I drafted this piece this morning, but delayed posting it - interesting tool, I hope
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Steve Balmer compiles federal and state spending date into one searchable data base, usafacts.org.
I haven't played with it, but The Daily Mail says it's 30 years of data, and nonpartisan. I guess we'll have to see about that latter claim, but if so, it sounds incredibly useful.
Former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has created a new organization to analyze government spending and revenue to make it easier to understand.
Ballmer gathered a group of data specialists that spent nearly three years compiling the information for its first reports, which are available online at www.USAFacts.org.
He says he created USAFacts because he was frustrated he couldn't find a single source that combined all the relevant state and federal numbers.
The site launched on Tuesday and Ballmer announced the launch the same day in a speech at the Economic Club of New York.
The reports it provides will be updated periodically.
The former Microsoft executive says he wants to provide clear information on government spending, adding that he hopes it will be easier to discuss divisive issues if everyone can agree on the basic facts.
He told the Seattle Times that they've tried as much as possible to make the facts speak for themselves.
'(Nonpartisanship) is a principle (of ours),' he said.
'We all read for potential concerns. We take out adjectives wherever we can and let numbers speak for themselves.
'We’ve actually had people in both parties, if you will, give us an informal read on partisanship. We’re doing our best … to make sure (we’re) complete and comprehensive and contextual, and we think we’ve done a super good job on that. But people will battle test this.'
