Making Government Transparent and Accountable
The Sunlight Foundation uses cutting-edge technology and ideas to make government transparent and accountable. Underlying all of our efforts is a fundamental belief that increased transparency will improve the public's confidence in government
The Sunlight Foundation Blog
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2300 and Counting
In the few days since the launch of Sunlight’s Read The Bill campaign, over 2300 people have signed the petition demanding that Congress post bills online 72 hours before they are considered. That’s a lot of people who want to make sure Congress, and the public, have time to read and consider important legislation before it’s too late to do anything to change it.
It’s a great start, but it’s not enough. We are going to need a lot more signatures on our petition to convince members of Congress to change the way they do business. The citizens of this democracy should be outraged that their representatives in Congress don’t read the bills that ultimately affect each of us. We need you to blog, tweet, email or share ReadTheBill.org to help spread the word about the Read The Bill petition and just what’s at stake.
We all have a job to do when it comes to making our democracy work. Members of Congress have to Read The Bill to know and understand what they are voting on. Reporters and bloggers have to Read The Bill to explain it to the public. Membership organizations, trade associations and nonprofits have to Read The Bill so they can be a trusted resource for their members on what’s going on inside the Beltway. Corporations, small business owners and labor leaders have to Read The Bill to know how legislation might impact workers or their bottom line. Individuals have to Read The Bill on issues that are important to them so they can be active participants in our democracy.
No one can Read The Bill unless Congress puts all legislation online, 72 hours before they begin debate. Thanks to all who have helped us take the first step. Let’s keep it up.
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Show Us the Legislation
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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GAO’s Oversight of NSA. Not.
Steven Aftergood, director of the Project on Government Secrecy at the Federation of American Scientists, writing at Secrecy News, reports that the Congress has not used the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) to perform any oversight of the National Security Agency (NSA), despite maintaining an office there to do just that.
Despite multi-billion dollar acquisition failures at NSA and the Agency’s controversial, possibly illegal surveillance practices . . .Congress has declined to summon all of its oversight resources such as GAO to address such issues.
When asked NSA oversight during a Senate hearing, David Walker, GAO’s comptroller general, verified that the agency has office space at the NSA, but they don’t use it since they are not receiving any request for oversight from Congress. He added that he didn’t want to have people sitting out there twiddling their thumbs.
Sen. Daniel Akaka, chair of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs subcommittee on government oversight, has introduced the Intellegence Community Audit Act of 2007 (S. 82), that would bolster GAO’s oversight role in auditing the country’s intelligence agencies. Last Friday, Akaka convened a hearing on the subject, GovernmentExecutive.com reports, and Steven testified that federal spending on intelligence has almost doubled in the last decade, going from $26.6 billion in 1997 to more than $50 billion last year, without any corresponding increase in oversight. Steven also said intelligence agencies have doubled their spending to hire private contractors over roughly the same time period, again with inadequate oversight, what Steven termed, "In effect…a net decrease in intelligence oversight."
GAO has been called the "Congressional Watchdog" and the "Taxpayers’ Best Friend." Huh?
