FedSpending.org | Center for Effective Government

DATA Act Would be a Setback for Spending Transparency

Jun 21, 2011 by Craig Jennings

It has been a whirlwind 8 days since Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) introduced a bill to reform federal spending transparency. On June 13, Issa introduced the Digital Accountability and Transparency Act (DATA Act), held a hearing the next day, and will mark up the bill tomorrow in his Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

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U.S. Chamber Kicks off Barrage against Disclosure EO*

May 11, 2011 by Gary Therkildsen*

Signaling the first wave of attacks on President Obama's draft executive order (EO) requiring disclosure of political donations by potential federal contractors, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, utilizing their Astroturf group, Friends of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, sent out an absurdly deceptive email alert last week calling on supporters to resist the White House's latest transparency effort.

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OMB Watch Releases Fourth Quarter Recovery Act Data

Apr 15, 2010 by Sam Rosen-Amy

Over on Fedspending.org, our government spending database, we just updated our Recovery Act tab to include the fourth quarter 2009 recipient reports. Users can now search through reports from February through December 2009, and can sort, sift and download it to their hearts' content. And be sure to check out some of our pre-cooked searches, including congressional districts ranked by Recovery Act spending and a list of the top 100 prime recipients.

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Of Campaign Promises and No-Bid Contracts

Jan 28, 2010 by Gary Therkildsen*

With the recent passage of President Obama's first anniversary in office, journalists, bloggers, and commentators have been sizing up the administration's accomplishments and failures thus far. In that spirit, Fox News, in an article examining a contract recently awarded under the Obama administration, concluded that the president has failed to keep his campaign promise of ending no-bid "sweetheart deals" in government contracting. To say that this verdict – which manipulated OMB Watch data – is misleading and a bit premature is an understatement.

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We've Updated FedSpending.org

Oct 22, 2009 by Gary Therkildsen*

Our IT goblins have been slaving away in the basement of OMB Watch for months processing loads and loads of government data, and they finally have something to show for it! Our latest update to FedSpending.org includes federal spending on contracts through 2008 with partial data available for FY 2009, and federal assistance spending, such as grants, loans, insurance and direct government payments, up through the first two quarters of 2008. Take a gander and manipulate all the new data by state, year, federal agency, or type of contract or assistance.

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