U.S. Newswire - TomPaine.com Unveils State of the Union Scorecard; Site Offers Facts, Comments from Diverse List of Political Leaders, Groups

WASHINGTON, Jan. 16 /U.S. Newswire/ -- TomPaine.com, the nation's leading online public interest journal, today unveiled a scorecard for the upcoming State of the Union address on Tuesday, Jan. 20. The scorecard is free and available for download at http://www.TomPaine.com/scorecard.

The scorecard focuses on six important issues: Health Care, Jobs & Economic Recovery, Funding Education, the Environment, State & Federal Spending and the War on Terror. "How straightforward will the president be with us about the real state of the Union?" asked TomPaine.com executive editor Nick Penniman. "We think all Americans should be the judge." The scorecard has three options to choose from when rating the president's presentation of the issues: Acknowledged, Ignored, or Spun.

The http://www.tompaine.com/scorecard Web site features government-backed facts, as well as quotes from some of the nation's leading political figures and organizations concerning the president's record on these issues. Users are encouraged to download the scorecard and rate the president's performance during the State of the Union address Tuesday. Following the State of the Union, users are invited back to the http://www.TomPaine.com/scorecard Web site to fill out a survey and share their results.

The following individuals and groups have submitted comments on the president's record as part of the project: Gov. Howard Dean; General Wesley Clark; Senator John Kerry; Robert Borosage, co- director of the Campaign for America's Future; John Sweeney, president, AFL-CIO; Lawrence Mishel, president, Economic Policy Institute; Gloria A. Totten, executive director, Progressive Majority; Bethany Little, associate director, White House Domestic Policy under President Clinton; Karen Wayland, legislative director, Natural Resources Defense Council; Gerald McEntee, president, AFSCME; John Podesta, president and CEO of the Center for American Progress; and Mark Karlin, editor of BuzzFlash.com

Added Penniman, "It is clear from the participation of these leaders that we are not the only ones concerned about how accurately the president is going to portray the health of our nation on Tuesday."

TomPaine.com is a nonprofit, nonpartisan Internet journal. Since 1999, its online content and ads have been praised by Rolling Stone, Forbes.com, the Columbia Journalism Review, Chicago Tribune, PC Magazine and many others.