Citizens Are The Watchdogs

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Knowing that the mainstream media has become nothing more than a hired defender and surrogate for government and business, it is small wonder why fact-finding informational Web-based portals have evolved into the "new" knowledge base for involved citizens and political bloggers.

Citizen WatchDogs Excerpt:
"Modern-day technology will reinvent democracy," says Ellen Miller, Executive Director of the Sunlight Foundation, which capitalizes on the Web to shine light on the work of Congress. "It allows people to participate in huge numbers and in ways that will fundamentally challenge power structures, that will demand accountability from their elected officials."

The following group of weblinks provide a solid foundation to begin one's personal journey into the discourse of American politics. These are some my favorites.

Personal Democracy Forum Conference on Technology And Politics
Open Congress Media Mash-Up For The Real Story
Public Mark-Up Transparency In Writing Legislation
Maplight Connecting Political Contributions and Congressional Voting
Open Secrets More on connecting the Money
Gov Track Tracking Congressional Voting Records
Sunlight Foundation Catalyst for greater political transparency
Read The Bill Public Reading Access On Legislation
Open The Government Reduce Government Secrecy
On The Issues Quick Find - Easy to read
Federal Spending Know Where Money Is Wasted
Congresspedia Wiki For Congress

Wisconsin Only
Open Secrets Wisconsin Democracy Campaign
WMC Watch Eye On Chamber Of Commerce
Wheeler Report Compilation Of Daily Political News

"Watchdogs are most effective these days when they're not the only ones barking," says CRP executive director Sheila Krumholz. "Our goal is to get the data in as many hands as possible, to enlist others in making the connections between money's influence on policy."