Sam Adams Alliance Launches New Gov’t Transparency Site
17 July, 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 17, 2008
New Website Offers Information on Government Transparency
Sunshine Review Website Helps Citizens and Journalists
CHICAGO, IL–Today, the Sam Adams Alliance launched a new website, SunshineReview.org, to over 600 conservative participants and bloggers at the Americans for Prosperity state summit in Austin, Texas. Sunshine Review analyzes government secrecy by evaluating whether if government websites effectively disclose information to the public and media.
“Sunshine Review is a goldmine as it removes the information iron curtain between government and the public,” said John Tsarpalas, president of the Sam Adams Alliance. “Whether you’re a concerned citizen or a journalist on a deadline, Sunshine Review lets you know if government agencies want to share information with you.”
Sunshine Review determines government’s commitment to transparency by identifying if the following items are published online:
• Yearly budgets;
• Open meeting schedules and minutes;
• Contact information for elected and administrative officials;
• Audit reports;
• Bids and contracts for purchases over $10,000; and
• Taxpayer-funded lobbying information.
“By creating a new web 2.0 tool for citizens, we are bringing information online that otherwise would have been kept in dusty government storage rooms,” said Tsarpalas.
The Sunshine Review website is part of the Sam Adams Alliance’s “No Taxation Without Information” campaign to promote greater transparency at the state and local level. Currently, http://sunshinereview.org/index.php/Main_Page has 85,550 page views and over 95 contributors.
About Sunshine Review
Sunshine Review is a wiki website designed to call attention to the information gap between citizens and their government, promote the importance of government transparency and openness, and compile existing government information in one easy-to-access resource. Sunshine Review is a project of the Sam Adams Alliance, a new media non-profit based in Chicago.
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Liberal Minnesota Media Source Promotes Sunshine Review
17 July, 2008
I am sorry that it has been so long since my last post. Do not fear I am back and ready to fight once again for liberty.
A friend of mine forwarded me this recent post from the Minnesota Independent promoting the Sam Adams Alliance’s Sunshine Review Wiki.
The Minnesota Independent is a liberal on-line media source and it was quite shocking to see it highlight and promote Sunshine Review.
I visit Sunshine Review frequently to get updates on open government transparency issues from every state in the nation.
I hope you will click here to read the original post in the Minnesota Independent or click here to visit the Sunshine Review wiki.
Keep up the good work Sam Adams Alliance!!
AZ Government Employee fired for Misuse of Resources
18 June, 2008
This should be a lesson to every government employee that wants to use government resources for partisan politics.
Cross posted from Sonoran Alliance
Maricopa County Spokesman, Al Macias, has lost his job after being discovered of using his work computer to conduct personal business. According to the Arizona Republic, Macias, “violated ethics policies by ‘disclosing potentially negative information’ about Brock to his District 1 political opponent, Ed Hermes.”
Macias was also discovered of using his County computer to surf the internet, shop for personal items and for sending emails to local television stations containing, ”potentially negative information about Sheriff Joe Arpaio.”
Macias responded to his termination with the following letter which addresses the charges against him.
Al Macias was on the County payroll at $90,000/year.
Lesson learned - Do not use taxpayer funded resources for partisan purposes!
I See Dead People …. In the Voting Booth
10 June, 2008
This is amazing. 
I ran across this editorial from The Florida Times-Union while surfing the net today. Thank goodness there is at least one old media outlet crying out for election integrity and urging elected officials to ensure free and fair elections … or at least not allowing corpses to vote.
Here is the editorial from their website.
The Florida Times-Union
June 10, 2008
Elections: Keep them honest
By
The Times-Union
Voter fraud, like the Energizer bunny, just keeps going and going and going and …
A recent study found 9,000 dead people were registered to vote in Connecticut, Fox News reports.
Ok. I know government is inefficient but lets get them to hire the credit card companies that call me when I miss a payment. At least they know where I am and if I am alive!
Innocent mistakes?
In some cases, but not in all. One person had voted 17 times since his death.
17 times!!!! This is either election fraud or very stupid election judges at the polling
location.
There is pretty strong evidence that voter fraud has altered the course of history.
Chicago Mayor Richard Daley may have stolen the 1960 presidential election by arranging for votes in the names of dead people.
Something definitely was up in Texas. The Washington Post recalls:
“In Fannin County, which had 4,895 registered voters, 6,138 votes were cast, three-quarters of them for [John] Kennedy.
“In one precinct of Angelina County, 86 people voted and the final tally was 147 for Kennedy, 24 for [Richard] Nixon.”
At the time, a reporter investigated voter fraud in Chicago. The Post quotes him as having said:
“I remember a house. It was completely gutted. There was nobody there. But there were 56 votes for Kennedy in that house.”
This is not like voting for the All Star Team in Major League Baseball. It is one man .. one vote not one man… twenty votes!
Who knows what would have happened if Nixon had been elected president in 1960 instead of 1968?
Also, Lyndon Johnson was nominated to the U.S. Senate in 1948 by an 87-vote margin.
That earned him the nickname, “Landslide Lyndon.”
The election, in which some late votes were “found,” may also have been fraudulent, according to The New York Times.
Click Here to read the full story on the website.
Thousands of brave men and women gave their lives to ensure America has free elections. Let’s hope our election officials live up to their sacrifice. Sadly, some have not.
Welcome to Sunshine Review
12 May, 2008
Welcome to the official blog of the Sunshine Review wiki.
What kind of content will be covered here?
This blog will contain a collection of news about government transparency, openness and accountability at the state and local level.
Please keep an eye on our RSS feeds as well as our wiki for updates.
