Created in 1979, the Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network (or C-SPAN as it is more popularly known) is a must for concerned citizens wanting to keep tabs on what lawmakers are doing in Washington. Since its inception three decades ago, countless hours of congressional hearings, political conventions and rallies, debates, and other public affairs events have appeared on the C-SPAN networks in a pure, uncut and unfiltered manner.

Recently, C-SPAN CEO Brian Lamb sent a letter to Democratic and Republican congressional leaders requesting that C-SPAN's cameras be allowed into the final negotiations of the 2,000-page, multi-billion dollar health care bill.

Lamb's letter, which was sent to most media outlets including the blogs, said that reforming the nation's health care system affects every American and as such should be televised in order to further facilitate a transparent discussion on health care reform.

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According to the New York Times, President Obama's plan to reshape financial regulation is the product of weeks of meetings among government officials, financial experts, lawmakers, industry executives and lobbyists, many of whom were invited to help the White House draft the proposal (as an aside, the cynic in me wonders if this is why the Obama Administration is blocking release of its visitor log). The plan, which is to be unveiled tomorrow, would give the government new powers to seize key companies whose failure jeopardizes the financial system, as well as creation of a watchdog agency to look out for consumers' interests. More below the fold.

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I won't say that the elixir of power has intoxicated the Obama Administration but it seems the dismantling the Imperial Presidency is proving harder than it should for our young hero. Immediately after taking office, the President emphasized that his Administration is "committed to creating an unprecedented level of openness in Government." And true to his word, the President issued five Executive Orders reversing the policies of previous Administrations on matters of public disclosures, unlawful interrogations and claims of Executive Privilege.

On day one of his Administration, the President instructed the heads of Federal agencies to interpret the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) with a presumption that government information should be made available to the public. Still, the President reserved the right to claim Executive Privilege to withhold presidential documents from the public in the narrow instances where "national security (including the conduct of foreign relations), law enforcement, or the deliberative processes of the executive branch" would be impaired.

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Cross-posted at Bryan Barash's blog.

Web 3.0 is a term often thrown around these days, yet I see little evidence that there's been any major leap to warrant its use.  That is, until now, considering what I've been hearing about Wolfram Alpha.

The UK's Independent has a nice writeup on Wolfram Alpha, giving us an insight into how this next generation search engine (knowledge engine?) will change the way we think about the internet.

This new tool could provide countless opportunities to open up government and create much easier access to all sorts of political and governmental information.  An explanation of the platform and how it relates to politics, below the flip.

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I know that political parties have been a part of our political landscape forever, but, since the home page of this site mentions direct democracy, I am wondering where the laws that set the two party system up are? Obviously, it sometimes frustrates democracy. But we have used parties to express our democracy since the second Presidency. Today, did anyone else wonder 'how did we get into this mess?'.

I know that we set up the party system to serve the people, in in almost all respects its worked, but when it fails, it fails badly. It seems to represent a sort of abbreviated, binary view of all issues, but the real world is much more complex and far more granular than I think parties can accurately represent.

The sacrifices we make in the interests of this approximation often seem to be getting worse and worse.

Both parties often seem to pander far too much to corporate citizens. What is good for corporate Americans may not be in the best interests of natural people. 'Corporates' have the resources though, to influence elections tremendously. They have the right of equal, protected speech, does the law even prevents their from running their own as candidates? In any case, I guess what I am asking is, where is the history of parties and their creation?

The way we vote could be improved upon greatly

Clearly, single-winner voting systems are required by the American political tradition, and required by law, but the 'plurality system' we currently use is far less accurate in representing the will of the people than many other voting systems, in fact, its the most prone to voting paradoxes.

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