Chimp doesn't want us to follow the money [View All]

[ChicanoPwr]

New barrier seen to viewing data on U.S. spending
http://www.azstarnet.com/dailystar/dailystar/60182.php

WASHINGTON - The Bush administration is sending records of more than a trillion dollars worth of federal expenditures into a privately run database that scholars and activists say hinders their ability to examine how tax money is spent.

"This clearly raises barriers to the public," said Rick Blum, director of Openthegovernment.org, a coalition of some 30 nonprofit groups concerned about government secrecy issues. "It's public information made available through a keyhole."

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Search fields omitted
But the Federal Procurement Data System-Next Generation, designed by Virginia-based Global Computer Enterprises, arrived in early January about a year late and with key search fields omitted. For example, viewers can't search the database by product service code, which is the government coding scheme for finding a product or a service that is being contracted.

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Certification criticized
Requiring Global Computer Enterprises to certify companies before they can access the information is seen as an intrusion. In order to be certified, companies have to sign a document agreeing to limit their searches from midnight to 6 a.m. during the week.