Then a "rapid response" organization needs to be tied into the Federal Register[1]. The Federal Register is a Constitutionally mandated[2] publication where the activities of the government are recorded. Just from the latest issue[3] there are entries about a draft report from the NRC about the effects of a beyond design basis earthquake on the spent fuel pool for a nuclear reactor[4] (which included a request for comments) and a report on which labs in the US are certified to do urine tests for drugs as part of a pre-employment screening[5]. They also carry executive orders[6], actions of the State Department[7], and all of the actions of the Copyright Office of the Library of Congress[8].
Speaking of the Library of Congress, THOMAS[9] is the system you want for new, pending, and current legislation so things don't happen behind your back. Not only do they publish what passed Congress yesterday and was sent to the president[10], they also post the floor activity on the House of Representatives in real time[11], and daily issues of the Congressional Register[12]. They also have a list of all House Bills[13] and Senate Bills[14], and a page on each bill that tracks its progress as it moves through the legislative process[15].
With all of the above tools you will be more informed than anybody who watches the news on television. There's a niche here for special interest issue web apps to make sense of this data. Think Big Tobacco, the NRA, and other interest groups aren't either using or looking into using this data to send alerts to people on the ground in their organizations?
A "rapid response" organization should also have its members in touch with their local representatives on a moderate basis - not too much so the staffers set the "obsessive" flag on their communications but not so little that they wonder "who the heck is this guy?!"
Speaking of the Library of Congress, THOMAS[9] is the system you want for new, pending, and current legislation so things don't happen behind your back. Not only do they publish what passed Congress yesterday and was sent to the president[10], they also post the floor activity on the House of Representatives in real time[11], and daily issues of the Congressional Register[12]. They also have a list of all House Bills[13] and Senate Bills[14], and a page on each bill that tracks its progress as it moves through the legislative process[15].
With all of the above tools you will be more informed than anybody who watches the news on television. There's a niche here for special interest issue web apps to make sense of this data. Think Big Tobacco, the NRA, and other interest groups aren't either using or looking into using this data to send alerts to people on the ground in their organizations?
A "rapid response" organization should also have its members in touch with their local representatives on a moderate basis - not too much so the staffers set the "obsessive" flag on their communications but not so little that they wonder "who the heck is this guy?!"
[1] https://www.federalregister.gov/ [2] Article I, Section 5, Paragraph 3 of the Constitution of the United States [3] https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2013/07/02 [4] https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2013/07/02/2013-158... [5] https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2013/07/02/2013-157... [6] https://www.federalregister.gov/agencies/executive-office-of... [7] https://www.federalregister.gov/agencies/state-department [8] https://www.federalregister.gov/agencies/copyright-office-li... (including a history back to 1994) [9] http://thomas.loc.gov/home/thomas.php [10] http://thomas.loc.gov/home/rss/presentedtopresident.html (along with an RSS feed) [11] http://clerk.house.gov/floorsummary/floor.aspx (along with an RSS feed) [12] http://thomas.loc.gov/home/Browse.php?&n=Issues [13] http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/d?d113:0:./list/bss/d1...: [14] http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/d?d113:0:./list/bss/d1...: [15] http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/D?d113:11:./list/bss/d... (each bill has its own RSS feed)