This page has been archived and commenting is disabled.
Politicians For Sale? There's An App For That
We have not been shy about exposing the dark shadowy under-belly of lobbyists funding politicians (as most recently noted with Cantor's catastrophe) but now, as Engadget reports, finding out which representatives are in the pocket without a lot of tedious research just got a lot easier. A 16-year-old programmer has developed a browser plugin - Greenhouse - that, when you mouse-over the name of a US lawmaker, will serve up a list of which parties have donated to their campaign funds, and the quantities. Better than flappy-birds?
Read more from Engadget here
Visit The Greenhouse app page here
And here is the 16-year-old programmer's credo:
It is my hope that providing increased transparency around the amount and source of funding of our elected representatives may play a small role in educating citizens and promoting change. If you use the extension when reading about a Congressional vote on energy policy, for example, maybe you’ll discover that a sponsor of a bill has received hundreds of thousands of dollars from the oil and gas industry. Or maybe you'll learn that the top donors to a member of Congress who opposes tort reform are lawyers and law firms. I use data from the last full election cycle (generally 2011-12 for Representatives and 2007-12 for Senators) and plan to update it as more relevant data becomes available. Special thanks to OpenSecrets.org for providing access to that data.
The motto of Greenhouse is: “Some are red. Some are blue. All are green.” What it signifies is that the influence of money on our government isn’t a partisan issue. Whether Democrat or Republican, we should all want a political system that is independent of the influence of big money and not dependent on endless cycles of fundraising from special interests. The United States of America was founded to serve individuals, not big interests or big industries. Yet every year we seem to move farther and farther away from our Founders' vision.
»
- 14612 reads
- Printer-friendly version
- Send to friend
- advertisements -
Well done young man..
Funny how the pelosi ends up on front page....
He must be a terrorist.
For example...
Of course political donations are bribery. It is self-delusion to think otherwise.
But, then again, self-delusion lies at the core of statism.
Healthcare "reform"?
Seems there is a market for everything! Problem?
For those who wonder whether Obama is a socialist, remember that the Nazi party in Germany was the National Socialist Party. He's just another damned Fascist!
Craig
Born to tech and in-formed. Young people like this will make the "machine" work for the greater good.
Millions like him, it could be revolutionary.
Get him a kickstarter page someone.
ori
a
You do realize young people like him
VOTED for the HNIC
I thought Diebold did most of the voting nowadays
And sticky this on that page..
http://www.crewsmostcorrupt.org/mostcorrupt
Make politicians wear the insignias of their sponsors:
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=584_1364062772
"The Chair now recognizes the senator from Goldman Sachs..."
Make them walk naked from the waist down, through the French Quarter, with a "For Rent" sign hanging above their ass to raise funds. Doubt Pelosi would be at the top of the list anymore.
Actor Gary Oldman (libertarian) calling Pelosi a f**king cunt and he hates political correctness.
http://www.thewrap.com/gary-oldman-playboy-mel-gibson-philip-seymour-hof...
The guy has balls. Americans are cowards.
Gary Oldman...one of my favorite actors of all time.
if you haven't seen this, do yourself a favour. . .
early Oldman, pre-Hollywood.
OK, you just made my day.
Only watched the first 4 min.
Got a really good guffaw!
heh, you'll be grinding yer teeth before it's over. . .
queue this one up next:
Meantime
Mike Leigh "director", a truly gifted auteur
Oldman's character isn't a main role, but very memorable - plus it sets up his ongoing friendship with Tim Roth (Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead)
it's one of my all-time faves. . . ahh, the memories.
is there an app which shows us which "terrorist" groups have received our money or training?
You could make a killing on that
i see what you did there
I think it would be a whole lot easier to develop an app to tell us
WHO isn't on the take
As far as I am concerned they are all on the take UNTIL they prove otherwise
Well done!! "Public Service" is intended to be just that. Not a career. As part of that service any Federal, state or local official , during tenure of office, should be prepared to have their daily meeting schedules and financial records on their website. If nothing else, living a life so public and so open would ensure a temprary tenure for most offices.
What is ingenious about this one is kids have been dumb down by a socialist educational system and many are now figuring out how they are being manipulated and controlled because of the transparency created by the internet. Any wonder why the scumbags want control of the internet. Good work son, develop an app for the original 13th amendment.
http://www.amendment-13.org/
There are a lot of the younger generation that know what is going on, but you only ever see the shithead good-for-nothings in official media. Propaganda that divides is good propaganda.
People don't give a shit who owns their politician, only how much graft they get at the trough.
It isn't like this informtaion isn't out there already.
pods
They may not give a shit because theres no app for it. but now thanks to this kid millions more ppl could potentially "enter into the light"
The more organized crime is exposed, the better.
wake me up when he gets to the corporations are people pac money.
DC chamber of commerce...
If people cannot get a clue with all the information out there now, everywhere, they don't want a clue.
It is as CD opines all the time. We are our own enemy. This app is cute and kudos for the kid to actually make it, but if they don't know it is because they don't want to know.
pods
Maybe we could brand a Zerohedge Jr. to start the little ones on the path to being smart assed enlightened beings.
Grande Tetons Jr. or Little Tetons, if you will, could post Fuck the Fed for the first time. Then, recesss bitchez!
be the first kid suspended from school for wearing zerohedge gear
"they don't want a clue"
I'm gonna disagree on that one for a simple reason. Not everyone plays chess. They cannot anticipate the implications beyond the immediate. e.g.
