Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Watch the dollars with ShovelWatch. Here is another non-government site about the economic bailout/recovery. This one is put together by investigative journalists. They are citing the stories they have done on the largest domestic spending bill in U.S. history and highlighting the best reporting from around the Web on the stimulus. ShovelWatch.org ShovelWatch is a joint project of the non-profit investigative outfit ProPublica, the morning news program The Takeaway and WNYC, New York’s flagship public radio station. With investigative reporting, interactive features, and (not least) help from you, we’ll be tracking the stimulus bill dollars as they travel from Congress to your neighborhood. With your help, we’ll make sure that one of the biggest, fastest appropriations ever has a big, fast army to track whether it is well spent. [Free Government Information (FGI) blogs] 2:56:04 PM     OMB Watch has RSS feeds. OMB Watch "exists to increase government transparency and accountability; to ensure sound, equitable regulatory and budgetary processes and policies; and to protect and promote active citizen participation in our democracy." They have been around form more than 25 years and are an excellent source for information about government openness and transparency and information policy. Their redesigned web site has a page listing their RSS feeds including one on Government Openness. They also have a blog, The Fine Print. [Free Government Information (FGI) blogs] 2:54:52 PM     Compare Stimulous Bills Side-by-Side. GovTrack has set up a page where you can find comparisons of the text of H.R. 1, the stimulus bill, at different stages in its legislative life --- including the House version (as passed) and the current Senate version (amendment 570). Thanks Josh Tauberer! Text of H.R. 1: American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 See also The main page on GovTrack for HR 1: American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. [Free Government Information (FGI) blogs] 2:53:59 PM     Retrovo's Exchange Puts Your Unused Converter Coupons to Good Use [Coupons] . If you have an extra converter box coupon, or you're on the very long waiting list for one, search engine Retrovo has a "Good Neighbor Coupon Exchange" that can hook you up. Since the government program's "coupons" (actually magnetic cards) are only good for 90 days, Retrovo matches up those with spare coupons that haven't reached their 90-day expiration date with anyone looking to get one in the closest ZIP code, so the card can be picked up or mailed quickly, if need be. The needers, as you might imagine, outweight the providers at this point, but due to the ZIP code matching, it couldn't hurt to seek one out on Retrovo's site. The link also provides a handy PDF "DTV Survivial Guide" to hand out to your neighbors or relatives with unanswered questions. Good Neighbor Coupon Exchange Program [Retrovo] [Lifehacker] 1:23:04 PM

© Copyright 2009 Jocelyn Shaw. Last update: 3/2/2009; 11:02:01 AM. Photo curtesy of Marjorie O'Brien