Super sweet Tumblr of the Sunlight Foundation
Datafest: Hacking Campaign Finance Data over a Weekend
This weekend I had the pleasure of helping to run Datafest, a two day campaign finance hackathon at Stanford. The event brought together around 60 journalists, technologists and students, many of whom had no prior experience in campaign finance or data driven journalism. The enthusiasm and dedication of the group—as well as the results—were truly heartening to see.
Is Congress getting dumber, or just more plainspoken?
Congress now speaks at almost a full grade level lower than it did just seven years ago, with the most conservative members of Congress speaking on average at the lowest grade level, according to a new Sunlight Foundation analysis of the Congressional Record using Capitol Words.
Of course, what some might interpret as a dumbing down of Congress, others will see as more effective communications. And lawmakers of both parties still speak over the heads of the average American, who reads at between at 8th and 9th grade level.
Today’s Congress collectively speaks at a 10.6 grade level, down from 11.5 in 2005.
Visualizing the TransparencyCamp Community
I attended TransparencyCamp 2012 earlier this month and, like every other year that I have attended, there were lots of people and good conversations. This year I was particularly amazed at the sheer number and diversity of those in attendance. This got me thinking about the people drawn to this event and the relationships between them. I wondered, “wouldn’t it be neat to see what this community looks like?” So I decided to gather some Twitter data and do a little social network analysis on the #tcamp12 community.
Momma’s boy: Santorum holds congressional record for ‘mother’
When it comes to their mothers, are the nation’s lawmakers getting forgetful?
With Mother’s Day coming up, Sunlight decided to use our Capitol Words tool to see who in Congress talks about mom the most. Our database, which searches the Congressional Record back to 1996, indicates that talk of “mother” and “mom” has been tailing off in more recent years. Several of Congress’ top mother- and mom-mentioners are no longer in the nation’s top debating society.
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Federal Budget Infographics: Interesting Subject, Disappointing Design
Two days ago the Congressional Budget Office released some new infographics about the Federal Budget in an attempt to show where revenues come from and where they are spent. Their undertaking, although valiant, falls a little flat. Sadly, many companies reach for the magical infographic but rarely are they implemented well, which many times just adds more confusion to the subject presented. Where these infographics go wrong is in their non-use of common graphics to represent the information more clearly and their lack of common design practices.
Filming OpenGov Champions Homicide Watch DC
Working on our short documentary series called OpenGov Champions I get to go and hang out with some extremely smart, creative and inspiring people. The Champions are ordinary citizens who do some extraordinary work to open up their local government data in big or small ways, not because someone asked them to, but because they are either fed up with not having access to information they need or simply because want their communities to flourish. To me, this is far more interesting as a storyteller and documentary filmmaker than interviewing seasoned politicians, spokespeople or experts. These are the kind of stories that are the fodder of classic storytelling and moviemaking. They are real life stories of the quintessential American heroes: Ones who defeat the odds by taking the matters into their own hands and create real change by strong will, passion and hard work.
Would You Be Better Off in a Different City?
Most of us tend to make one of the biggest decisions of our lives – where to live – on vague notions of which city has the most jobs or the best coffee shops or Chinese restaurants. But the cost of living and quality of life varies widely across the country, particularly depending on what you do and which expenses you carry, and chances are you may not be living where economic data suggests you’d be the most comfortable.
Now an app just unveiled this week can calculate all of this for you (we are not suggesting you peruse the Bureau of Labor Statistics on your own). Upwardly Mobile, a new tool from Sunlight Foundation, can take your career information and your spending priorities and figure out where it makes the most sense to be a library archivist with children in daycare and cars to gas up.
What am I looking at?
This map shows the breadth of vocabulary of each of the nation’s 435 voting Representatives. A darker green color indicates that a Rep has a larger vocabulary. There are 6 non-voting Representatives excluded from the map, though they are included in the rankings. The…
If the 2012 election will be about anything, it’ll be about outside money flooding the system. That’s why we have updated our popular tracker: Follow the Unlimited Money.
Using the data from that tool, we’ve created a continuously updated map. As it shows, early voting states in the GOP presidential contest — Iowa, South Carolina, Florida and Michigan — already seen an influx of cash. But, the map also shows the heavy impact of outside spending in states that are home to marquee House and Senate contests, such as last year’s heated special election in New York’s 26th Congressional District, and the this year’s competitive race for the seat being vacated by retiring Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas.
The presidential super PACs: five takeaways
The first round of SuperPAC annual filings came in yesterday, and we at Sunlight have been digging through them since. Our reporting team has been blogging the reports as we digest them.
Below are five takeaway points, based on a Sunlight Foundation analysis of FEC filings for nine super PACs that raised at least $500,000 in 2011 and have spent money in the presidential election.
Evolution of money in politics
Here is an interactive timeline of the events that shape money in politics. Click on the dots for more information.
