on a project at
> www.critterwatch.org. The overall goal is to provide people with
> up-to-date information on how their state represenatives and senators
> are voting, as well as data on legislation. Long term goals include an
> API to make this information available to other projects.

That's great!

You've gotten to a great start, and keep us posted.

(I hope to write more later on, but lately I've been a bit overloaded
with other things.)

--
- Josh Tauberer

http://razor.occams.info

"Yields falsehood when preceded by its quotation!  Yields
falsehood when preceded by its quotation!" Achilles to
Tortoise (in "G�del, Escher, Bach" by Douglas Hofstadter)

Hi All,

Could anyone point me to a list of elected officials
over time.  I expect that no single list has
everything I want, but the ideal list would have all
senators, representatives, presidents, etc. etc. with
their names, positions, and such going back in history
as far as possible.  Computer readable lists (xml, tab
delimited, csv, postgres or mysql dumps) are
preferable, but I can write the scripts to parse HTML,
PDF or whatever if I need to.

I am looking for the same data from all countries.

Thanks,

mark



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As some of you may or may not know, Follow the Money has an API
available to access their information.

Since I want to use some of this at critterwatch.org, I wrote a quick
python wrapper for the API: http://socialistsushi.com/followthemoney.py

If you find any bugs, let me know

Thanks
--B