No posts match your query. Show all posts
No posts match your query. Show all posts
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Whoa! Let's spread the word on our alerts!
Receive whole posts including alerts on your mobile
Whoa! Twitter Updates- more news
RSS feed for Twitter Updates
Receive my Twitter timeline without incurring SMS fees
Web action alerts
Subscribe via email
Search this page's databases and organizations
"Ready, set, contact your reps.!"
Whoa! Contact your reps.!
Contact your representative tips
- > Write legibly and use the proper form of address: ** Letters to Senators: your name, address & zip code; Honorable (full name), United States Senate, Washington, DC 20510; Dear Senator (last name): (body of letter) Sincerely yours, ** Letters to Representatives: your name, address & full zip code; Honorable (full name), House of Representatives, Washington, DC 20515; Dear (Mr. or Ms.) (last name): (body of letter) Sincerely yours,
- > Write a short letter- be brief, up to one page- try to limit letter to just one issue or bill; attach an editorial or other articles, but only one or two pages if possible
- > Give bill number when possible; explain with reasons why the bill's important to you, their constituent. Be appreciative; you might politely send them another letter after their vote
- > Be courteous, and respect his/her office staff- who read the letters- even if you didn't vote for him. Be constructive, but don't use technical jargon or acronyms; an easy to understand, original letter by a constituent is far more effective than a signed sample letter
- > Write neatly, or use their official website's contact form; thank them for their consideration, and leave your telephone number if you want to be available for questions. An additional phone call and a visit are helpful. You may request a reply in return
- > Be timely- don't send letter months in advance- they might forget; if they vote very soon, call their office or Capitol Switchboard; don't fax- they don't read them; snail mail is safest, but there's a 30-day delay in delivery in Washington DC
- > Call Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121 for convenience; number is not toll-free
- > Committee Caller- Call all members of any congressional committee at one time- http://is.gd/HhE
Visit us also at...
- > .docstoc | the U.S. Constitution with The Declaration of Independence
- > BlogCatalog | All Things Reform - catalog entry
- > Box.net | poetspirit : letters to the editor, press releases, etc
- > diigo | poetspirit - social bookmarking; public bookmarks
- > Facebook | All Things Reform - network community
- > Google Notebook | David Weller - notes
- > intense debate | David Weller - comments community
- > Netvibes Universe | All Things Reform - Web desktop
- > Open Congress | poetspirit - activist community
- > Squidoo | Reform Your Government - blog summary
- > Technorati | All Things Reform - blog searches
- > twimbler | poetspirit - Action alerts; has RSS feed
- > Twitter | poetspirit - All Things Reform updates, news headlines; has RSS feed
- > Understated Priorities- David Weller's political discussion blog
Whoa! Nice home page visits! Thank you!
All Things Reform Analytics
- > AboutUs - about website and other community created topics/ info
- > Alexa - traffic ranking
- > Compete - site analytics, search analytics
- > DomainTools - Whois records
- > GoLexa :: Multiple analytics resources
- > Google :: site cache
- > Google Analytics (password req'd)
- > Internet Archive WayBackMachine - archived pages
- > Trust Rank - link analysis
- > WMTIPS.com - comprehensive site info
Political Calendar- currently through Dec 31 2008; comment & collaborate!
