As the economy continues to suffer, and as city and state budget deficits continue to grow, the whole system of government revenue can be called into question. With the system we have operating today, municipal governments act as an accelerator ...Read More
New York City has been in the news for keeping on the forefront of technology use in government. First, a few weeks ago, the city launched a wireless network for use by first responders. Large files including fingerprints, mug shots, ...Read More
Yesterday President Obama announced he would send legislation to Congress to restore the 'pay as you go' law, or PAYGO, which came into effect in 1990. The President summarized it by saying, "Congress can only spend a dollar if ...Read More
Much like the recent trend toward organic foods, it is becomming as hip to be transparent as it is to Twitter. In a poll conducted earlier this year by the Coalition for an Accountable Recovery, almost 80% of Americans believed ...Read More
Today's story in the Chicago Sun-Times tells of eight students who received full scholarships to Roosevelt University as part of an inaugural program. Officials started the program, which focuses on low-income families, so that students could focus on achieving high ...Read More
With almost 1000 violent crimes per 100,000 people, Memphis Tennessee reluctantly takes the title of 2nd most dangerous city in the US (following Detroit, MI, with 1200 crimes per 100,000). The City of Memphis and Police Department have taken award winning ...Read More
On Wednesday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi moved to make Representatives' expenses available online. This is a welcomed step in the direction of transparency. Government watchdog Sunlight Foundation called for the release of these electronic documents more than 1 year ago at publicmarkup.org. With ...Read More
First, consider this contest sponsored by the Sunlight Foundation, Apps for America 2: the data.gov challenge. There was an Apps for America 1, and Apps for Democracy in Washington DC, and the Knight News Challenge, and many other recent contests ...Read More
A study published late last year by the UT (Tennessee) Obesity Research Center linked active transportation (walking, biking, public transportation) to lower rates of obesity. While technology, TV, internet, and the increase in office jobs are often blamed for increasing ...Read More
Each Wednesday, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown answers questions from MPs in the Commons for 30 minutes. Today's questions, recorded here, covered topics including global warming and affordable housing. The Prime Minister's Questions is a lively event where members of Parliament ...Read More