Showing posts with label All Things Reform. Show all posts
Showing posts with label All Things Reform. Show all posts

Saturday, June 13, 2009

Changes are being made at All Things Reform- check out the new Political Activist Calendar site now!

Image representing Google Calendar as depicted...Image via CrunchBase

Things are changing here at All Things Reform. Due to the sheer number of events and awards taking place throughout the year, we will devote most of our energies to just the Political Activist Calendar. It's new address is http://politicalactivistcalendar.blogspot.com.

The Calendar is specifically suited for the average political activist and non-profit. There is a timeliness value of having a Google Calendar constantly updated online; there you will find events and awards for both your political and technology interests. Most entries are national (USA) and international in scope.

Thank you for sharing for the past three years all of the news reports from the world of government reform here at ATR. All Things Reform will remain open for its large residual value in our lists of databases and organizations in the lefhand sidebar. Remember, you can still search the blog post archives, and the Custom Google Search for reform organizations in the sidebar; the comprehensive list of blog post labels (tags) will also stay.

Again, the All Things Reform Political Activist Calendar will be constantly updated; we plan to add information to it over time as the only post on its site. Google Friends and Comments features are already in place in its sidebar to communicate and collaborate with other event goers. Now, join your family, friends and colleagues at the Political Activist Calendar!


>All Things Reform Mobile: allthingsreform.mofuse.mobi >Capitol Switchboard: 202-224-3121 (not toll-free) >US House/Senate Mobile: bit.ly/members >Contact your reps tips: bit.ly/dear >Shortened All Things Reform URL: bit.ly/dw

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Sunday, March 08, 2009

All Things Reform: Government Reform Orgs.' Web Site Features


Government reform orgs. deliver news on major events within their areas of expertise.
From:
All Things Reform

Check out web site features of many government reform organizations


Announcing the completed "Government Reform Orgs.: Web Site Features" module in the lefthand sidebar of All Things Reform. It contains 18 details of 37 sites-- everything from home page URL to Donations page URL. If you ever have difficulty finding something critical about an organization, perhaps you will now find it in a full-screen view of the widget:


If you find using it helpful, please contact me at poetspirit@gmail.com for corrections and updates. Thank you


>All Things Reform Mobile: allthingsreform.mofuse.mobi >Capitol Switchboard: 202-224-3121 (not toll-free) >US House/Senate Mobile: bit.ly/members >Contact your reps tips: bit.ly/dear >Shortened All Things Reform URL: bit.ly/dw

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Wednesday, February 25, 2009

New links module in lefthand sidebar

Government reform orgs. deliver news on major events within their areas of expertise.
From: All Things Reform

Campaigns by Government Reform Orgs.

We are pleased to add a new module to this blog's lefthand sidebar- Campaigns by Government Reform Organizations. It is a list of links to special, ongoing projects from a variety of groups that accept volunteering by the general public; they are often given their own dedicated web site and web server address.

These online campaigns are deemed of sufficient importance that they are treated as stand-alone projects within their respective orgs. Volunteering is continuously requested as the public interest groups manage these projects to their desired conclusions- you may get involved at any time and have an appreciated role in any of the campaigns' tasks.


>All Things Reform Mobile: allthingsreform.mofuse.mobi >Capitol Switchboard: 202-224-3121 (not toll-free) >US House/Senate Mobile: bit.ly/members >Contact your reps tips: bit.ly/dear >Shortened All Things Reform URL: bit.ly/dw


Saturday, December 06, 2008

Add your name to our Followers widget!


Announcing a great new resource for readers of All Things Reform. You can now identify your following of government reform with our "Following" widget. It is always at the top of this blog's sidebar.

Now, share your interest and activism in all things government reform with others- add your name to the Followers widget today! Thanks.


