Reminder — help returning warfighters at Operation Jump Start on Tuesday

My good friend, Bob Brewin from Government Executive’s NextGov, wrote in his most recent column — and it reminds me to remind everybody — that this coming Tuesday is Operation Jump Start 2009. I mentioned the event back in December, but it is easy to forget. Now is your chance. This is an absolutely wonderful program that helps warfighters returning from Iraq and Afghanistan as they “jump start” their post-military careers.

I have specific information after the break about how you can help. The event is Tuesday, Jan. 27  at the Army Navy Club in Arlington, VA. You can get all the information after the break… and you can register here… And although the early information says that registration is closed — my friend Ed Meagher tells me that you can go ahead and register — and bring your donations. After the break, I also have information on all the ways you can help.

And an offer — if you are somehow not able to make the event, get in touch with me — cdorobek at chrisdorobek.com — and we’ll figure out a way to make it happen. If you are able to drop stuff at Federal News Radio 1500 AM in NW DC, I’ll make sure it gets there. It is a very worthy cause.

Get all the information… after the break.

Obama talks government spending transparency in the weekend “radio” address

President Obama released his weekly “radio” address this morning — a name that still frustrates me given that it is really a video address. New names welcome. The address this morning is about the recovery plan, which is getting blogged down in the machinations of lawmaking.

But he once again talked about broadband, but also made comments about transparency for how the money is spent (italics added by me):

Finally, we will rebuild and retrofit America to meet the demands of the 21st century. That means repairing and modernizing thousands of miles of America’s roadways and providing new mass transit options for millions of Americans. It means protecting America by securing 90 major ports and creating a better communications network for local law enforcement and public safety officials in the event of an emergency. And it means expanding broadband access to millions of Americans, so business can compete on a level-playing field, wherever they’re located.

I know that some are skeptical about the size and scale of this recovery plan. I understand that skepticism, which is why this recovery plan must and will include unprecedented measures that will allow the American people to hold my Administration accountable for these results. We won’t just throw money at our problems – we’ll invest in what works. Instead of politicians doling out money behind a veil of secrecy, decisions about where we invest will be made public, and informed by independent experts whenever possible. We’ll launch an unprecedented effort to root out waste, inefficiency, and unnecessary spending in our government, and every American will be able to see how and where we spend taxpayer dollars by going to a new website called recovery.gov.

See the full transcript here… and listen to the “radio” address below — please, we simply have to come up with a better name for this thing. The presidential podcast, maybe?

I really love the idea of posting how the money is spent — how wonderfully transparent. I hope they make the data available in a way that people can crunch the numbers.

I’m really fascinated by the power of transparency. My guess it is going to be more difficult then they think — and I hope they’re talking to the team that created the USASpending.gov Web site, which is an attempt to be the Google for government spending. It can be a powerful piece to rebuilding trust in government.