Government in the USA

Find out who represents you, how they vote and more.

News from The Washington Post

Democrats Nominate Obama for President: Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois completed an improbable and historic journey here Wednesday when he was nominated by acclamation as the Democratic candidate for president, becoming the first African American to lead a major political party into a general-election campaign.
U.S. to Transfer Duties to Iraqis: To free Marines for Afghanistan, Iraqis will take over security responsibilities in Anbar province.
An Immigration Catch-22?: Companies say federal program designed to help them obey hiring laws doesn't ensure protection.
U.S. Official: Russia Is 'Weak': Diplomat says Moscow's conflict with Georgia is a sign of a weak nation, not a newly assertive one.
Listen Up, Ladies. He's Talking.: Author Dante Moore wants to "re-educate" women on the best way to win the perfect man. Like him.

Tracking Government Officials

Project Vote Smart - American Government, Elections, Candidates and Voting: Your nine-digit ZIP code will take you to a page about your elected officials. Information about officials includes:
* Committees,
* Contact information (including key staff members),
* Interest group ratings,
* Resume,
* Speeches and public statements (with a search function), and
* Voting record.
Legislative Action Center, from USA Today: You can get e-mail about votes by your officials. You can also search by ZIP code for elected federal and state officials and candidates. The site says it includes local officials, but mine didn't show up. It also includes recent votes and alerts on several issues.
U.S. Congress Votes Database: Database of U.S. congressional votes since the 102nd Congress (1991). You can look up senators and representatives by state. Pages on members include:
* a short biography,
* list of key votes, and
* photo.
The pages link to:
* a full list of all the member's votes,
* contact information (at Congressional site),
* financial disclosure statement,
* RSS news feed for votes by the member,
* more coverage of the member by The Washington Post, and
* a demographic profile of the state.
Created by Adrian Holovaty of Washingtonpost.com and Derek Willis of The Washington Post.