Show Us the Data

All Requested Executive Branch Documents

431

Votes

Bailout Funds

After bailout money was distributed, what individual companies did with the funds is still largely unknown. In some cases, the companies turned around and asked for even more money. According to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, all of these funds and how they were spent must be made public. Where did they go?
335

Votes

Department of Justice Patriot Act Usage and Rationale from Judicial Branch

The Patriot Act and associated civil liberties violations remain on the most wanted list from the 2004 Ten Most Wanted. The facts have not changed; the public has a right to know the details of when special investigative power is extended under the Patriot Act. This is especially important in investigations not directly related to terrorism. Currently the Judicial Branch is not providing statistical reports on Patriot Act usage, and without such reports, the public has no method of knowing when the courts might be allowing law enforcement to overstep investigative boundaries.
78

Votes

Torture Memos

These memos: http://www.propublica.org/special/missing-memos
23

Votes

Daily schedules for the President and Cabinet Officials

President's have made their daily schedule available to reporters for years, but have never posted them online. Griffin Bell, Attorney General under President Carter, was the first cabinet secretary to make his schedule regularly available. Only a few others have followed his lead in over 30 years. To achieve transparency, we need to know what White House officials are doing.
19

Votes

Personal Financial Disclosures

Executive branch filings are collected by each agency and, in the case of Senate confirmed appointees, the US Office of Government Ethics. They are made available via fax or postal mail in response to an official request form. The PFD reports contain valuable information regarding potential conflicts of interest between the official duties and financial interests of our public servants. At the least, images of the reports should be freely available for download on the web and in fact should be filed electronically and made available as a searchable downloadable database.
18

Votes

Coalition Provisional Authority memos on Order 81

The CPA issued Order 81, or "Amendments to Patent, Industrial Design, Undisclosed Information, Integrated Circuits and Plant Variety Law," on April 26, 2004. The directive established a legal regime around the use of patented seeds in Iraq. Little is known about how it came to be issued.
15

Votes

Medicaid State Plans, Amendments and Waivers

Medicaid State plans amendments and waivers are the documents that each state have that describe their Medicaid programs and all rules and amendments that have been made and approved by the federal government. They have either been taken down or are in very hard to find locations.
14

Votes

state-by-state prisoner demographics

I am requesting access (hard copy or a web link?) to demographic data on the U. S. Prison population - by prison - federal and state.
14

Votes

Foreign Trade Data

These datasets are available at a steep price. While the data are available in the database USA Trade Online, that database is available via a subscription fee or to depository libraries with a clumsy, limiting password arrangement.
14

Votes

Contracts for Private Military Contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan

Essential first step for maintaining oversight of military operations not accountable to FOIA, the Geneva Conventions and other safeguards on the application of American combat power.
14

Votes

Open Source Center (includes FBIS, JPRS)

The Foreign Broadcasting Information Service (FBIS) issues unclassified military, political, economic, and sociological news updates from around the world. The reports have been privatized as the fee-based World News Connection database. Now there is a new government database that provides access to FBIS reports. It is the Open Source Center at www.opensource.gov Access is currently restricted to government employees and contractors. FBIS reports are public and used to be sent on microfiche and CD-ROM to libraries, but distribution has ceased. Our citizenry would benefit from reinstating access to this public material and deserves access just as much as those currently allowed to use opensource.gov.
14

Votes

State Department’s Daily Briefing Book

The State Department prepares extensive daily briefings for its press officials, including recommended answers to questions that may be asked during press conferences. Unfortunately, due to time limitations at press conferences, countless questions go unasked every day. While the State Department has made improvements to include a website with daily briefings, the content of the briefing books remain unknown. The books are not classified, require considerable time and money to compose, and would represent an excellent overview of American foreign policy stances.
11

Votes

medicaid
11

Votes

NUREG-1060

The DOE is sitting on a large number of documents connected with nuclear energy regulation, in particular, older NUREG documents from the NRC. They say that they'll scan these documents and put them online if somebody sponsors them for $60. One way or another I'd like to get the money together to get all of these digitized.
8

