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Many projects I do in my spare time are purely for the exercise and learning experience. I have been developing a tool I am calling social budgets.
I am very political, but I get frustrated when I don't fully understand what is going on at a state and federal level. I like to have a deep understanding before I take action or even open my mouth.
So I wanted to understand where the State of Oregon is spending their money and create a way I can voice my opinion on
my priorities.
So I created an
Oregon Social Budget site. The next day I saw California released their budget, so I wanted to evaluate their budget and created a
California Social Budget site.
What did I learn?
- I learned about the ways that Oregon and California track their budget.
- How they spend and prioritize these budgets.
- I learned that even though governments are using the word "transparency", they don't actually make it any easier to get at the data.
- I learned about new agencies and commissions that operate at the state level.
It has been fun so far. I am pushing my knowledge of government operations and building a cool little social tool.
I want to keep working on the tool and evolve it, so I am looking into other potential uses.
- Federal Budget Priorities
- Congressional and Senator Contribution Tool
Any other ideas? We'll see how much time I have.
