Search those databases!

For all you follow the money hounds... a killer new searchable database to play with over the weekend. Ya gotta love the Internet for making these records so accessible. Let the merriment commence!

A remarkable new website is offering a new way to review and retrieve information about federal and state campaigns. TransparencyData.com combines the data on political contributions assembled and analyzed by the Center for Responsive Politics and National Institute on Money in State Politics into one searchable system that includes an ability to download large chucks to create your own files.

For example, you can look up the state and federal campaign donations given by Charlotte billionaire C. D. Spangler, family members, and associates who list Spangler Construction as their employer. Or you can download the contributions that Rep. Virginia Foxx received in the past six years. The site is sponsored by the Sunlight Foundation and is in beta test mode now, with lobbying data being added and more datasets to come.

(From the Democracy NC Link-of-the-Day)