Votes

Cheney Visitor Logs

Logs of visitors to Vice President Cheney, his office and staff.
8

Votes

Procuring Contracting Officer Name for Contract Awarded

FPDS has no data element for the Procuring Contracting Officer Name so while the data elements that are in FPDS "Prepared by" and "Modified by" might include the actual name of the Contracting Officer who awarded the contract, it often does not. Those data elements often contain system administrator addresses, procurement data entry clerks, office names but not the individual name. The Procuring Contracting Officer Name should be listed with each contract since the PCO is legally responsible and accountable for the contract. In listing the name, it should be best listed as an Internet address, as in fred.couples@hud.gov. By listing the PCO, the Contracting Officer has visibility for the completeness and accuracy of the contract data. Now that isn't there.
8

Votes

Hospital inspection reports

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services routinely inspects hospitals around the country, often identifying deficiencies in the care provided to patients. It would be worthwhile for the government to put this entire database online so that the public and purchasers of health care can look up their facilities and see if they are any good.
7

Votes

USA Trade CD ROM
7

Votes

Environmental Defense Institute FOIA to Department of Energy censorship

DOE Office of Hearings and Appeals Case No. TFA-0298
7

Votes

Hazardous Chemical Emergency Response Plans

Federal law (EPCRA) requires Local Emergency Planning Councils to compile these documents and to disclose them. Nearly half of LEPCs don't or won't. EPA administers the law, and could police it by requiring local agencies to file copies with EPA. This would promote disclosure.
7

Votes

Federal Reserve Primary Dealer Credit Facility transactions

The Federal Reserve refuses to release transactional data of the more than $1.9 trillion in lending, securities purchases, etc. it's done to battle the financial crisis. This information should be freely avaialable online.
7

Votes

state applications for Medicaid 1115 waivers
7

Votes

Daily schedules for the President and Cabinet Official

President's have made their daily schedule available to reporters for years, but have never posted them online. Griffin Bell, Attorney General under President Carter, was the first cabinet secretary to make his schedule regularly available. Only a few others have followed his lead in over 30 years. To achieve transparency, we need to know what these officials are doing.
7

Votes

Chemical Plant Risks to Communities
6

Votes

open source
6

Votes

Dear State Medicaid Director Letters

Some of them have been removed from the website. Need to all be put back up and kept current and updated.
6

Votes

Reporting of Per Capita Medicaid Spending by Race and Ethnicity

This was data that showed how much money was spent per person by race and ethnicity. It used to be available and is no longer.
6

Votes

President Obama's direction for healthcare coverage?
6

Votes

Coast Guard records of which cargo ships and oil tankers have been fined for various violations,

I was working with a huge law firm for nearly a year to get these released to no avail.
5

Votes

data on Medicaid expenditures
5

Votes

NAVAL ARCHIVES
5

Votes

Federal Spending Information

The government is spending trillions each year on contracts and grants with little oversight. The public deserves to see how this money is being spent and determine if it was spent wisely. All solicitations, contracts, task/delivery orders, grants, amendments, modifications, justifications for sole source awards, performance and responsibility data, and waivers of laws or regulations should be posted publicly online in a user-friendly format. The public deserves to see how federal money is being spent.
5

Votes

Dear State Medicaid Directors
5

Votes

Meeting minutes of VP Cheney with oil companies

Vice President Cheney, early in the first second Bush administration, had a secret meeting with the CEOs of oil companies. A series of tragic national mistakes subsequently occurred. He refused to make the content of those meetings public, and should.
5

Votes

Topographic Maps Printed (on real paper)

Answer (ID 3185) on the Government Printing Office's Help page: Question What is the status of distribution of USGS topo quad maps? The last shipment received was may 28, 2008. I have heard rumors that they are no longer distributed in paper format -- but must be accessed in some way electronically by way of the USGS home page. What is the "official" word on the paper format status? Answer The May 2008 issue appears to be the last one distributed. A final decision has not been made for paper distribution of the USGS topo quad maps. GPO plans to meet with USGS next month and will update this entry after the meeting. The USGS is trying to move to a print on demand product that people print from their own computers. However, there are many problems with this approach, one of which is the fact that broadband access is far from universal in the United States, and USGS assumes that everyone has access to plotters (they don't). Until the USGS works out a systm that will produce a map with ink that will not run when wet on paper that is archival, the print on demand solution is unaccepable.
5

Votes

Original Environmental Reports before they were edited by the Bush Administration

