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Saying it seeks to help politicians "become better listeners" and make techies effective citizens, TechCrunch today announced the launch of CrunchGov.

In an introductory post, CrunchGov creator Greg Ferenstein explained that the new site will include a political leaderboard grading politicians on how they vote on tech and a "legislative database of technology policy." That database will contain bills under congressional review and names of both the politicians who clearly understand the intersection of technology and policy and those who don't have a clue.

CrunchGov's tech-related report cards for politicos will rank legislators with "transparent criteria" that merge the political and the technical.

For example, members of congress who have excellent records of passing legislation in support of crowdfunding or opposing something like SOPA (the Stop Online Piracy Act) may receive grades as high as a B or an A.

Texas representative Lamar Smith, the Republican behind SOPA, would naturally receive a failing grade.

TechCrunch recently renewed working relationships with founder Michael Arrington and writer MG Siegler. It looks like CrunchGov is the latest effort by the AOL-owned tech blog to expand the property's profile and drive it into a leading position.