Legistorm: Transparency's Sidekick

Excellent work! But please please please consider exposing an API against your data. You can cache most of it pretty heavily so load is nothing to worry about. Seriously, please consider this. This would be a revolutionary watershed step.

WAY TO GO. IT'S HIGH TIME THIS GOT STARTED. WE NEED TO STORM WASHINGTON AND TAR AND FEATHER THESE A---H---'S AND RUN 'EM OUT OF TOWN. HOWEVER, WE AMERICANS HAVE ONLY OURSELVES TO BLAME.....A SOCIETY GETS THE GOVERNMENT IT DESERVES....AND WE HAVE HAD OUR HEADS IN THE SAND FOR EONS.....TOO BUSY SATISFYING OUR INSATIABLE GREED TO DO THE COUNTRY ANY GOOD. WE HAVE LOST OUR WAY....GOD NO LONGER EXISTS IN OUR LIVES.....WHY SHOULD HE HELP US???? WE CERTAINLY HAVE ABANDONED HIM. AM SO GLAD TO BE A MINUTE PART OF THIS MOVEMENT. RIGHT ON.

Posted by Just Wondering at 04:14 PM EDT on Wednesday, April 09, 2008 Yes, you are misguided. The financial information being posted is scoured by the committee over a month long period. Once they do this and are satisfied, they make the information public. They make it public because it is the law. once it is public any person can go and ask for it. The fact that the committee failed to scrub their own records thoroughly enough is not the fault of Legistorm or the American public. This is a point of personal responsibility. So with that in mind, why are they wanting to use hard earned, easily taken tax dollars to start a lawsuit on a company that simply posted LEGALLY PUBLIC information that they(Capital Hill) were responsible to provide and scour?

I would like to see this information flow continue. The more we know about cash flow the better prepared we might be to ask hard questions. Whether it's spending public monies or using private finances to fund junkets we all have a right to know how our taxes are spent and the potential influences from private funds.

EXCELLENT!!! The more infomation available the better. We are in the dark ages on freedom of information distribution. LUVYA GUYS!!! I can see my taxes at waste!!! LOWER FEDERAL TAXES! Them will see their fonae fidi.

Government functionaries spend money like drunken sailors. What the sailor spends is his own money and what congress and their staffs spend is mine (in part) via taxes. I'm glad that the veil of secrecy has been lifted and light can now shine on the money issue.

I look at this hysteria on the staffer's part as a backfire, because now I exposure to a new, informative site that I never heard of until today! I cannot wait to see all of the data!

They work for US. WE pay them. That's all that needs to be said. Anyone opposed to that is obviously someone on the take who should be investigated themselves. Period. EXCELLENT! I will oppose a taxpayer funded lawsuit. Why should I have to PAY to sue you for giving me information I'm entitled to and WANT? Don't be a dumb lawyer and try to justify the suppression of information we're entitled to. It's MY MONEY.

I am all for transparency in government but I am frankly bothered by the amount of private financial information available about every little minion who works on capitol hill. I wonder if we are going a bit far. I am a lawyer and in California and if somebody requested this kind of information about one of my clients, I could argue to a judge that the California Constitution protects this information and that it should not be made public. Depending on the judge (not to mention the particular facts of your case), your chances of prevailing on such a motion are probably be pretty good. I can think of good arguments about why public interests (government accountability, graft and corruption) outweigh the individual privacy interest of Congressional staffers, but I am honestly torn about it. I certainly would not want my public financial information to be public and I really have nothing to hide. Am I just a misguided privacy freak?

The veils are falling and what is hiding behind the burkas on anonymity will surprise us all.

Financial disclosure is a major deterent in preventing fraud in government. All dispersion of taxpayer monies should be open and available to all taxpayers and voters. Those that believe otherwise have ssomething to hide ... what is it? That's the way a democracy works.

Great job. Keep it up. Something has to change in washington and change fast. These people have lost touch with reality and the people they "serve"

Very interesting site. Great job.

Is the salary data shown straight salary, or does it also include benefits (TSP/similar contributions, cost of insurance, other)? Also, fellow commenters, before you tar and feather our public servants, understand that these supposedly overpaid congressional staffers work like dogs for their (too often) egomaniacal bosses.

Great website! Americans everywhere support your efforts to root out corruption all over Washington. I won't be happy until these theives start providing some value or else give us back our hard earned money. Keep up the good work!

Transparency is a good thing. I'm so happy you're doing this.

This is just too sweet. Transparency leads to Accountability. KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK!

It is about time we start shining the light on these people that suck the public dry. We can start to question, "Are these highly paid individuals worth the money?" We can start to see who is paying for protection and uncover the rampant graft in Washington.

One should know, after researching and accepting a government job, that information is open to the public. I have a government job, and I am not worried about the public seeing my activities. Yes, my private info gets mixed into the government info, but I knew this going in. I don't think things are transparent enough. New hires should disclose prior business/personal relationships (to the hiring body) and this should be made public, also.

About time we have some 'daylight' on the corrupted system in DC. Just like Public companies, I want to know about the compensation and 'perks' the unelected staff receive that can influence their decisions - remember they are getting paid by the average taxpayer, and as such should have even more scrutiny, ethics, and even criminal statutes cover any malfeasance they engage in.

Great job! Keep on prying open these public records and getting them out into the sunshine. I do this on my town and county level (see: www.tewksburytwp.info) and it has identified waste, huge cash balances and helped to defeat a Deputy Mayor incumbent last year for selling off an easement on his house at twice what every else got in the same program. To quote Justice Brandeis : Sunlight is the best of disinfectants.

LimaBN fails to realize that all of this information is publicly available to anyone that really wants to see it. All this site does is make it easier to find it. If you don't want your salary information made public don't work for the PUBLIC. Get a job in the private sector.

Nice, I am from in Russia and would like to talk to get financials data from you. We can pay you from profits we make from these data. Are you interested?

Thank you so very much, Mr. Friedly, for giving such easy access to so much personal information about so many people working on Capitol Hill. Can we assume you will also be providing the same kinds and amounts of information about yourself, your family, peers, and associates? Or should we just use a little common sense and assume that this information should not be made quite so available? interaction?

Good job my friends---Nice web-site