Power of Facts

Guest: Richard Coffin, Project Manager for USAFacts.org The spending bill Congress passed last week to keep the government funded through the end of September totals just over one-trillion dollars for six months of government business. If you want to know exactly how all that cash is spent, you’ll need a computer and a lot of patience. There are reams and reams of data available on government agency websites you can sort through. But now, thanks to USAFactsorg, you can just type in a key word like Medicare or military or education and get simple charts built from government data. USAFacts.org is a non-profit, non-partisan civic initiative that launched just a few weeks ago. It’s backed by retired Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer.