August 18, 2006
As the old Russian saying goes: Trust but verify. To many Americans, that's the attitude we take with our own government. We believe deeply in the goodness of America but we also understand that there are those in government who – left to their own devices – would take advantage of our trust.
So, it makes sense that we would like to know what private groups are getting our hard-earned tax dollars. That's exactly what The Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 would do. This senate bill would direct the Office of Management and Budget to set up a website that would allow the American public to see which “entities and organizations” are being funded with tax dollars. It has bipartisan support, co-sponsored by Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) and Barack Obama (D-IL). Once it made it out of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, it looked like it was a done deal. Then one of our 100 U.S. senators put a “hold” on the bill. This is a seldom-used senatorial procedure that allows just one person to anonymously block a piece of legislation. In the case of this bill, it's not clear whether it's just one senator or more than one who placed a hold on this bill. Whatever the case, it's an outrage.
We, as citizens, have a right to know which organizations are receiving taxpayer money. There are multitudes of them, both liberal and conservative. The volume of money being siphoned off from the treasury is hard to determine. That's why this bill is so important. We need accountability.
Opponents of this law and the subsequent website fear that exposing all of the groups that get a piece of the action in Washington would cause a citizen backlash and all of this money would dry up. And? Government is there to do only what the private sector won't, can't, or shouldn't do. I suspect if we ever got our hands on the information the Coburn/Obama bill would afford us, we would be absolutely outraged at how far astray our federal government has gone.
But what troubles me most about the blockage of this bill is not our being denied access to the information. It's the arrogance of somebody (or somebodies ) in the United States Senate who hide behind the cloak of anonymity and control the flow of such vital information. This archaic senate rule needs to be abolished. It's unthinkable that one person out of 100 could wield such power.
I have my suspicions on who that person or persons might be but I dare not jump the gun here. Some of the names that roll around in my head might surprise you. The only way we'll find out for sure is to ask each and every senator directly if they are the guilty party. As sneaky and nefarious as this whole affair is, I doubt we'll get a straight answer.
And that's really the point, isn't it? Some politicians lie. That's a natural fact. Why, then, would we give them the power to cover up their lies in the form of this “hold” procedure? It's ironic that the very senator who doesn't want open government is not even willing to step out into the open to say so. What a cowardly act. If you're going to spend our money, at least have the guts to defend your position.
Recent polls show our confidence in Congress is at an all-time low. No wonder. If we can't trust our elected officials to come clean with us on who they're giving our money to, they don't deserve our trust.