>All Things Reform Mobile: allthingsreform.mofuse.mobi >Capitol Switchboard: 202-224-3121 (not toll-free) >US House/Senate Mobile: bit.ly/members >Contact your reps tips: bit.ly/dear >Shortened All Things Reform URL: bit.ly/dw


Friday, November 14, 2008

Defining 'reform' for today's government


The term 'reform' has been as of a very large and open tent in the current language of politics. All Things Reform is an aggregation of most government reform groups in the USA. We follow their action alerts, newsletters, databases and blog posts; our political calendar covers their events and awards presented throughout the year.

To encapsulate the definition of 'reform' in the political sense, we follow a technique of our teachers and professors by breaking up 'reform' into a defining term for each of the word's letters:

Ready
Ethically
For
Orderly
Reconstruction
Matters

'Reform' has been used to define political movements, techniques, attitudes and parties for hundreds of years. All Things Reform refers to today's movement of government reform issues as represented by electoral, campaign finance, ethical and fiscal watchdogs and public interest groups. May 'reform' carry on its activist, powerful message of 'ready ethically for orderly reconstruction matters' for a better government, from the local to the federal level.


>All Things Reform Mobile: allthingsreform.mofuse.mobi >Capitol Switchboard: 202-224-3121 (not toll-free) >US House/Senate Mobile: bit.ly/members >Contact your reps tips: bit.ly/dear >Shortened All Things Reform URL: bit.ly/dw


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Tuesday, October 28, 2008

All Things Reform now features top government reform news on top of our lefthand column


In an endeavor to stay abreast of expanding government reform news, All Things Reform has added top stories in the lefthand column. These news feeds cover all four areas of government reform: electoral reform, campaign finances, government ethics and government finances.

Now, every time you visit any page of All Things Reform blog, you have instant viewing of both our Twitter feed- which includes our Action Alerts- and top news in government reform.

We will continue to blog news and commentary articles as reform developments occur.

David Weller


>All Things Reform Mobile: allthingsreform.mofuse.mobi >Capitol Switchboard: 202-224-3121 (not toll-free) >US House/Senate Mobile: bit.ly/members >Contact your reps tips: bit.ly/dear >Shortened All Things Reform URL: bit.ly/dw


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Monday, October 27, 2008

Action Alerts will now be posted exclusively on All Things Reform's Twitter feed, located on this blog's sidebar and at our Twitter account page


Image representing Twitter as depicted in Crun...Image via CrunchBaseFrom now on, All Things Reform will give most Action Alerts only on its Twitter feed, which is continuously updated near the top of this blog's lefthand column. You are, of course, welcome to follow my Twitter posts directly, at http://twitter.com/poetspirit; and, it has its own RSS feed- the URL is located at the bottom of the Twitter page.

Each tweet will include a link to the actual campaign's web page and a description of the call for action; the campaigns will more fully describe why there is an action alert, and they will give the quick, easy steps you may take to make a difference.

Thank you for your continued active interest in government reform; All Things Reform will continue to post regularly, right here, on political reform news and commentary.

David Weller


>All Things Reform Mobile: allthingsreform.mofuse.mobi >Capitol Switchboard: 202-224-3121 (not toll-free) >US House/Senate Mobile: bit.ly/members >Contact your reps tips: bit.ly/dear >Shortened All Things Reform URL: bit.ly/dw


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Tuesday, October 07, 2008

All Things Reform is a comprehensive resource for voters in 2008


Second round of the French presidential electi...A ballot box.
Image via Wikipedia

Election season is upon us, as we have less than one month to go before the November 4th general elections. All across America, eligible voters will be able to cast a vote for public offices, from local to state to national.

The web has seen many election 2008 related web sites for helping the voter decide and vote for their favorite candidates. All Things Reform has aggregated many of these and placed them in the lefthand column of this blog. Almost all sources are free to visit and use, so take advantage of what the internet has to offer this season, and vote on Nov. 4th, or perhaps earlier by absentee!

