Where can you go online to renew your passport? How much money is your congresswoman's chief of staff is making every year?
Is your senator taking foreign gifts? Which claims are true and which are false in the Washington, D.C., echo chamber? Are you eligible for a federal grant?
Believe it or not, you can find answers to all of those questions online.
Here is a handy guide to many of the best resources of government information available at your fingertips.
Maintained by reporters and researchers at the St. Petersburg Times, this site examines statements by members of Congress, the president, cabinet secretaries, lobbyists and people who testify before Congress. Statements are rated for their level of accuracy on a "Truth-O-Meter." The most ridiculous falsehoods earn the "Pants on Fire" label.
FactCheck.org is a project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania, and is similar to PolitiFact.com. FactCheck gauges the accuracy of what major U.S. political players say in TV ads, debates, speeches, interviews and news releases.
The Library of Congress maintains this website, named in honor of the third U.S. president, Thomas Jefferson. Since its inception in 1995 to make federal legislative information freely available to the public, THOMAS has expanded to become literally a one-stop shop of congressional activity. You'll find the complete texts and legislative histories of bills and resolutions, as well as reports of activity in Congress, the Congressional Record, meeting schedules, committee information, presidential nominations and treaties.
Run by the Center for Responsive Politics, OpenSecrets allows the public to track the money flowing to elected officials and chart its effect on elections and public policy. If you want to know who or which political-action committee is giving what to your congressman, this is the place to look.
One of the most invaluable political resources on the Internet, this Capitol Hill-based services digs deep so you don't have to. What you'll find here are databases of congressional staff salaries, searchable by U.S. Senate or U.S. House member, as well as comprehensive documentation of all privately financed trips taken by members of Congress and congressional staffers. LegiStorm also keeps track of who's requesting earmarks and accepting foreign gifts.
Live-streamed TV and radio coverage of House and Senate debate, as well as comprehensive video archives, from the cable network that has pushed for greater public access to the public policy process for decades.
How well is the federal government operating? The U.S. Office of Management and Budget and other federal agencies seek to answer that question by assessing the performance of every single program and providing the results to the public.
This is the U.S. government's official web portal, an attempt to serve as a one-stop shop for information and federal services. Want to apply for a passport? Buy National Park passes? Find a government grant? Apply for a job? Check for product recalls? This is the website for you.
Like THOMAS, but for true political junkies and web developers alike. This site, run by Civic Impulse, keeps track of the status of all federal legislation, voting records for the Senate and House of Representatives, information on Members of Congress, district maps, as well as congressional committees and the Congressional Record. But it also allows users to sign up for a free tracking service via RSS feed or email. It also offers personalized widgets for bloggers and website operators.
A nonprofit, nonpartisan news site that reports on trends and issues in state policy and politics. A great resource for those who want to know what's going in all 50 states, and how policies made at the federal level affect statehouses.
No list of federal government resources would be complete without the president's own officials web presence. You'll find the complete transcripts of speeches, video, press briefings and important data such as staff salaries as well.