As federal spending on bailouts and the economic stimulus soars into the trillions, the Obama administration faces growing pressure from a broad range of watchdog groups across the ideological spectrum to account for just where all those taxpayer dollars are going, reports National Journal's Eliza Newlin Carney in her "Rules of Game" column.

The new Coalition for an Accountable Recovery is a diverse alliance of anti-tax activists, community organizers and government transparency watchdogs that is tracking the $787 billion stimulus package. This coalition of strange bedfellows brings together progressives, libertarians and conservatives, notes Gary Bass, executive director of OMB Watch, which co-chairs CAR with Good Jobs First, a policy center promoting accountability in economic development. Other coalition members include the Center for Cities and Schools, Public Citizen and Taxpayers for Common Sense.

OMB Watch has also helped spearhead another, smaller coalition dubbed Bailout Watch, which is bird-dogging the $700 billion financial stabilization plan. CAR and Bailout Watch are part of a growing fiscal oversight craze both on and off Capitol Hill. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., has called on committee chairs to develop plans for fiscal oversight hearings. House GOP Whip Eric Cantor, R-Va., has announced a "stimulus-watch program" that invites citizens and watchdog groups to report how contractors and agencies dole out the $787 billion. There's even a new "Stimulus Watch" wiki set up by a couple of senior research fellows at George Mason University that invites citizens to find, discuss and rate state and local projects receiving federal stimulus dollars.

Read the full column here.