**** countdown Relatime fractal1 -- graphic widget counting down the days and hours until General Election Day, Nov. 4, 2008

**** Help is on the web for voters -- interactive widget with the most important information for registering, voting, volunteering and reporting problems with your voting

**** Project Vote Smart 2008 Presidential Candidates -- widget with links

**** ThirdPartyTicket -- Open debates widget for presidential debates that allow more than the Democratic and Republican candidates

**** Voter Research -- Long list of links to web sites

**** Voter Volunteer Opportunities -- Long list of links to web sites

**** State Money in Politics Databases -- List of links to web sites

**** Federal Money in Politics Databases -- List of links to web sites

**** Electoral Reform Orgs. -- Long list of feed links to blog and news articles

**** Campaign Finance Reform Orgs. -- List of feed links to blog and news articles

In addition, Common Cause notifies us that their coalition of electoral groups has a Voter Preparedness Card in the works, which will be available on the web soon!


>All Things Reform Mobile: allthingsreform.mofuse.mobi >Capitol Switchboard: 202-224-3121 (not toll-free) >US House/Senate Mobile: bit.ly/members >Contact your reps tips: bit.ly/dear >Shortened All Things Reform URL: bit.ly/dw


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Saturday, September 20, 2008

110th Congress government reform recap


A tag cloud with terms related to Web 2.Image via Wikipedia
Well, it was a busy 110th Congress, that is, the Capital from January, 2007 to September, 2008. As the internet grew and became more social, there was increasing collaboration among pubic interest groups within their respective reform fields. Web 2.0, with it's tools of interactivity and visitor participation also gained a hold on some government reform web sites. The most cutting-edge activist organizations now have a presence on YouTube, Twitter and Flickr.

All Things Reform posted on its blog news that had the most direct impact on citizen activists; the blog post numbers below, are from our label tags list. In the larger field of government reform, there were a few very busy public interest groups sending action alerts, including Public Citizen (23 posts), Common Cause (16 posts) and Public Campaign (11 posts). Several others served action alerts as an important part of their respective missions.

During this Congress, All Things Reform focused on all four tiers of political reform, e.g. ethics, campaign finance, fiscal discipline and electoral reform. Each type of reform had a few groups especially active in their own category. For ethics, there were public interest groups such as Citizens for Ethics and Responsibility in Washington (CREW) (14 posts) OpenTheGovernment.org (7 posts), US PIRG (6 posts) and Judicial Watch (4 posts). In campaign finance reform, activity was greatest with Public Campaign in an active field; the Campaign Legal Center (3 posts) fought strongly for reform in the courts. Fiscal discipline groups especially active in the 110th Congress included Citizens Against Government Waste (17 posts), National Taxpayers Union (11 posts), Taxpayers for Common Sense (6 posts) and OMB Watch (2 posts). And last but not least, of the many electoral reform groups listed on All Things Reform, especially active was FairVote (7 posts) and a host of smaller, more narrowly defined electoral groups, including Black Box Voting (3 posts).

Congratulations to everyone involved in political reform these last two years. A special thanks goes to the Sunlight Foundation for bringing together and supporting many government reform groups during this period of growth. On the federal level, we have much to be proud of in having a strong, positive effect on the culture that is Capitol Hill.

The next Congress assumes session in January, 2009 with a new set of Congress members working with a new President. You can rest assured, these reform activists and even more heavy hitters will return more organized and better in touch with the internet community than ever before!


>All Things Reform Mobile: allthingsreform.mofuse.mobi >Capitol Switchboard: 202-224-3121 (not toll-free) >US House/Senate Mobile: bit.ly/members >Contact your reps tips: bit.ly/dear >Shortened All Things Reform URL: bit.ly/dw


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Monday, July 21, 2008

Our Political Calendar has been upgraded

Please make note of All Things Reform's new adjunct web site for its Political Calendar. It's at:


A year's advance of all of the same political, government and technology events, conventions and special days are still here, but with several new features:

  • Google Map of actual event locations, often with links to hotels
  • Expanded event descriptions with additional links to event sites/ blogs
  • Leave event comments (it's a public calendar)
  • Share and collaborate entries with friends
  • Attachments capability

Visit our political calendar at its new home, and please let me know of any major events we may be missing by notifying David Weller at poetspirit@gmail.com. Thanks
.
---
> All Things Reform Mobile- allthingsreform.mofuse.mobi
> Capitol Switchboard- 202-224-3121 (not toll-free)
> US House/ US Senate Mobile- bit.ly/members
> Contact your representative tips- bit.ly/dear
---
.

