U S Congress information
Vote Smart (formerly Project Vote Smart)
http://www.VoteSmart.org
"On common ground at a unique research center high in the Montana Rockies, a struggling group of Americans, who you are unlikely to know and will probably never meet, have begun a battle. A battle to protect all of us from the selfish interests that strip us of the most crucial component in our struggle to self-govern--access to abundant, accurate, and relevant information.
"Here at Project Vote Smart, Americans young and old volunteer their time, take no money from special interest groups, and have committed themselves to an extraordinary effort that, if successful, will provide their fellow citizens with the tools for a reemergence of political power not known for half a century. Their idea is one you may have thought of yourself. It is a deceptively simple concept but enormously difficult to achieve and would not be possible without the collaboration of citizens willing to lay their partisan differences aside for this one crucial task.
"Picture this: thousands of citizens (conservative and liberal alike) working together, spending endless hours researching the backgrounds and records of thousands of political candidates and elected officials to discover their voting records, campaign contributions, public statements, biographical data (including their work history) and evaluations of them generated by over 100 competing special interest groups. Every election these volunteers test each candidate's willingness to provide citizens with their positions on the issues they will most likely face if elected through the Political Courage Test.
"This project is an historic undertaking. Citizens come together, not in selfish interest or to support one candidate over another, but to defend democracy. It is an extraordinary gathering of people committed to one purpose: to strengthen the most essential component of democracy--access to information--even as it suffers grave attacks from candidates and political parties, many who are now willing to manipulate information and deceive voters."
http://www.VoteSmart.org
"On common ground at a unique research center high in the Montana Rockies, a struggling group of Americans, who you are unlikely to know and will probably never meet, have begun a battle. A battle to protect all of us from the selfish interests that strip us of the most crucial component in our struggle to self-govern--access to abundant, accurate, and relevant information.
"Here at Project Vote Smart, Americans young and old volunteer their time, take no money from special interest groups, and have committed themselves to an extraordinary effort that, if successful, will provide their fellow citizens with the tools for a reemergence of political power not known for half a century. Their idea is one you may have thought of yourself. It is a deceptively simple concept but enormously difficult to achieve and would not be possible without the collaboration of citizens willing to lay their partisan differences aside for this one crucial task.
"Picture this: thousands of citizens (conservative and liberal alike) working together, spending endless hours researching the backgrounds and records of thousands of political candidates and elected officials to discover their voting records, campaign contributions, public statements, biographical data (including their work history) and evaluations of them generated by over 100 competing special interest groups. Every election these volunteers test each candidate's willingness to provide citizens with their positions on the issues they will most likely face if elected through the Political Courage Test.
"This project is an historic undertaking. Citizens come together, not in selfish interest or to support one candidate over another, but to defend democracy. It is an extraordinary gathering of people committed to one purpose: to strengthen the most essential component of democracy--access to information--even as it suffers grave attacks from candidates and political parties, many who are now willing to manipulate information and deceive voters."
Open Congress
http://www.OpenCongress.org
"OpenCongress makes it easy to follow legislation in Congress, from bill introduction to floor vote, as well as profiles for senators and representatives. You can use the site to learn more about issues you care about and connect with others who share similar views.
"Using the site is simple: enter a lawmaker’s name, issue topic or bill number to search OpenCongress. Get information on who represents you, find relevant legislation and learn how to take action. Check out House and Senate profile pages to see what bills lawmakers sponsor, voting records, campaign contributions and how to contact them. You can even review side-by-side comparisons on how members vote in the current Congress. OpenCongress also provides quick links for bills based on issue, popularity and status, and you can rate your support or opposition to any piece of legislation.
"Becoming a registered user of OpenCongress brings more functionality to site. You can track bills and issues within the site and connect with other users on OpenCongress Groups. Register or login here.
"OpenCongress was founded in 2007 by the Participatory Politics Foundation and operated as a joint project with the Sunlight Foundation until acquired by the Sunlight Foundation in 2013. Sunlight is now the sole operator of OpenCongress."
http://www.OpenCongress.org
"OpenCongress makes it easy to follow legislation in Congress, from bill introduction to floor vote, as well as profiles for senators and representatives. You can use the site to learn more about issues you care about and connect with others who share similar views.
"Using the site is simple: enter a lawmaker’s name, issue topic or bill number to search OpenCongress. Get information on who represents you, find relevant legislation and learn how to take action. Check out House and Senate profile pages to see what bills lawmakers sponsor, voting records, campaign contributions and how to contact them. You can even review side-by-side comparisons on how members vote in the current Congress. OpenCongress also provides quick links for bills based on issue, popularity and status, and you can rate your support or opposition to any piece of legislation.
"Becoming a registered user of OpenCongress brings more functionality to site. You can track bills and issues within the site and connect with other users on OpenCongress Groups. Register or login here.
"OpenCongress was founded in 2007 by the Participatory Politics Foundation and operated as a joint project with the Sunlight Foundation until acquired by the Sunlight Foundation in 2013. Sunlight is now the sole operator of OpenCongress."