The Sunlight Foundation said in letter to Congress that proposed cuts to the Electronic Government Fund would cut Data.gov and other programs crucial to government transparency.
In arguing against the cuts, the letter read, “These e-government initiatives help the government operate more effectively and efficiently, thereby saving taxpayer money and aiding oversight. They increase economic opportunities for small business. They also increase citizen knowledge of and involvement in the democratic process. Fully realized transparency would allow us to track every expense and truly understand how money like that in the electronic government fund flows to federal programs. Government spending and performance data must be available online, in real time, and in machine-readable formats.” -db
From a press release from the Sunlight Foundation, March 28, 2011, by Daniel Schuman.