Sunday, June 15, 2008

All Things Reform's lists of government databases are now easier to search

After a much too long delay, http://www.allthingsreform.org/ has edited and re-organized its government database lists on the left column of this blog.

You will find the use of it to be much easier-- I have expanded the description of each link, gave the database owners' names, re-titled and re-organized the database lists; there is now a database list summary.

We also now have a search box for just the databases; please use this search technique as just one tool in your research of, for instance, your US Representative's name and the name of a defense company; go to each respective database for more advanced and narrower searches.

Get information on your own representatives, then share it with your friends; then contact those reps.! There may be bills being legislated on a topic similar to your research-- go to www.OpenCongress.org for bill details.

Friday, June 13, 2008

New features now, on All Things Reform

All Things Reform has updated our lists of government reform organizations on the blog's left sidebar. New features include a feed of the latest news post from each org., a new list for "Government News Orgs." with a feed and short summary of their latest posts, and an arrow icon next to each org. name for easier reading through the lengthier lists.

We now also have a new list near the top of the sidebar, called "Let's spread the word on alerts"; it lists several social news websites you can share All Things Reform's latest posts with.

And remember, the left sidebar's "Political Calendar" is rotated about once a month, and is continuously updated; and the detailed list of keyword "labels" at the bottom of the page is always refreshed with each All Things Reform blog posting.

Get the latest electoral, fiscal and ethical government news and contact your own representatives on All Things Reform.

Tuesday, June 03, 2008

Updated and organized post labels now at All Things Reform

After an exhaustive and time-consuming effort of editing each post's labels on All Things Reform, we now have an organized and concise listing available for research purposes. You can browse the tags in the bottom of the left column of the blog, or search them using multiple keywords from the search box in the upper left corner.

We now have over a full year's worth of post tags to use in our research of government reform; for instance, you will see that, up until now, we have taken action on 107 alerts to our government officials! These keyword tags are short for the most part, so a search should include as many tags as possible in order to narrow your results.

All Things Reform has several features for research and convenience to the citizen activist, including tags (labels), databases, public interest groups, voting assistance, daily government information, action alerts, a political calendar and more. And, don't forget to visit our networking sites, such as Facebook, Netvibes and Blog Catalog.

Thursday, May 15, 2008

Mobile All Things Reform - get your action alerts and call your representatives away from your desk

Introducing mobile All Things Reform! Now, you can access our full blog posts, including action alerts, by SMS on your mobile. When you are away from your desk, just go to the mobile website URL:

http://allthingsreform.mofuse.mobi/

And, for your convenience, there is also a Click 2 Call link to the Capitol Switchboard for taking action on those alerts. When calling the Capitol Switchboard (202-224-3121, not toll-free), just ask for your US Representative or either of your US Senators and they will forward your call to their Washington DC office. Also, there is our poetspirit Twitter feed from the mobile All Things Reform homepage.

Now, receiving action alerts and calling your representatives just got easier!

Thursday, May 01, 2008

All Things Reform Netvibes Universe public page

I'm excited to share a new place to communicate and read the latest political news headlines: All Things Reform Netvibes Universe page. It is free and open to the public to use 24 hours a day/ 7 days a week. I've spent quite a bit of time adding/dropping modules, rearranging them, changing colors, module sizes, etc.; I consider our public page now out of "beta" stage.

The purpose of All Things Reform's Netvibes is to encourage free and easy ways to communicate online to share the government reform message, and to easily keep up with the latest news headlines from the best sources.