(Old) Political Calendar
- > 2008 04 03 12-2:00pm ET Thu Ridenhour Prizes Washington DC
- > 2008 04 14-18 Mon-Fri Fair Elections Action Week
- > 2008 04 17 11am-12pm ET George Polk Awards for Journalism Manhattan NY USA
- > 2008 04 21 Mon Webware 100 Awards San Francisco CA USA
- > 2008 05 09-10 Fri-Sat National Freedom of Information conference Philadelphia
- > 2008 05 10-18 Sat-2Sun Armed Forces Week
- > 2008 05 12-13 Mon-Tue Data for Democracy Washington DC
- > 2008 05 12-16 Mon-Fri Whistleblower Week
- > 2008 05 17 Sat Armed Forces Day
- > 2008 05 20 Tue SIAA CODiE Awards San Francisco CA USA
- > 2008 05 20-23 Tue-Fri Computers, Freedom & Privacy New Haven CT USA
- > 2008 05 22 Thu Stockholm Challenge Awards: Public Administration Stockholm Sweden
- > 2008 05 26 Mon Memorial Day federal holiday
- > 2008 05 27-28 Tue-Wed NetSquared Conference (N2Y3) San Jose CA; Challenges & Awards
- > 2008 06 03-10 Tue-Tue Webby Awards New York City NY USA
- > 2008 06 05 Thu Democracy Day conference Minneapolis
- > 2008 06 12-14 Thu-Sat American Constitution Society Convention Washington DC
- > 2008 06 13-17 Fri-Tue League of Women Voters convention Portland OR; Awards
- > 2008 06 15-18 Sun-Wed Special Librarians Assoc. (SLA) Conference- Government Information Division Seattle WA USA (pdf schedule page)
- > 2008 06 16-18 Mon-Wed Supernova San Francisco CA USA
- > 2008 06 16-20 Mon-Fri Usability Professionals' Assoc. Intl. Conference Baltimore MD USA
- > 2008 06 23 Mon GAP Whistleblower Law Conference Washington DC
- > 2008 06 23-24 Mon-Tue Personal Democracy Forum New York City
- > 2008 06 26-28 Thu-Sat NASED Summer Conference Jackson Hole WY USA
- > 2008 06 26-29 Thu-Sun DIAC symposium/ Conference on Online Deliberation Univ. of Cal., Berkeley CA USA
- > 2008 07 04 Fri Independence Day federal holiday
- > 2008 07 08 5:30pm-7:30pm Tue Net Tuesday: Podcasting for Social Change Vancouver BC CAN
- > 2008 07 10-13 Thu-Sun Green Party National Convention Chicago IL USA
- > 2008 07 15 Tue FEC Federal Candidate 2nd Qtr 2008 Report due
- > 2008 07 17-21 Thu-Mon IACREOT Conference & Trade Show Phoenix AZ USA
- > 2008 07 25-28 Fri-Mon NASS 2008 Summer Conference Grand Rapids MI USA
- > 2008 08 04-05 Mon-Tue Independent Government Observers Task Force- IGOTF 01- Chicago IL USA
- > 2008 08 12-16 Tue-Sat The Election Center National Conference Dallas TX USA
- > 2008 08 25-28 Mon-Thu Democratic Party National Convention Denver CO USA
- > 2008 08 28-31 Thu-Sun APSA Awards (Publications) Boston
- > 2008 09 01 Mon Labor Day federal holiday
- > 2008 09 01-04 Mon-Thu Republican Party National Convention Minneapolis- Saint Paul MN USA
- > 2008 09 03-07 Wed-Sun Winnowbrook III Pre-conference & Conference; The future of public administration
- > 2008 09 07 Sun America Supports You Freedom Walk
- > 2008 09 08-10 Mon-Wed TechCrunch50 Awards (Awards Sep 10) San Francisco CA USA
- > 2008 09 17 Wed Constitution Day (or Citizenship Day) federal holiday
- > 2008 09 17 Wed OMB Watch Public Interest Awards Washington DC
- > 2008 09 20-21 Sat-Sun Blog World and New Media Expo Las Vegas
- > 2008 10 ? (2007 site) International Right to Know Day
- > 2008 10 01 Wed US Federal Budget FY 2009 begins
- > 2008 10 01-04 Wed-Sat Participatory Design Conference Bloomington, IN, USA; Artful Integrator's Award Oct 04
- > 2008 10 02-07 Thu-Tue National Coalition for Dialogue & Deliberation (NCDD) Biennial National Conference Austin TX USA; Core conference Oct 03-05
- > 2008 10 13-15 Mon-Wed MobileActive08 Johannesburg South Africa
- > 2008 10 15 Wed FEC Federal Candidate 3rd Qtr 2008 Report due
- > 2008 10 16-18 Thu-Sat Transformative Learning Centre (TLC) Learning Democracy by Doing Toronto ON CAN; Intl. conference for local democracy
- > 2008 10 20-22 Mon-Wed Internet Librarian Monterey CA
- > 2008 10 22-24 Wed-Fri Webby Connect, Dana Point CA USA
- > 2008 10 23 Thu FEC Federal Candidate Pre-General Election Report due
- > 2008 11 04 Tue Election Day
- > 2008 11 11 Tue Veterans Day federal holiday
- > 2008 12 ? (late 2008) American Democracy Conference Washington DC
- > 2008 12 (EContent magazine issue) EContent100 Awards
- > 2008 12 04 Thu FEC Federal Candidate Post-General Election Report due
- > 2008 12 7-10 Sun-Wed COGEL Conference Chicago IL USA; COGEL Award
- > 2009 01 ? Privacy Coalition Annual Meeting Washington DC? ??
