Open source, procurement, and gov tech.
I’m amazed that they even bothered to fact-check Marshall’s claim that being gay “cuts your life by about 20 years,” since it’s obviously false. To their credit, they contacted the author of the study that constitutes Marshall’s evidence, who said that Marshall is guilty of a “gross misrepresentation” of his research, and that he is …
Continue reading “PolitiFact fact-checks Bob Marshall. (Hint: He does poorly.)”
From the U.S. House Committee on Appropriations comes their annual report on spending on the legislature, this one for the 2012–2013 fiscal year. It includes this gem of a section (on pages 17–18) on proposed spending to let people download copies of bills: During the hearings this year, the Committee heard testimony on the dissemination …
Continue reading “Congress declines to let people download copies of bills.”
Could the North Carolina legislature microwave a burrito so hot that they themselves could not eat it? →
With the Virginia State Board of Elections starting to provide bulk campaign finance data, a whole new world of data has opened up, and I intend to make the most of it. Although the esteemed Virginia Public Access Project has long provided this information (laboriously cleaned up and displayed in a user-friendly fashion), it’s useful …
Continue reading “Opening up Virginia campaign finance data with Saberva.”
Late this winter, our poultry was massacred by a single fox, leaving us with a lone—male—duck. My wife and I were too busy with our newborn son, her mother’s aneurysm, and my work for the White House to launch a proper defense and counter-assault on the fox. (Though I did start a few mornings by …
In the Daily Progress today, Graham Moomaw’s coverage of the Republican Senate candidates’ remarks to a tiny gathering of Charlottesville Republicans contains a few great nuggets. First, Del. Bob Marshall bragging that in twenty years as a legislator, he hasn’t learned anything: During his speech, Marshall portrayed himself as a savvy hard-liner who would hold …
Continue reading “Gay sex, civil rights, and star-spangled axes.”
Nine weeks after launching Virginia Decoded, I’ve got some great traffic data to see how people are getting to the site. My hypothesis has been borne out: it’s mostly people trying to figure out legal problems via Google. →
I can now say for sure which delegates were actually present at yesterday morning’s vote on Tracy Thorne-Begland’s nomination, and just pretending that they weren’t there. Anna Scholl was kind enough to send me the House of Delegates’ vote tallies for judicial nominations on Monday night / Tuesday morning, towards the goal of identifying who …
Further to the 26 delegates who didn’t vote and the 10 delegates who abstained from voting for Tracy Thorne-Begland’s judicial nomination, I want to highlight Del. Jennifer McClellan’s comments explaining the distinction: For the record, 4 delegates were not present at all on Monday due to “pressing personal business” (which is how excused absences are …
Continue reading “Who can account for the missing nineteen legislators?”
Monday night, my wife and I stayed up late to watch live video of the House debate the nomination of Tracy Thorne-Begland to a judgeship. My wife and Tracy went through the Sorensen Political Leaders Program together. We know Tracy, and we know him to be a stellar human being. Watching his nomination fall in …