July 9, 2009 3:08PM 

# One Web Site: $18,000,000 

By [Jim Harper](https://www.cato.org/people/jim-harper) 

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A company called [Smartronix will get $18,000,000](http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/blogs/beltway-confidential/Hoyer-linked-firm-will-do-Recoveryorg-redesign-50353982.html) to redesign [Recov​ery​.gov](http://www.recovery.gov/), the federal Web site intended to track where federal Recovery Act spending goes.

The government purchased technology for a similar site (with a somewhat smaller scope), [USASpend​ing​.gov](http://www.usaspending.gov/), from the non-profit group OMB Watch for only $600,000. A private company already provides information on Recovery Act spending to the public for free.

**\[Update: A link formerly just above at “for free” has been removed. To learn the unusual circumstances of the removal, check out: [Copyright Law’s Abuse](https://www.cato.org/blog/copyright-laws-abuse).\]**

I [wrote here](https://www.cato.org/2009/06/17/transparency-in-all-things/) enthusiastically about the plans of the Sunlight Foundation to go after this contract, saying “\[T\]he contract award will now be subject to public scrutiny. Value-for-dollar to the taxpayer will be easily discernible, and that will raise the political risks of awarding the contract based on cronyism or go-with-whatchya-knowism. Transparency in all things.”

Sunlight did not ultimately bid. Instead, it [took some lessons](http://sunlightlabs.com/blog/2009/06/25/recoverygov-bid-we-failed/) about the government contracting business. The transparency I wrote about materialized, though, and we can take a lesson, too: *The federal government will pay $18,000,000 for one freaking Web site.*

##### Related Tags 

[Technology and Privacy](https://www.cato.org/technology-privacy) 

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