Some Informative Cites

I'm going through some of my "wonk" sites. I'm sure, if you've read some of my posts, that many people have an image of me as someone who is peering into her screen, huddled over her laptop, maybe covered in a hooded blanket, "capey" thing, mumbling about those stupid cons...ok, I may be mumbling, but there rest is not me...really.....but today, I'm cleaning out my bookmarks, cuz, you know if you do something mundane that you can focus on, you may stay a bit more calm...Anyways...
I decided to share some of the sites I use when trying to find out stuff. The best electorate is a knowledgeable electorate...much harder to be hoodwinked, or just plain lied to if you know where to find information.
First the National Priorities Project. This is a federal budget data project that was developed by very wonky people to be used by normal people to look up the impact of federal dollars(and other issues) in their state. On the home page, there is a quick start guide which makes it very easy to get information that you could find useful.
Did you know that Darryl Issa(CA, R) is the richest congressman? That includes both the house and senate. Or that Ron Johnson(WI, R) received over $10 million in outside income? If you want to know where the money is, who has the money and who received the most money from...errrmmmm constituents, go to Open Secrets -- this site has any monetary information available about congress, executive branch, judicial income, along with information on what senator has the most earmarks in bills, which PAC/lobbying firms receive the largest earmarks--very interesting, also, very aggravating.
The Census bureau has any and all information available on our population and business. Did you know that the population of older people(over 65) has grew the fastest since the last census(in 2000)? Of course that is us baby boomers again....but there is much more information than just that tidbit and I encourage you to use it.
One that I've found very helpful when trying to explain or understand the Affordable Care Act or find information about health care in my area is the Healthcare site that's been set up by the Government. Yes, it gives actual honest truth about ObamaCare, among other information.
Of course, I do read Crain's Business and then take my shower. A bit too much "pity the corporation" for me, but usually there are good articles on how the "other side" feels.
There is the Responsible Budget Coalition for Illinois. Although their Facebook page seems to be kept up better, the website is usually where to go when things are "happening" in Illinois.
Then, there is the website by the Community Media Workshop that not only has news, but webinars, brown bag seminars, training center--community based news and no corporate media.
So those are my less known sites that I use(besides TPM, HuffPo, Think Progress . If you have a chance(or you know you're gonna have to deal with some rad right family/aquaintences), get some real data! Good luck.