How about a "Transparency of Legislation Project"?
We create a database where the info resides. We go thru each new piece of legislation line by line. We set up fields to clarify what's being said, cost/benefit analysis both for the US people and for the corporations effected. We set out the stated goals of the legislation, both long term and short term, with measurable metrics. We get left and right wing think tanks involved to give their take on the goals/purpose of the legislation. We monitor those goals and at regular intervals we update the progress on those goals, to see if the legislation is having the intended effect.
Of course we have an html front end for easy viewing.
We put in fields for lobbying activity, from individuals, to politicians, to corporations and interest groups. We can show how much a particular politician or group tried to influence the legislation. This would also show if a politician said one thing, but did another. We could look at poison pill provisions and who inserts them to show real support vs faked support.
The main point is to open up the legislative process to scrutiny and provide a paper(data)trail, and hold the politicians accountable.
The size and scope to be determined by funding, number of volunteers, interest, etc. I thought of this after reading a KOS diary that wondered if blogosphere could be harnessed to reading every page of new legislation.
What does the KOS community think?
