Contract details redacted for Recovery.gov website

It an ironic twist, the Obama administration is refusing to reveal the details of a contract for creating the website that is supposed to promote transparency and allow for tracking the billions of dollars in federal stimulus spending money approved by Congress.

ProPublica reports that a software company, Smartroix, was awarded an $18 million contract to build the website for Recovery.gov. When the news organization demanded to see the contract, the General Services Administration released copies and related documents that were heavily blacked out.

Ed Pound, the director of communications for the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board, defended the redactions as "legitimate." Some sections of the contract redacted included the projects management structure, quality assurance procedures, site navigation formation, user data, the contract's warranty agreement and much more.

The secrecy has drawn criticism. Clay Johnson, the director of the Sunlight Labs, a project of the Sunlight Foundation, said "people have a right to know what their money is being spent on."

So where's the beef? Or better yet, where's the transparency?

For more on Recovery.gov:
- see this ProPublica article