Transparency is better than nothing

Looks like Downsize DC has achieved something pretty cool:

On September 5th we launched a campaign for the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act. This bill requires the government to create a searchable, online database of "who, how much, and why," for everyone who receives more than $25,000 from the federal government. This bill would make it possible to know, for the first time, who is feeding at the federal trough. Having this database would be a major step forward in exposing government corruption, special favors, corporate welfare, and waste.

I suppose transparency is the first step to showing who's getting welfare, and I think people will be surprised at who that is. Once we have hard data about welfare recipients we can really hone in on who to attack. And somehow I just don't think the lobbyists for unemployed single mothers will end up being our main targets. Heh.

Another interesting fact about this bill is the influence the blogosphere has had in getting it passed:

CNN has confirmed that Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, has placed a hold on a bill that would require the government to publish online a database of federal spending. ... The bill has become a cause célèbre for both liberal and conservative bloggers as they tried to uncover the "secret senator" who had blocked passage of the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act (S. 2590). The bill was introduced earlier this year by Sens. Barack Obama, D-Illinois, and Coburn, R-Oklahoma. The conservative-leaning, anti-government waste site PorkbustersTPMmuckraker

The secrecy of the hold doesn't really surprise or bother me, but the fact that Stevens would whine about needing more information is outrageous if this is true:

"Senator Stevens sits on the committee where this bill was considered and never raised any objections because he skipped the hearings," Hart said. "His specific concerns were addressed at the hearings he skipped, and his office has yet to meet with us to discuss his concerns despite repeated requests."

The article also details how Stevens denounced Coburn for blocking funds for the infamous "Bridge to Nowhere", a $223 million project that will connect an island of less than 50 people to another island of around 8,000 people.

Read this article

Written on Saturday, September 09, 2006

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