Teenager Codes Browser Extension That Exposes Corruption in Congress

[octoberlib]

A self-taught 16-year-old coder from Seattle, Washington, has created a web browser plug-in that won’t let you forget the pervasive and corrupting influence of money in politics.

Called “Greenhouse,” the plug-in picks out the names of any members of Congress on a given web page. Users can then mouse-over those members of Congress to see their top donors, and what percentage of their funding came from small-dollar donations. Here’s an example, taken from a story in today’s New York Times about climate skeptics’ opposition to new carbon emission regulations:






Readers of this article, with the “Greenhouse” plug-in installed, might draw a connection between Oklahoma Senator James Inhofe’s climate skepticism and the money his 2012 campaign received from the oil and gas industry and the mining industry ($558,150 and $150,850 respectively).

Nicholas Rubin, the concerned (but not-yet-old-enough-to-vote) citizen behind the plug-in, first became interested in the issue when he gave a school presentation on corporate personhood while in the seventh grade. About a year later, Lawrence Lessig — the Harvard law professor and activist — provided Rubin with further inspiration. “I went to see Larry Lessig talk about campaign finance at the town hall here in Seattle. Both of these events sparked an interest in me,” Rubin told BillMoyers.com. “It made me angry. I remember asking my dad (multiple times) questions like ‘How is this legal?’”


http://billmoyers.com/2014/07/24/teenager-codes-plug-in-to-expose-corruption/


A free browser extension for Chrome, Safari, and Firefox that exposes the role money plays in Congress. Displays on any web page detailed campaign contribution data for every Senator and Representative, including total amount received and breakdown by industry and by size of donation. Puts vital data where it’s most relevant so you can discover the real impact of money on our political system.
http://allaregreen.us/

[Dragonfli]

1. Very clever, very helpful. Adding now - that teen will hopefully have a bright future! /nt

[octoberlib]

2. I just downloaded it and used it. It's awesome!

[wtmusic]

3. Awesome.

[Uncle Joe]

4. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, octoberlib.

[octoberlib]

6. Thanks for the kick Uncle Joe!

[DebJ]

5. What does the category 'Retired' mean?

I just downloaded and used it. Two Republicans in an article had an enormous amount
of money donated by 'Retired'.

[octoberlib]

7. I was wondering the same thing. Let me research.

[octoberlib]

9. Found it on opensecrets.org

Retired: Background
Which industry contributes the most to federal candidates and political committees? Defense contractors? Oil and gas companies? Financial firms and investment banks? Pharmaceutical companies? Lawyers?

Wrong.

The top industry isn't really an "industry" at all, but individuals who list their occupation as "retired" in federal documents.

Retired individuals contributed nearly $279 million to federal-level candidates and political committees during the 2008 campaign cycle, more than any other "industry." Despite the stereotype that older people are more conservative, the contributions were just about split evenly between Democrats and the GOP.

In 2008, presidential candidate Barack Obama received nearly $43 million from retirees, while his opponent John McCain received $32.7 million. Retired individuals were the top contributing "industry" to McCain's campaign, and second only to lawyers for Obama's campaign.

Since the 1990 election cycle, retired individuals have contributed nearly $1 billion to candidates and committees at the federal level.
While there are no companies in this faux-industry to lobby the federal government, the well-known advocacy group AARP has a strong Capitol Hill presence. AARP has more than 40 million members -- all over the age of 50 -- and is the largest advocacy group for retired people.


http://www.opensecrets.org/industries/background.php?cycle=2014&ind=W06

[DebJ]

11. Wow! It's old farts like my husband and I!

etired: Background

Which industry contributes the most to federal candidates and political committees? Defense contractors? Oil and gas companies? Financial firms and investment banks? Pharmaceutical companies? Lawyers?

Wrong.

The top industry isn't really an "industry" at all, but individuals who list their occupation as "retired" in federal documents.

Retired individuals contributed nearly $279 million to federal-level candidates and political committees during the 2008 campaign cycle, more than any other "industry." Despite the stereotype that older people are more conservative, the contributions were just about split evenly between Democrats and the GOP.

In 2008, presidential candidate Barack Obama received nearly $43 million from retirees, while his opponent John McCain received $32.7 million. Retired individuals were the top contributing "industry" to McCain's campaign, and second only to lawyers for Obama's campaign.

https://www.opensecrets.org/industries/background.php?cycle=2014&ind=W06

[octoberlib]

12. This is a good thing. You'd think the GOP would be a little more

concerned with conserving and expanding SS and medicare.

[DebJ]

15. They don't have to be since they are getting about 1/2 of the contributions. But

since us Boomers are reportedly unable to retire or retire well, will that dry up
these contributions?

[DebJ]

8. See in the popup box at the bottom right where it says "OpenSecrets.org"? If you

mouse over and click on that, it takes you to that person's page on Open Secrets.org.
Cool!

When I student taught high school American Govt in the fall of 2008, I showed Open Secrets
to my students. The extremely conservative teacher under whom I was teaching wasn't really
happy about that. (She also tried to make me shut up on two different occasions when I tried
to explain the importance of Presidential elections as concerns the Supreme Court. Her eyes
bugged out of her head and she said Don't talk about that now; we'll discuss that in a few months
when we discuss the Supreme Court. I had to back down unfortunately.)

[mountain grammy]

10. A concerned 7th grader. I have hope for America!

[octoberlib]

13. Me too!

[cprise]

14. It's too late. The money is increasingly being hidden. nt

[Dustlawyer]

16. K&R!!! Gotta love ingenuity! I believe the PTB will find away around it, but not before this

election cycle.

In protesting to GET THE MONEY OUT OF OUR ELECTIONS this Fall, September 13th - November 4th, we can use to show how much money these candidates received vs. how they voted on issues surrounding each big donor. This will show us who they ACTUALLY represent because we sure as Hell know it's not us! We need to demand Publicly Funded Elections and make the Networks and Radio broadcast the campaign ads as a public service for using our airwaves.

Please organize your community and contact other groups who have not seen their Representatives support their causes like Equal Pay for Women, LGBTV issues, Climate Change, Education...
WE CAN DO THIS!

If only their was an App to get people off of their asses and do something!

[octoberlib]

17. An app to get people off their asses would come in real handy,lol

Americans tend not to hit the streets until it's too late.

I wanted to go march in NH with Larry Lessig and Cenk so bad but had to work.

[Dustlawyer]

18. I hope you can help get our protests off the ground! It will be helpful if it just turns the

conversation to the problem when we can put 2+2 together for them and they can see the result, money + political elections = corruption that affects THEM!
It still amazes me how little this fundamental problem with our Democracy gets talked about. "How was I to know that when we allow the wealthy, be they corporations or individuals, to give so much money to keep ambitious greedy little Farts in office that they would rig the game to favor those rich Bastards at our expense?" "I mean the network owned by General Electric, the same company that manages to not pay ANY taxes on billions in income, never told me this!"

[progressoid]

19. Very cool!

[Laelth]

20. k&r for exposure. n/t

-Laelth

[snagglepuss]

21. Kudos to Nicholas!