New wiki site allows individuals, organizations and journalists to upload information obtained from FOIA requests, and search all documents uploaded to site.
WASHINGTON – Crossroads Grassroots Policy Strategies (Crossroads GPS) today launched a major new initiative and online platform, Wikicountability.org, which is designed to crowd-source information gleaned from Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests and other public documents by organizations, individuals and journalists. The wiki site will facilitate efficient sharing of public information about the Obama Administration, as well as spotlight violations of FOIA by the Obama Administration.
The new initiative is designed to make federal departments and agencies more accountable to the public. Groups and individuals will be able to upload their own FOIA requests and responses to the website, creating a national clearinghouse for data concerning the Obama Administration. Thousands of pages of information from the Departments of Labor and HHS have already been uploaded to the site, and Crossroads is encouraging other groups and individuals to upload their own FOIA information to the site as well.
“President Obama’s record on FOIA doesn’t come anywhere near his lofty rhetoric,” said Steven Law, president of Crossroads GPS. “This new wiki site uses the power of online communities and individuals to hold President Obama and his appointees accountable for complying with federal open-records laws.”
The site is also designed to spotlight the Obama Administration’s dismal record of compliance with FOIA – with a special section devoted to unfulfilled FOIA requests.
Some news breaking from the launch of Wikicountability.org, and documents already on the site:
• The Andy Griffith ad promoting Obamacare last year cost taxpayers $3.66 million – including $404,000 in production costs – according to records obtained from HHS in an FOIA request earlier this year.
• Labor Secretary Hilda Solis met with union bosses or attended their events on more than 40 separate occasions from February 2009-January 2010.
• Consumer Financial Protection Bureau head Elizabeth Warren made time for meals and meetings with far-left anti-business journalists such as American Prospect’s Bob Kuttner, Mother Jones’ David Corn, and DailyKos.com’s Markos Moulitsas.
• Among literally dozens of unfulfilled FOIA requests by the Obama Administration: the Department of Education has yet to offer any response to a February 2010 FOIA request for Education Sec. Arne Duncan’s schedule and travel vouchers.
To generate action on outstanding FOIA requests, Crossroads GPS today also filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to force the release of information, requested under the Freedom of Information Act, concerning Obamacare waiver requests.
Crossroads GPS is a policy and grassroots advocacy organization that is committed to educating, equipping and mobilizing millions of American citizens to take action on the critical economic and legislative issues that will shape our nation’s future in the years ahead.
For more information, contact Jonathan Collegio at [email protected] or (202) 559-6424.
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