As news spreads that a consensus Wall Street bailout plan is being finalized, and leaders negotiate between proposals submitted from the Treasury Department, Senator Dodd, Representative Barney Frank, and others, two separate conversations are taking place. One is public, as the nation struggles to evaluate the urgency of the economic situation, and to understand the best course of action.  The other, however, is not public, as the compromises and deal making — the real stuff of urgent policy-making — are held in the dark.

The Sunlight Foundation is calling on Congress to publish the proposed bailout legislation as soon as possible, to give constituents and lawmakers themselves as much time as possible to examine the specifics of the proposal before it’s voted on.  We will post the draft legislation to PublicMarkup.org as soon as possible, to give citizens a chance to weigh in on the proposal’s specifics.

Congress faces urgent pressure from the Administration and from constituents to act. Regardless of the course of action Congress ultimately chooses, this is a decision that must be made in full public view. If citizens don’t have a chance to evaluate the legislation, how can Congress possibly represent their constituents’ needs?

The need for sunlight is especially required for urgent or emergency legislation. All too often, Congress praises transparency as a democratic value, but violates it in practice. Any lack of transparency in consideration of this legislation would be especially ironic since lawmakers have blamed the current crisis on financial malfeasance that was hidden from public view.

We have called the relevant congressional committees and have asked for copies of the new consensus legislation.  As soon we get it, we’ll be posting the text of the legislation online at PublicMarkup.org.

Now more than ever,  Congress must represent the needs of all Americans, and to give everyone - citizens and lawmakers alike — a chance to participate actively in the legislative process.

Before the bailout proposal is considered by lawmakers, it must undergo an even more important test: evaluation and assessment by the public.

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Here’s an interesting new report — The Blogging Revolution: Government in the Age of Web 2.0. Think of it as a kind of "Blogging for Dummies" without the humor. (No disrespect to the author or to the "…for Dummies" series.)

This report could be very helpful to any Member of Congress, mayor, state legislator, bureaucrat, corporate CEO who is looking to get an understanding of blogging and Web 2.0. In a straightforward and non-threatening manner, the report explains the Web; its history, its now, and its future. It also attempts to encourage decision makers to engage this brave new world. In common language, the author explains everything from how to start a blog, to social networking, to why blog in the first place. And he makes the case that Web 2.0 tools can increase civic engagement and strengthen our democracy.

The author includes many examples of government sponsored blogs such as Sen. Inhofe, Delaware Gov. Ruth Ann Miller and even the LAPD. He includs a list of corporate CEOs who blog, such as Dallas Mavareck’s owner Mark Cuban and Sun Microsystem’s Jonathan Schwartz. He lists all the Members of Congress who blog as of April of this year:

Rep. John Boozman (R-Ark.)

Rep. Mike Conaway (R-Texas)

Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.)

Rep. John T. Doolittle (R-Calif.)

Rep. Jack Kingman (R-Ga.)

Rep. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.)

Rep. John Linder (R-Ga.)

Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.)

Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.)

Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.)

Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.)

Rep. Mike Pense (R-Ind.)

Rep. George Radanovich (R-Calif.)

Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.)

Blogs are the fastest growing part of Web 2.0, the report says, and are becoming more respected. The benefits to government of blogging are pretty obvious. In addition to allowing government officials to communicate directly with the community, bypassing both internal and news based editorial control and encouraging openness, accountability and transparency, the study notes that Blog readers tend to be better educated, more diverse, more engaged in public decision making than the public at large.

We couldn’t have written the recommendations better ourselves.

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