In a survey of 1,600 government scientists by the Union of Concerned Scientists, 46% had been warned against using terms like global warming in speech or in their reports. The scientists interviewed were working at seven government agencies, from Nasa to the Environmental Protection Agency. Forty-three percent of respondents said their published work had been revised in ways that altered the meaning of scientific findings. Some 38% said they had direct knowledge of cases where scientific information on climate was stripped from websites and printed reports. "There were a very large number of edits that came at the 12th hour after all the earlier science people had signed off," said Mr Piltz, who eventually resigned from his job because of such pressure. In one such case, a White House appointee, Phil Cooney, demanded 400 last-minute changes which significantly changed the meaning and tone of the report.
5

Votes

Current Federal Building Projects - Planned & Under construction

GSA should put its current, planned & ongoing building construction projects online on www.gsa.gov and provide local firms an easy way to find out how to get work on these projects. Currently there is no way to find these projects by state or city, or contacts for local firms to bid on these projects. Can't we help the local small firms out? Can't we provide transparency for these huge construction and retrofit projects?
5

Votes

Cheney Quail Hunting Report

What ever happened to the guy Cheney shot? Time Magazine did a report on this but the government should make their own report available. What kind of special treatment are elected officials getting??
5

Votes

wetlands
5

Votes

Bybee/Yoo Torture Memo

John Yoo and his boss, Jay Bybee, wrote the torture memo, which was used by the DOD as a guide to how far they could torture prisoners in Gitmo and Iraq.
5

Votes

microwave experiments on unknowing citizens

Bio and Behavior microwave experiments by Westover Air Force Base in Chicopee, Ma. on citizens which continue today.
5

Votes

Contracts, Influences, Operators and Activities

This department, created under George W. Bush, serves as a "security" branch, but all work is done by the private sector - where is the legal precedent/ rational for subcontracting the national security operations of the US government? This is our security at stake, and it has become a for-profit industry whose survival depends on the perpetuation of the "war on terror"; what is the public knowledge of their activities? Where can one find anything about who is "providing security" for the US, and how they obtained that contract? What, if any, review/oversight process is in place for the allocation/necessity of contracts?
5

Votes

contracts

All contracts and task orders awarded to large and small business for all cabinet departments and independent agencies.
5

Votes

Current Contractor Projects

The number of full time employees (FTE) are regularly reported to Congress, but agencies rarely make public the number of contractors that are working for them. Many agencies have contractors now working in place of FTEs inside each agency. A full accounting of these contractors would give a more realistic estimate of the size and more information to help understand the effectiveness of government.
4

Votes

Transportation Infrastructure Information

Remember the bridge that collapsed in Minnesota? Wouldn't have been nice if the information about it being 30 years out of repair and intended use had been public before the tragedy? I am not asking for GPS coordinates of bridges or anything that would be "useful in the hands of an enemy." Just a better way for the public to see what bridges and highways are past their intended use period and without repair. This information is vital to the safety of travelers and should not be kept secret.
4

Votes

federalcontractors.gov

We now have recovery.gov Why not create a similar website for all of the federal contractor listings. This could be used for all three branches. There is not enough disclosure with federal contracts awarded!!
4

Votes

Section 1115 Medicaid budget neutrality reports

The information that states submit to CMS with respect to their spending under Section 1115 Medicaid waivers which govern much of program spending in a number of states. Complete information is not now available.
4

Votes

Webcasts of All Federal Government Open Meetings

Most government decision making is done in Open Meetings. Requiring all Open Meetings on the Federal level to be webcast live and/or on-demand will benefit everyone. An Executive Order by former New York State Governor Spitzer has proved to be GREAT for Open Government.
4

Votes

National Forest Maps (printed and supplied through the Federal Depository Library Program)

There have been many instances of National Forest maps being printed and made available for sale that have not been distributed to libraries through the Federal Depository Library Program. TITLE 44, CHAPTER 19, § 1902 states: Government publications, except those determined by their issuing components to be required for official use only or for strictly administrative or operational purposes which have no public interest or educational value and publications classified for reasons of national security, shall be made available to depository libraries through the facilities of the Superintendent of Documents for public information. Each component of the Government shall furnish the Superintendent of Documents a list of such publications it issued during the previous month, that were obtained from sources other than the Government Printing Office. This is not happening in the case of National Forest maps, and the problem needs to be corrected.
4

Votes

President's Daily Brief

The President receives briefs every day, but the briefs do not always contain sensitive information. In the past, as many as a dozen daily briefs have been released. The August 6, 2001 brief was requested by the 9/11 Commission and released. The National Security Archive has some briefs too. There needs to be some method of consistently moving over these briefs towards being declassified.
4