- > 2009 01 ? The Crunchies 2008 (The Crunchies 2007 Fri Jan 28 2008 site)
- > 2009 01 08-11 Thu-Sun International CES Las Vegas; CNET.com Best of CES Awards
- > 2009 01 15-20 Thu-Tue IACREOT 2009 Mid-Winter Meeting Spokane WA USA
- > 2009 01 19 Mon Martin Luther King, Jr Day of Service
- > 2009 01 20 Tue Presidential Inauguration Day
- > 2009 02 06-09 Fri-Mon NASED 2009 Winter Conference Washington DC meeting with NASS
- > 2009 02 06-09 Fri-Mon NASS 2009 Winter Conference Washington DC meeting with NASED
- > 2009 02 16 Mon Presidents Day (Washington's Birthday) federal holiday
- > 2009 03 ? (in week of Mar 15- 21) National Freedom of Information Day
- > 2009 03 ? (Mar 4-5 2008 site) Politics Online Conference; Golden Dot Awards
- > 2009 03 13-17 Fri-Tue SXSW Interactive, Austin TX USA; SXSW Web Awards
- > 2009 03 15-21 Sun-Sat Sunshine Week
- > 2009 04 ? Tax Freedom Day
- > 2009 04 02-03 Thu-Fri The Next Web Conference Amsterdam The Netherlands; Award
- > 2009 04 15 Wed FEC Federal Candidate 1st Qtr 2009 Report due
- > 2009 04 19-25 Sun-Sat National Volunteer Week
- > 2009 04 22 Wed Earth Day
- > 2009 04 26-28 Sun-Tue Nonprofit Technology Conference San Francisco CA USA
- > 2009 05 ? (late May or early Jun) Freedom of Information (FOI) Summit Minneapolis MN USA
- > 2010 04 18-24 Sun-Sat National Volunteer Week
Whoa! You do have choices for President!
Voter Assistance
- > AARP :: Voters' guides for senior citizens
- > C-SPAN :: Live and archived candidate events
- > Can I vote? by National Assn of Secretaries of State
- > CREDO: Online voter registration form
- > Glassbooth- Quiz to help you choose best candidate
- > GoCollege :: The Student's Guide to Voting
- > Google: Elections '08 map gallery
- > Info Please :: Presidential Election Campaign 2008
- > League of Women Voters :: Voting Information
- > Overseas Vote Foundation
- > Project Vote-Smart - State and federal candidate info
- > Rock the Vote- Voter's guide for young people
- > US Election Assistance Commission :: Voter Information Center
- > Vote Democracy :: Voter's guides including ethnic groups
Whoa! Let's bring this down!
Whoa! Let's pay for this!
Join us now!
Citizen volunteer opportunities
-
"The very core of liberty secured by our Anglo-Saxon system of separated powers has been freedom from indefinite imprisonment at the will of the Execu...3 days ago
-
Sign the petition.1 week ago
-
Despite the fact that demand for oil has exceeded supply during approximately one-half of the past 38 years, the shortages have not been extreme – the larg...6 days ago
-
In an Ideas piece, Jeremy Lott holds his nose and makes the conservative case for four more years.2 hours ago
-
"Beautiful words cannot make our lives better. But a man who has always but his country and her people before self, before politics, can. Don't hope for a be...1 week ago
-
The Congressional Management Foundation has been doing the yeoman’s work on addressing the problem of constituent communications. Through their Communicati...2 days ago
Current Federal Government Activity
- > Book TV :: Political, history, other nonfiction
- > C-SPAN - Live and archived Washington events
- > C-SPAN :: Congressional Chronicles- videos of US House and US Senate floor proceedings
- > CapNews.Net- Federal govt. primary source videos
- > Cmte. on Oversight and Govt. Reform :: Hearings transcripts
- > Congresspedia - Citizens encyclopedia of Congress wiki
- > Federal News Service - Congressional transcripts online (some is subscripton required)
- > George Washington University Gelman Library: Government information links
- > Government Info Online: Ask a Librarian
- > GovTrack.us - Tracking US Congress members, bills
- > GPO :: Core documents of U.S. democracy
- > League of Women Voters :: Key votes, US House votes, US Senate votes
- > Legistorm :: The Score - Daily Congress schedules and reports
- > Lexis-Nexis- Congressional hearings, more info; ask your local library for access
- > Open Hearings- US Senate hearings- schedule, video including live proceedings
- > OpenCongress - Congress bills
- > PolFeeds - RSS feeds of federal govt. and candidates
- > Politics1 - Guide to politics and elections
- > Regulations: Learn and get involved
- > StateScape: State govt info; fee-based info avail
- > Syracuse University- Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC)- Staffing, spending, and enforcement activities of the federal government
- > THOMAS - Legislation in current Congress
- > University of Michigan Local Govts resources
- > US Constitution and Declaration of Independence
- > USA.gov - Official federal government site
- > USA.gov Mobile- For mobile phones
- > USGPO Access :: Congressional directory, more federal publications
- > Voter Watch- Congressional meetings and transcripts
- > Washington Post: US Congress Votes Database; track votes by representative
- > WashingtonWatch.com- Tracks the bills in Congress, along with estimates about their costs or savings, when available; offers users input
- > Yahoo! Capwiz :: Find your officials, bills, issues, media and more
Local, State and Federal Government Databases
- > Local Government Databases
- > State Money in Politics Databases
- > Other State Government Databases
- > Federal Money in Politics Databases
- > Federal Government Fiscal Databases: Contracts, Grants etc.