Two educated folks, one Dr. the other nurse. Nurse uses farcebook. When told of the latest farcebook revelation, eavesdroping, replied "I don't care". Both of them willingly submitted their DNA to 23M for genealogy purposes knowing full well how the insurance industry works. Hells bells, the Dr. (surgeon) was called to testify repeatedly as an expert witness on workmans comp fraud. Neither has a clue about how this can not only affect them, but how they've just unwittingly exposed every relative they have.
People can be incredibly intelligent yet incapable of pouring piss out of a boot with a hole in the toe & directions on the heel.
A hearty bravo to any 16 yr old that can identify the root of the problem or even cares. I know at 16 yrs of age I wasn't plugged in.
.
thanks for the visual, could use a laugh today. . .
there's a difference between ingesting whole what you are "taught" - which is really just a lot of memorisation of stuff that gets you a place in the System,
and learning to Think for yourSelf, which may not get you money & power, but has more worth as you navigate reality.
drones. they fly, and they crawl over the ground, filling up all the space(s).
you sound angry
is it the subject?
To be honest, idk Davey. I am half snarky, have asshole today I guess.
Political things tend to bring out the half asshole must be?
pods
Great work!
I like this kid. Maybe, there is hope after all.
The only hope I have is that he doesnt get a nailgun for his 17th birthday
The kid himself is addicted to hope.
He's in for a big disappointment someday.
Not too shabby, son. A lot more descriptive than just putting an (R) or (D) after their name.
Right. It shows that (R) and (D) don't mean SHIT and are exactly the same scum in the pond.
Giving pond scum a bad name. A vital habitat!
Educating citizens. LOL, Well, he's still young so you can understand his confusion.
Just installed!!! Great idea! I thought of something like this a while ago, but I'm glad some tech savy youngster has actually got off his ass and made it a reality :) Unlike keyboard warriors like myself. Well done lad!!! The people are grateful.
what if a group of likeminded regular citizens invested their money into lobbying for their inerests? lets say 10mil people 100$ each , and do it online . caould that be effective?
Let it go. These people aim to rule you. Period. There is no hope of convincing them to be nicer next time.
I refuse to cave in to having to "buy" my government. Cut their power by 95%, restrict them to what is in the constitution, and there is NO NEED for ANYONE to "buy" them, becuase they are suddenly not worth the money. It would be like paying off your postman...
i agree it just seems we dont have any other way to influence at all
No matter what, you will NEVER have any influence. Organized crime is organized the way it is for a reason.
No amount of facade polishing will ever change that.
i like it , watch out for nail guns kid
When I read about stuff like this it makes me hopeful that the internet brings us one step closer to making Washington obsolete.
Replaced by New York City, or Brussels?
He will be nail gunned. Wait for it.
There is no point in nail-gunning "Useful Idiots."
Somebody will make him their poster-child.
Hopefully, someday he will realize he's been used to keep the facade shiny.
But the Supremely blackmailed court says that corporations are people and are entitled to unlimited contributions to the political class so they can push their agenda over the serfs.
Please show me a corporation that lives, breathes, and has a beating heart, then that may be true. Otherwise they're an entity and not a person, who should have NO influence over the direction of the nation.
Until Texas Executes one, They're not real people....
/sarc
Now expand that App for EVERY state, county and local public taker.
As long as Imperialism 2.0 is functional(which is inclusive of dysfunctional)net tax payer interests aren't going to receive much representation.
But if significant political and economic reversals arise, well, it'll probably get worse.
is there a "cuntiness" rating we can apply?
hey kid, nice app !
i bet a lot people wouldnt see anything wrong with that list of Pelose's "donations" because they might find their occupation in there ,assuming that its their interests that are represented.
This kid is great, he's summed up the political class in 9 simple words.
“Some are red. Some are blue. All are green."
Wouldn't surprse me if he's now classed as the new favourite - a domestic terrorist.
I think the 16 yr old did a great job. Too bad he doesn't realize there's a nail gun with his name on it.
Yes, avoid shitgums and tall buildings...
well you know how safe these cars are nowadays they sometimes spontainiously combust not that its has happend or anything
But Obama promised a transparent gov't already...
That's what he's given you. You can see straight thru it(!)
"You can see straight thru it(!)"
Straight to Mordor.
Nice job kid!
Now where did my fast food app go?
sarc
"we should all want a political system that is independent of the influence of big money and not dependent on endless cycles of fundraising from special interests.""
We should all want a system that is independent of politicians promising to spend our money to buy our votes. Otherwise, we will wind up like Venezuela.
So how do we take the money out of politics, without winding up like Venezuela?
Guillotines.
Nancy 'we've got to pass it to see what's in it - Obamacare' Pelosi's top donor is Health Professionals. That must include insurance companies. And this is only what is searchable. Multiply it ??? times and that's the real figure.
I bet the IRS can't wait for him to file his taxes.
They also get a free ticket for a ride on a guillotine with every payoff.
Some kid built an app that just takes the sorted and classified data directly in the same format from OpenSecrets.org? BFD. This is is traffic bait and content filler by the ZH admins.
Hilarious, tragic and disturbing all at once.
Good job!!