Talking Points


 * The Public = Online campaign is pragmatic. Real-time, accurate information is vital for a healthy democracy in which citizens and the media hold their government accountable. We are lucky to live in an age where the Internet and ever-present high-speed access can finally put government data on our computers and at our fingertips on smart phones.
 * The Public = Online campaign is preventative. By giving everyone access to public information, we have a chance to head off scandals BEFORE they happen.
 * The Public = Online campaign is frugal. Online, real-time information about spending means that we can seek out abuses in the budget and in earmarks and do something about them.
 * The Public = Online campaign is simple. The Internet has made it easy for anyone to buy a plane ticket, check the weather, buy movie tickets, check up on their favorite sports teams and see how bad the traffic will be on the way home. Government data should be as easy to read, easy to use and as informative as everything else we can now do on our laptop or smart phone.
 * The Public = Online campaign is also entrepreneurial. Government data will help businesses innovate, build and move the American economy into the 21st Century.
 * The Public=Online campaign is an effort to harness public support for a more transparent government and build a grassroots movement that works to hold elected officials accountable on the local, state and federal level.
 * It is our belief that information about elected officials and government agencies – including how they are financed and influenced - is information that we as citizens have a right to access in an easy, timely manner. The Public = Online campaign will work toward getting government to release that data online in an easy-to-read, easy-to-sort format in as close to real time as possible.
 * It is our belief that we have a right to this information, our government works for us, not the other way around.
 * We pay for our government with our tax dollars. We have the right to hold our government and its officials accountable for how they choose to spend those tax dollars. We have a right to question their decisions, get straight answers and use those answers to make informed decisions when we cast our ballots.
 * Government shouldn’t be able to make decisions that affect us without our ability to have a voice in the process. We will only truly have an informed voice when we understand what is going on in government in real-time.
 * Open data creates new markets. Much like when the government opened up the GPS system, having access to the vast stores of government information, like IRS migration data, will help entrepreneurs build new products, make smart expansion choices and aid in the research and development of new services that we can export around the world.