- > Federal Government Fiscal Databases: Earmarks
- > Federal Government Fiscal Databases: Other
- > Other Federal Government Databases
- > Other Government Databases: Personal Information
- > Online Government Library
Local Government Databases
State Money in Politics Databases
- > MAPLight.org- Money and Politics: Illuminating the Connections- California
- > National Institute on Money in State Politics- Follow the Money- Money in state politics including Legislative Committee Analysis Tool
- > The Center for Public Integrity- Hired Guns- Lobbyists in the states
- > The Center for Public Integrity- Our Private Legislatures- State officials' personal finance disclosures
Other State Government Databases
- > American Library Association (ALA) Government Documents Round Table (GODORT)- States' Agencies' Databases
- > CalTech/MIT Voting Technology Project- Secretaries of State election data; links for each state
- > The Library of Congress- State government information
- > University of Michigan- Statistical Resources on the Web
- > US Census Bureau- Governments' pdf documents including states'
Federal Money in Politics Databases
- > American University Campaign Finance- Downloadable databases
- > Center for Responsive Politics OpenSecrets- Money in federal politics guide
- > Congressional Quarterly MoneyLine- Money in federal politics (subscription)
- > MAPLight.org- Money and Politics: Illuminating the Connections- Congress
- > Political Base- Connecting the dots of money, media & politics
- > The Center for Public Integrity- Campaign Consultants: The Price of Democracy- Information up to 2006
- > US Federal Election Commission- Campaign finance reports and data
- > USA Today- Lobbyists with special access properties near the Capitol
- > WhiteHouseForSale.org- Presidential campaign fundraising bundling
Federal Government Fiscal Databases: Contracts, Grants etc.
- > Global Computer Enterprises Inc (GSE) Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act (FFATA) Portal- Contracts and grants search engine
- > OMB Watch- FedSpending.org- Contracts and grants
- > POGO.org- Federal Contractor Misconduct Database
- > The Center for Public Integrity- Windfalls of War II- Top 100 Private Contractors of Iraq and Afghanistan
- > US Small Business Administration (SBA)- Top 100 Small Business Government Contractors (pdf)
- > USAspending.gov- Spending data of the federal government
Federal Government Fiscal Databases: Earmarks
- > Citizens Against Government Waste- Earmarks in the Fiscal 2008 Labor, Health and Human Services and Education (Labor-HHS) Appropriations Act; (database is in Excel format)
- > Citizens Against Government Waste- Earmarks in the FY 2008 Department of Defense Appropriations Act; (database is in Excel format)
- > Sunlight Foundation & Taxpayers for Common Sense- EarmarkWatch.org- Earmark research by citizen volunteers
- > Taxpayers for Common Sense- Earmarks for fiscal year 2008
Federal Government Fiscal Databases: Other
- > Global Computer Enterprises Inc- Federal Procurement Data System (FPDS)
- > LegiStorm- Transparency in Congress, including salaries, travel, gifts, personal finances and more
- > McGill University- Preferential Trade Agreements (PTAs) database
- > Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)- OECD.Stat- Search from multiple databases
- > Sunlight Foundation- Fortune 535- Information on personal finances for each member of congress
- > The Center for Public Integrity- LobbyWatch- Companies & organizations, lobbying firms; info to 2006
- > TRAC Reports Inc.- TRAC Express- Federal funds distributed within the states, counties, and 90 federal judicial districts (fee-based)
- > Transparent Federal Budget- Nonprofit, community-driven databases (work is in progress)
- > US Census Bureau- Consolidated Federal Funds Report (CFFR)- Federal government agencies' expenditures or obligations
- > US Census Bureau- Federal Assistance Award Data System (FAADS)- All types of financial assistance awards made by federal agencies to all types of recipients
- > US Census Bureau- Government pdf documents including of the federal government
- > US Senate- Lobbying Disclosure Act (LDA) Reports
Other Federal Government Databases
- > Archive-It.org- Freedom of Information (FOIA)- Search sites that deal with FOIA requests and documents
- > C-Span.org- C-Span Congressional Chronicle- Index to the C-Span video recordings of the House and Senate floor proceedings
- > Center for Democracy & Technology- Open CRS Network- CRS Reports already in the public domain
- > Federal Interagency Databases Online
