With a Press of a Button, There’s Less Transparency
The website that was meant to disclose how the federal government spent its money got a makeover by the Obama administration. Website building and transparency. What could go wrong? Plenty, according to the Washington Free Beacon. Its reporter Elizabeth Harrington reports, “Usaspending.gov, a website mandated by law to provide detailed information on every federal contract over $3,000, received a makeover on Tuesday. Users can no longer search federal spending by keywords, sort contracts by date, or easily find detailed information on awards, which are delivered in bulk. Information, such as how much the Pentagon spends on Viagra, used to be available at the click of a button. Locating those same contracts on the new website is virtually impossible, akin to finding a needle in a haystack.” But because the website was first created in 2006, it must be bad and all George W. Bush’s fault. Barack Obama will tell us what is the new and improved definition of transparency and website design. More…
