Great Tools to Track Politics and Money

If you're writing about politics, public policy, legislation, regulation, industry, or social issues, there will come a time that you will want to follow the money, bills, and people. Here are some web resources that should make life a little easier:

• Follow the Money A resource for information on money in state politics. in a few clicks I was able to find how much money the currently Mass. governor received in campaign contributions. Note: if you're looking for a particular person, try the form last name, first name.


• OpenSecrets.org You may have run into this great site for national political contributions, but be sure to check the site index (under The Basics/About the Site). There's a lot here that you may not know exists, like the list of ambassadors and their political contributions.


• MAPLight.org This site shows connections between campaign donations and legislative votes, combining data on bills, legislative voting records, supporting and opposing interests for bills, and campaign contribution records.


• Fedspending.org A free database of government contracting and spending.


• GovTrack.us Search bills, votes, committee actions, and Congressional member profiles.


• LOUIS Search Congressional Reports, the Congressional Record, Congressional Hearings, the Federal Register, Presidential Documents, GAO Reports, and Congressional Bills & Resolutions.


• OpenCongress.org Shows bills, committees, and member profiles.


• Sunlight Foundation Has a great collection of online resources.


• FedStats Statistics from over 100 agencies.


• University of Michigan Library Documents Center A set of references for documents from local, state, federal, and foreign governments.