Communications features:
  • a "Wall" module to leave short messages on the page
  • Meebo.com Rooms chat with video player module
  • Meebo.com Instant Messaging module for several apps
  • David Weller's Facebook.com page module
  • David Weller (poetspirit) Twitter.com posts timeline
  • Webware.com internet technology news

Political news features:

  • Activist reminders
  • All Things Reform action alerts
  • GovTrack.us introduced legislation
  • OpenCongress.org bill information
  • washingtonpost.com news
  • POLITICO.com news

Of course, the internet is always evolving with the introduction of new technologies, so I reserve the need to update the page as required. However, it is now ready to use at your leisure to help you in your political reform activism. Enjoy!

Tuesday, April 08, 2008

Announcing the Congress Reform team lineup!

Well, today is the big day, when All Things Reform's Facebook has determined the current lineup for our Congressional Reform team.

We have two "starting" levels: the All-Stars, and the practice squad. Here are the lineups:

Congress Reform All-Stars
  • US Rep. Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi
  • US Sen. Russ Feingold
  • US Sen. Majority Whip Dick Durbin
  • US Rep. Jeff Flake
  • US Sen. Jim DeMint
  • US Rep. Dennis Kucinich
Congress Reform practice squad
  • US Sen. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell
  • US Sen. Ted Stevens
  • US Rep. Jack Murtha
  • US Sen. Larry Craig
  • US Rep. William Jefferson
  • US Sen. John Ensign
There you have it, the Congressional Reform team! Check out the pictures and the strengths/ weaknesses of these players at All Things Reform Facebook page right now!

Monday, March 24, 2008

New citizen's Political Calendar on All Things Reform

We have a new Political Calendar at the top of this blog in the left column. It is a reminder for the average citizen on what to look forward to in Washington DC over the next year or so. If you click on a link, you will be taken to more information about the particular special day(s).

It will of course be continuously updated and improved with political dates of use to the US citizen.

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

All Things Reform now on Facebook!

In our continuing quest to build an activist community for government reform, All Things Reform now has a page at popular social networking site Facebook. It's at All Things Reform Facebook. Please, visit and say hi. I hope your stay is entertaining and helpful.

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

A sample report from one of this blog's database lists

This is a campaign finance report of U.S. Representative Neugebauer; it is derived from free links in this blog's "Campaign Finance Databases" in the left column (CQ's Moneyline database is fee-based). It is just one thing you can do for your own representatives; you can also search their campaign finances, government finances, ethics violations and other news. Then, cull from your reports information that may be useful in your communications, and, ultimately, in your votes next election day.

U.S. Representative Randy Neugebauer (R-TX): campaign finance data links

Details at http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/summary.asp?CID=N00026043&cycle=2006
opensecrets.org
Candidates
Neugebauer 2005-2006 campaign finance totals

Details at http://www.politicalbase.com/people/randy-neugebauer/9822/money/
Political Base
People: Money
Neugebauer campaign finance totals and data

Details at http://query.nictusa.com/cgi-bin/can_detail/H4TX19102/
Federal Election Commission (FEC)
Candidates
Individual records of Neugebauer: Contributions Made by This Candidate's Committees, Committees Who Gave to This Candidate, Individuals Who Gave to This Candidate

Details at http://www.publicintegrity.org/consultants/list.aspx?act=canDetail&id=H4TX19102
The Center for Public Integrity
Consultants
Amount spent on campaign consultants, 2003-2004: $2,500,303

Friday, November 09, 2007

Contact your representatives personally, for added impact

Just a note on this experiment in citizen activism that is All Things Reform. I understand that, if you take action from any public interest group's website, you may be added to their email database. I have done this for years now, and I therefore often get action alerts and other information by email.

However, now that All Things Reform copies much of the alert information for its blog posts, you can avoid privacy issues by avoiding contact with the public interest groups. Just read the blog post, and if you want to take action, just contact your representative personally, by telephone, email, postage mail or personal visit. In addition to keeping personal privacy, this personal method may make a more powerful statement by communicating privately with your elected official.

I can't supply this blog without information from these hard-working public interest groups issuing these alerts. However, if you want to stay off of their databases, use All Things Reform and communicate directly with your representatives. Use the widget in this blog's left column to find your own representatives' contact addresses, or use Yahoo! Capwiz.