American Majority making gains in Dallas, TX

The Dallas Morning News covered Drew Ryun’s recent American Majority training in Dallas, Texas, where forty-five activists received training on how to become effective soldiers for the conservative movement. In the article, Drew noted we are in the midst of an “ideological revolution” where people have “awakened to the fact that something is wrong.”

Interested in training? Follow American Majority on Twitter, check out a podcast, or become a friend on Facebook.

The Sam Adams Alliance continues to be proud of serving as the sponsoring organization for American Majority.

A New Army of Messengers

With the passing of several conservative communications giants this year, many people are looking around to find new voices to articulate those thoughts in a persuasive way. To assist in this process, the Sam Adams Alliance will use some of our blog space to highlight commentary from movers-and-shakers from different areas of the free-market realm, including policy-makers, researchers, elected officials, government watchdogs, activists, and concerned citizens.

Hearing something you like from a new messenger? Email us at info@samadamsalliance.org.

Special Delivery from NTU!

Do you have a health care message for Congress? Let NTU deliver it for you!

Inspired by the activists they met at the 9/12 rally, the National Taxpayers Union has launched a new project to deliver the health care stories of Americans all across the country directly to Congress:

…we’re asking YOU to send us a short video with a message to your Members of Congress about why big government is not the solution to our health care woes. We will then burn each and every one of those videos to DVD and personally deliver them to your Members of Congress. For the most compelling messages, well even schedule meetings with Congressional staff to show the video and discuss the issue. We hope that this project will allow a citizens voice to be heard in a way that emails and faxes could never approximate.

Let your voice be heard!

Aiken opens up financial docs

Aiken, SC was recently received public praise for posting financial information, including its check register, online.

The Augusta Chronicle reports:

Last year, [State General Comptroller Mr. Richard] Eckstrom had state spending information posted online and then launched a campaign to persuade local governments to post their expenditures on the Internet.

Aiken is among eight cities to have pushed through such an initiative. Mr. Eckstrom said he hopes more cities will realize it can be done and will follow the examples set by these eight.

Some transparency advocates used the event to push transparency for state legislature roll-call votes.

Health Administration Bureau

I’m taking a small break from transparency today to post a new video from the Sam Adams Alliance. Go check out the Health Administration Bureau website as well.

Updates from the states

A couple of few interesting updates…

* Our friends at Americans for Tax Reform posted a strong admonishment to Arizona Governor Jan Brewer and state Senate President Bob Burns on the ATR blog this morning. Burns recently discharged Senator Thayer Verschoor (R-Gilbert) and Senate Majority Whip Pamela Gorman (R-Anthem) from their leadership positions after the senators voted against the Governor’s ill-advised legislation to increase AZ’s sales tax. Americans for Tax Reform set up an action page citizens can visit to speak out against the tax hike.

* Bob Weeks over at Voice for Liberty in Wichita points out that Sedgwick County, Kansas has placed its check register online. Inquiring minds can sort data by function, category, fund, or vendor.

**MORE UPDATES!!!**

* The Ocean State Policy Research Institute is tracking RI stimulus spending through their newest website, RIStimulus.org.

* Duval County celebrated its “A-” rating from SunshineReview.org, which was the highest grade given in the state of Florida, and the only county that had complete information about lobbyists on its Web site. Only one Florida county, Suwannee County, should be embarrassed by not having a web presence.

AZ transparency helps fight tax increase

The Goldwater Institute, uses information gleaned from transparency to help fight higher taxes. Who wants to give more money to a government agencies that have a history of waste and abuse?

Oklahoma’s stimulus transparency gets a hard look from OFRG

President Obama stated the federal stimulus money would be transparent, and used to put people back to work. While the latter goal is still up for debate, Peter Rudy from Oklahomans for Responsible Government went in search of how his state’s portion of the money was spent.

Mr. Rudy had some simple questions, but it wasn’t simple trying to find the right person to answer them. He contacted the governor’s office, who directed him to the treasurer, who directed him to the auditor and comptroller, who ultimately directed him to the 12 agency heads in charge of dispensing $114 million of taxpayer dollars. Did you get all of that?

These were Peter’s questions:
1. Is that money just sitting in the Treasury waiting for the next fiscal year (starts July 1st) so it can be used?
2. Has any of the money been spent already? If so, on what?
3. If it has been spent, is it the governor that determines that or the agency head?
4. Was the legislature involved in any way (again meaning for any spending in the current fiscal year)?

To read about answers to these titillating questions, go check out the Oklahomans for Responsible Government blog:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

Here’s a hint of how it went…

[T]his little exercise shows how far we have to go for true transparency. I can go online with my checking account and see every check that I’ve written and where my debit card has been used and for how much. Yet I can’t find out how $114-million is spent by state agencies without specifically inquiring with each agency. I hope that the transparency and accountability for Oklahoma stimulus dollars is an ongoing process and will become more transparent. Because taxpayers deserve to have clear information presented. They shouldn’t be forced to hunt for it.

Welcome, John Gargula

Please welcome John Gargula, the new Allied Support intern at Sam Adams Alliance. John will be helping me keep the blog up-to-date this summer (I know, I know, I need the help!) so please give him a warm welcome and lots of comment love.

SJ-R covers Open IL Week

The Springfield, IL State-Journal Register printed an op-ed from Paul Miller, the Sam Adams Alliance communications director, on Open IL Week. Open IL Week was actually last week, but any recognition of efforts to hold elected officials accountable on transparency is timely, especially at the end of the state legislative session.

In March, the government transparency Web site Sunshine Review completed transparency evaluations for all 3,140 counties in the country. Each county Web site was evaluated against a 10-point transparency checklist that consists of information Sunshine Review and its sponsor, the Sam Adams Alliance, believe should be easily accessible by the public: budgets, taxes, contracts and lobbying efforts are a few examples. Unfortunately, the level of transparency found in most Illinois counties confirmed what most citizens already know. Open and honest government in Illinois is the exception, not the rule.
…
This week is Open Illinois Week. A project of the Illinois Policy Institute and Sunshine Review, Open Illinois was created to empower everyday citizens to demand transparency from their county government and at the same time give people the tools to hold their county officials accountable.

Concerned citizens throughout Illinois are being urged to get involved in the political process and contact their county commissioner (board members, council, executives) and ask them to sign the Open Illinois transparency pledge and commit to meeting the criteria of the Sunshine Review transparency checklist.

After contacting your county official, report back to the public what he or she said and did. Sunshine Review is a wiki-based Web site, which means everyday citizens can create a log in and go to the Open Illinois Counties Project and make certain their elected officials are accountable to their constituents.

Check out the Open Illinois Week project on Sunshine Review and do your part to ensure our government is responsive and accountable to its citizens.

Next Page »