Votes

Detainee
4

Votes

Census Master Addresses Files and Structure Point Lat?lon coordinates for each of them

We want this information in a OpenGIS format
4

Votes

Office of the Inspector General, Martin County Coal Impoundment Failure Report

Report on whistle-blower complaint regarding the early termination of MSHA's investigation of Massey Coal Co.'s impoundment failure. One of the largest environmental disasters in U.S. history.
4

Votes

Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement

The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (or ACTA) is a proposal for a plurilateral trade agreement being currently negotiated mostly by the US, EU, and Japan. The negotiations have been primarily conducted in secret. Therefore, the implications of ACTA could affect millions who have no say in the process and no opportunity to give feedback throughout. The agreement is set to preside over not only physical goods, but as electronic and IT related goods as well. Originally, the negotiations were supposed to be completed in 2008.
3

Votes

National Animal Identification System's National Premises Information Repository

Also called the "Feedlot Phonebook." The exact legal status of this information and its disclosure is being litigated.
3

Votes

Lobbyist Waivers

The Obama Administration said it planned to stop allowing lobbyists to have such a high stake in government processes. However, the Office of Management and Budget gave out lobbying waivers, allowing certain individuals to get around the "two-year" rule. We want to see who received the waivers and for what reason.
3

Votes

usaid
3

Votes

State Medicaid manual, Dear State Medicaid Director letters, Dear State Health Official letters
3

Votes

Rosalind Carter's Appointment Book
3

Votes

Original Climate Change Reports before they were edited by the Bush Adminstration

The NASA Inspector General Report stated that some climate change documents and media releases changed due to political reasons during the Bush Administration. The reports, data and media releases as they were originally written should be released.
3

Votes

Homeland Security
3

Votes

energy task force
3

Votes

Controlled Unclassified Information

In May of 2008, Sensitive But Unclassified (SBU) and For Official Use Only (FOUO) became Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI). The Controlled Unclassified Information Office is now housed through the national archives. In the interest of full disclosure of unclassified documents, this new department should hardly exist. However, in the past year, large amounts of government documents have moved into the control of this office. The arguments surrounding the new office, SBU and FOUO date back to 1986 Congress/NSA debates. The paradox between preventing information that would be useful to an adversary from falling into the wrong hands or officials simply hoarding power through controlling unclassified information continues...
3

Votes

CIA Headquarters Notices

General promulgation of policy and directives to CIA employees. Can cover matters such as contact with the press and public, interaction with other agencies, etc. Published at classification levels from unclassified through secret.
3

Votes

Department of Justice Patriot Act Usage and Rationale

The Patriot Act and associated civil liberties violations remain on the most wanted list from the 2004 Ten Most Wanted. The facts have not changed; the public has a right to know the details of when special investigative power is extended under the Patriot Act. This is especially important in investigations not directly related to terrorism. Currently the Justice Department is not providing statistical reports on Patriot Act usage, and without such reports, the public has no method of knowing when the government might be overstepping its investigative boundaries.
3

Votes

Suspicious Activity Reporting to Combat Terrorism and Anti-Money Laundering

Institutions are required by law to report "suspicious" individuals who may (or may not) be engaged in money laundering or terrorism financing. Institutions are required to secretly file "Suspicious Activity Reports" (SARs) to FINCEN. Institutions are forbidden to tell an individual that a SAR has been filed against them (purportedly, to avoid tipping bad guys off). Worse yet, the individual who files the SAR is completely indemnified from false-positives (even a hint of "suspicious activity" is reason enough to file a SAR) - no matter what damage these false-positives may bear for the individuals at the wrong end of the SAR.
3

Votes

Energy Policy – EPA Emissions Tests

Currently, the Environmental Protection Agency is responsible for fuel and emission tests for all vehicles on U.S. roads. In light of recent spikes in gas prices and global efforts to reduce carbon output, consumers are demanding more information on the environment impact of cars. The EPA maintains a website for comparing gas mileage, but no such website for emissions or the overall carbon footprint of a car. Similarly, no such government website exists for other sources of carbon emissions. This information exists, clearly it is not classified, and the public has the right to know where to find it.
2

Votes

EPA Enforcement Actions

When the EPA takes action, it should be made as public as possible and available on their website. Too often the EPA takes action, and then backs down from initial harsh action, fines, etc
2

Votes

Department of Defense Contractor Database

I want to know where all of our tax dollars are going. At least give us a unclassified version of all the companies working for the DoD and how much we are paying them. There must be more disclosure associated with federal government contractors
2