- > George Washington University- The National Security Archive- Declassified documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, and repository of government records
- > Google- Google Books- Search political science books including government publications
- > Governmentattic.org - Government materials unavailable elsewhere, including FOIA logs and documents
- > GovernmentDocs.org - Community reviews government documents
- > GPO Access- Search across multiple databases of the federal government
- > Lexis-Nexis- Congressional Records and Links to Related Information; ask your local library for access
- > LibraryThing: McNeese State University: books from the federal government
- > MetaVid Archive- Search free and open archive of the audio/video congressional record; since 2006
- > National Technical Information Service (NTIS) & Public.Resource.Org- FedFlix- Public doman government films
- > Public.Resource.Org- bulk.resource.org- UNSUPPORTED, AS-IS copies of selected US government archives
- > RAND Corporation- Reports, book store and documents search
- > Scribd- Browse or search federal documents
- > Sunlight Foundation- Library Of Unified Information Sources (LOUIS)- Indexed and cross-referenced depository of federal documents from the executive and legislative branches of government
- > Sunlight Foundation- Punch Clock Campaign- Congress members' daily schedules
- > Sunlight Foundation- Where Are They Now?- Former congress members' staffers who become lobbyists
- > The National Archives- Federal Web Harvests- Federal agency web harvests and archives
- > Thunder & Lightning News Service- Secret No More- Subject guide to thousands of FBI files
- > University of Michigan- Statistical Resources on the Web
- > US Census Bureau: Statistical Abstract of the United States, published since 1878, is the authoritative & comprehensive summary of statistics on the social, political, and economic organization of the US
- > US Census Bureau: Voting & Registration Data
- > washingtonpost.com- U.S. Congress Votes Database; since 1991
- > Yale University Library Government Documents & Information Center- Browse or search federal or international government resources
Other Government Databases: Personal Information
- > ACS Unclaimed Property Clearinghouse- MissingMoney.com- Free search for unclaimed property
- > Fastcase- The Public Library of Law- Free search for law information
- > Internal Revenue Service (IRS)- Economic Stimulus Payments Information Center
- > League of Women Voters- How to apply with the federal government for Freedom of Information files (pdf)
- > Meme Transmission Enterprises- Get Grandpa's FBI File- Apply for any FBI files on your relatives at website, then snail mail application
- > Meme Transmission Enterprises- Get My FBI File- Apply for any FBI and other agency info about you at website, then snail mail application
- > National Contact Center of the Federal Citizen Information Center
- > National Taxpayers Union- Tax Refund Finder- Free search for unclaimed income tax refunds
- > United States Judiciary- Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER)- Case and docket information from Federal Appellate, District and Bankruptcy Courts, and the U.S. Party/Case Index; (fee-based)
Online Government Library
WISDOM, by Thomas Merton
About Me
- David Weller
- Abilene, Texas, United States
- Although I've been known to sketch an occassional political poem, I write both sacred and secular; see www.poetspirit.org. I've been in third party politics since 1998. If you really appreciate our services, please see my profile's wishlist.
Blog Archive
Local, State and Federal Government Organizations
- > City Government Ethics Orgs.
- > State Government Ethics Orgs.
- > Federal Government Ethics Orgs.
- > Electoral Reform Orgs.
- > Campaign Finance Reform Orgs.
- > Government Fiscal Reform Orgs.
- > Government News Orgs.
- > www.PolicyArchive.org- All levels of government
City Government Ethics Orgs.
State Government Ethics Orgs.
-
A nice look at the emerging sunshine in state governments by the Baltimore Sun... Houston spent $33,000 on bullets this year, but "Space City" paid nearly ...18 hours ago
-
Throughout the 2008 presidential campaign, Hillary Clinton has studiously avoided discussing her five-and-a-half-year tenure as a director of Wal-Mart, the...3 months ago
-
News: Michigan Congressmen John Conyers, Vernon Ehlers to Address Nation's Chief State Election Officials at NASS 2008 Summer Conference (index.php?option=...4 months ago
-
The U.S. Department of Justice approved North Carolina's newly-enacted Same Day Registration (SDR) statute on August 16, 2007, paving the way for SDR's i...9 months ago