January 13, 2009
Tracking State Budget News on Twitter, and the Best of the Blogosphere
Last week, the National Taxpayers Union launched Statebooks.org to create a Web 2.0 community that tracks and comments on state fiscal news:
The 362,000-member National Taxpayers Union (NTU), with the help of other free-market organizations and taxpayer watchdog groups, has created the site to provide a live feed from Twitter posts containing the "#statebooks" hashtag.
"Statebooks.org is the go-to site on state budget news for policy wonks, state lawmakers, members of the media, and the general public," NTU State Government Affairs Manager Joshua Culling said. "Thanks to the community aspect of Twitter and the participation of so many individuals and organizations, we've been able to effectively promote use of the '#statebooks' hashtag and add a whole new dimension to the fiscal policy debate."
You can also follow the Tax Foundation's work on federal, state and local fiscal policy on Twitter: http://twitter.com/taxfoundation
And with a new year also comes new love for the Tax Foundation on the blogosphere:
- The National Journal's "Expert Blog" on the economy asks for opinions on the Obama stimulus plans. One of the twelve opinions featured comes from Senior Economist Gerald Prante, suggesting that "government should be concerned foremost with economic well-being, broadly defined, where the number of jobs in existence is merely a byproduct of its social welfare maximand."
- The Lake County Fiscal Rangers blog (FL) features our property tax map and data, and suggests that local governments should study up on economic data before making spending decisions.
- Brad from the Nebraska Pulse Political Blog also features our property tax data.
- Nikitas3 from RedState uses New Jersey's last place ranking in the State Business Tax Climate Index to make the point that "job creation legislation" doesn't necessarily lead to the best economic outcomes.
