The Daily Beast: How a Government Shutdown Screws Paul Ryan

 "Rep. Paul Ryan has put forward a gutsy budget proposal that deals with entitlement reform and promises to cut the deficit and debt by more than $6 trillion in the next decade.


Fiscal conservatives should be cheering.

But instead, some on the far right seem determined to bring about a government shutdown by the end of the week over a comparatively small sum. This all-or-nothing absolutism will provoke a popular backlash and overshadow the Ryan budget . . .


At issue is whether conservatives will accept a compromise $30 billion spending cut in the 2011 budget or insist on $60 billion in short-term cuts, along with policy provisions defunding Planned Parenthood, the Environmental Protection Agency, and National Public Radio that are popular with social conservatives but political kryptonite to independents and centrists."

Rigjtardia thinks this is an excellent analysis. The "My Way or the Highway" philosophy of Republicans is poisoning American politics.


Source:
How a Government Shutdown Screws Paul Ryan

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Sprinkle some sunshine on Veterans Affairs

Posted by Secretary Eric K. Shinseki on March 17, 2011 at 2:04 PM EDT

Ed. Note: This post is part of our Sunshine Week series on the blog. Sunshine Week is a national initiative to celebrate and focus on government transparency and open government.

The mission of the Department of Veterans Affairs – enshrined in our building – is “to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow and his orphan.”

For our men and women in uniform who have fought for our country – serving them is a privilege and responsibility we take very seriously.  At the VA, we are committed to continuing to meet and surpass our highest standards of care for each and every veteran, each and every day.

Open government helps us do this: the publication of key health-related data to increase transparency, the creation of technological tools helping veterans to participate, and the harnessing of new ideas for innovation and collaboration, all fuel our mission.

During Sunshine Week we are reflecting on our accomplishments – not so we can rest, but so we can take inspiration to build on our successes. We’re on a deliberate and thoughtful path to become an even more people-centric, results-driven, and forward-looking organization.

I invite you to visit http://www.va.gov/open/ to see for yourself.  Here is a sample of important steps we have taken:

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The White House Blog: The Freedom of Information Act Request

Posted by Melanie Ann Pustay on March 14, 2011 at 7:33 PM EDT

Ed. Note: This post originally appeared on The Justice Blog.

FOIA.gov is a site dedicated to the Freedom of Information Act, a law at the very heart of open government.

Congress passed the FOIA in 1966 and since then it has been known as the law that keeps citizens “in the know” about what their government is doing. Any citizen can make a FOIA request about any topic.

FOIA.gov makes it easier than ever to find information about the FOIA. With clear explanations and short videos, we’ve explored all the major aspects of the FOIA, including how you can make a request and what happens when you do.

We’ve also gathered information on where to send a FOIA request into one location. Just click on the name of a department and you’ll see where to send your request and the names of the officials responsible for making sure your request is completed.

If you want a quick glance at an agency’s data – we’ve got that too. Select any agency and you’ll see top-line data, like the number of requests for the most recent year and the number of total and partial grants made.

For more detailed information from an agency, you can generate your own report.

Each year, every federal agency is required to report to the Justice Department, which oversees FOIA compliance, basic information about how they complied with the law. This data is compiled into an annual report. This includes data like:

• How many requests were received?
• How many requests were processed?
• How old is an agency’s oldest request?
• How much did it cost to answer requests? 

FOIA.gov takes that data and lets you search, sort and compare the information. You can compare one agency to another. You can even compare the data from within the offices of a single agency.

Every year, we’ll add the numbers to the database, allowing users to see trends over time. Using the “FOIA Spotlight” we will spotlight some of the most interesting documents to be released under the law.  We’ve invited every agency to submit their suggestions for this section of the site.

The Freedom of Information Act is a key part of open government. FOIA.gov celebrates that, while providing a deeper look at how agencies are striving to improve their compliance with the law. We welcome your feedback on how we can improve the site in the future. If you have ideas, e-mail us at: feedback@foia.gov.

Melanie Ann Pustay is the Director of the Office of Information Policy (OIP) at the Department of Justice. OIP oversees agency compliance with FOIA directives and encourages all agencies to fully comply with both the letter and the spirit of the FOIA on behalf of the President and the Attorney General.

source: Introducing FOIA.gov


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Open Government Agenda Spills into States and Localities

THU, AUGUST 27, 6:47 PM EST

 

Posted by Robynn Sturm

 

From New York to California, the White House Open Government Initiative is pleased to see states and cities increasing transparency and civic engagement. On June 5^th, New York State announced Empire 2.0, modeled on the President’s Memorandum on Transparency and Open Government. 

 

Three weeks later, Mayor Bloomberg announced a series of transparency initiatives, including NYC Big Apps, a new annual prize for innovative applications based on city data.  Now, San Francisco, too, is taking bold steps towards greater openness.

 

Last week, San Francisco launched DataSF.org. Modeled on our very own Data.gov, DataSF.gov provides easy access to a clearinghouse of structured, raw and machine-readable government data.  

 

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom said he hopes the city’s coders and entrepreneurs will use the data to create new innovative services "never imagined within the walls of government":

 

"The idea behind the site is to open up San Francisco government and tap into the creative expertise of our greatest resource – our residents.  We hope DataSF.org will create a torrent of innovation similar to when the developer community was given access to the platforms behind popular technologies and devices like Facebook and Apple’s iPhone."

 

States and cities have always served as a laboratory for democracy. The examples mentioned here are but a handful of open government initiatives cropping up across the country.  

 

If your town, county, state, or region is launching a new open government initiative or perfecting a successful model, we want to hear about it. We look forward to hearing your comments over at the OSTP blog.

 

Robynn Sturm is United States Assistant Deputy Chief Technology Officer

 source: White House blog

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