Votes

Haebius Corpus
2

Votes

NIE
2

Votes

2CMS Medicaid state plans, amendments and waivers
2

Votes

approved state Medicaid plans and proposed amendments and waivers
2

Votes

Organizations in Executive Branch determinations re: President's Executive Orders
2

Votes

EPA Reviews of pollution sources

EPA libraries
2

Votes

Master Address Files

The database of addresses for the United States with map coordinates being added for 2010. This would be very valuabe to government industry, including 911 dispatch. No private demographic data should be attached, just the addresses please.
2

Votes

job description of resident manager in public housing for elderly and disabled

need responsibilities of resident manager or resident aid in projects for elderly and disabled
2

Votes

AHIMA

http://www.ahima.org/
2

Votes

Every piece of feedback sent online to the White House

The online efforts from the White House seem to involve various forms that submit information into a black hole and is never to be seen again. All this "user generated content" should be available on the site in perpetuity, and ideally via an API as well.
2

Votes

Passenger manifests for Air Force One

Who is traveling with the President (we'd also like to see info on the Vice President and Cabinet Secretaries) when he flies on Air Force One? Officials on official business? Members of Congress whose support he's seeking? Big campaign contributors? For Air Force One & Two, these records are exempt from FOIA.
2

Votes

Annual Report Form 5500

Annual Report Form 5500 is a disclosure pension funds file showing their assets, obligations, financial health, etc. These forms are supposed to be available, but in practice, one can only get them by going to DOL's DC headquarters and paying 50 cents a page for them.
1

Votes

White House Estimates on job growth

www.geocommons.com
1

Votes

Operational Test and Evaluation annual reports

Contains data concerning effectiveness of various weapon systems
1

Votes

Semi-Annual Report to Congress of the CIA Inspector General

All federal statutory IGs are required to file semi-annual reports to Congress on their operations. The CIA takes the position all of its operations are classified. However, some of its SARs have been released under FOIA. We believe all SARs should be made available, even if redacted, as soon as possible.
1

Votes

Medicaid state plans
1

Votes

Dear State Medicaid Director and Dear State Health Official letters
1

Votes

Congressionally Mandated Reports submitted to Congress by the Executive Branch
1

Votes

private detention
1

Votes

Stimulus
1

Votes

Comprehensive Listing of All Individuals on the TSA Terrorist Watch List

Who is on this list? What are the key differences between the "watch list" and the "selectee" list?
0

Votes

dialogue
0

Votes

Final Opinions of the Executive Branch General Counsels impacting the public and relied upon for fin

Final Executive Branch General Counsel opinions relied upon by the relevant organization to implement programs, functions, and activities mandated by Congress in statutes.
0

Votes

The "Chinese Menu" presentation the Pentagon's Office of Special Plans gave Colin Powell before the UN speech - from which they told him to pick and choose rationales for invading Iraq, like a Chinese menu

Discussed heavily in Woodward's "Plan of Attack," around pages 289-300.
0

Votes

Federal Procurement Data System

This system is riddled with errors. No two agencies enter the data alike. For example, it is impossible to locate all of the contracts awarded by a single performance location, the amount of a single contract, all of the contracts for a particular company, or even all of the contracts awarded by a particluar agency office. The worst offenders are Department of State and the Centers for Disease Control. the Army does a better job, but their data also is often entered incorrectly. Try to find all of the security contracts and the names of the companies awarded by the State Department for performance at Guyana? try to find all of the temporary clerical services contracts and the names of the companies awarded by the Centers for Disease Control for performance in Atlanta? Impossible.
0

Votes

fair housing act
0

Votes

EPA Regional Public Health/Hazard Lists

Numerous federal laws require the EPA to give notice concerning public health risks (e.g. FIFRA). However, the EPA does not maintain effective databases of public health risks. Considering the importance of the issues and the correlated federal mandates, there is no reason why privately developed websites should ever exceed the quality and content of the EPA’s own website.
0

Votes

Regional Public Health/Hazard Lists

Numerous federal laws require the EPA to give notice concerning public health risks (e.g. FIFRA). However, the EPA does not maintain effective databases of public health risks. Considering the importance of the issues and the correlated federal mandates, there is no reason why privately developed websites should ever exceed the quality and content of the EPA’s own website.

All Requested Executive Branch Documents

Not seeing the document you're looking for?

Submission of documents has been disabled.