News
Aug 07 2006
Editorial: Why didn't we think of it before
U.S. Senator Tom Coburn has an innovative idea that will cost the federal government virtually nothing and provide the public with a depth of knowledge on government operations unparalleled in American History.
The Chairman of the Homeland Security Subcommmittee on Federal Financial Management has introduced a bipartisan bill to create a Google-like online searchable database of all federal spending. Currently, said Coburn, there is no way for taxpayers to find out what the federal government is paying individuals, groups, localities, and contractors. "This bill will empower citizens investigators to root out waste, fraud, and abuse," the Oklahoma Republican, a leading opponent of pork, told U.S. News.
He has earned a bipartisan group of co-sponsors including Republicans John McCain and Rick Santorum and Democrat Barack Obama. Since most of the information is already online or in digital data records that could be easily posted, the cost would be comparatively small.
Interestingly, here in Louisiana, the greatest frustration of media and good government advocates is, to coin a phrase, "following the money." Appropriations and expenditures, while required under state disclosure laws to be openly listed in the budget, are often buried in reams of paper difficult for the even the most intrepid reporter or activist citizen to find.
Almost all of the data for contractors and salaries here, as in Washington, lies in computer files that, with little effort, could be uploaded to state websites. Much of it already is on the Internet, in fact. Contracting with an existing search engine company, such as Google, or working in tandem with the computer science departments at LSU or UNO, could arrange much of the information in an easily searchable form.
Of course, that would mean that our elected officials would be subject to the oversight of the average citizen. Just a few keystrokes, and the usually overtaxed voter could discover where his representative or senator spent the money he sent to Baton Rouge. That might prove the politician's greatest fear. Still, with term limits taking affect in 2007, a new crop of legislators might be open to such a revolutionary and simple idea. Makes you wonder why no one has thought of it before.
The Chairman of the Homeland Security Subcommmittee on Federal Financial Management has introduced a bipartisan bill to create a Google-like online searchable database of all federal spending. Currently, said Coburn, there is no way for taxpayers to find out what the federal government is paying individuals, groups, localities, and contractors. "This bill will empower citizens investigators to root out waste, fraud, and abuse," the Oklahoma Republican, a leading opponent of pork, told U.S. News.
He has earned a bipartisan group of co-sponsors including Republicans John McCain and Rick Santorum and Democrat Barack Obama. Since most of the information is already online or in digital data records that could be easily posted, the cost would be comparatively small.
Interestingly, here in Louisiana, the greatest frustration of media and good government advocates is, to coin a phrase, "following the money." Appropriations and expenditures, while required under state disclosure laws to be openly listed in the budget, are often buried in reams of paper difficult for the even the most intrepid reporter or activist citizen to find.
Almost all of the data for contractors and salaries here, as in Washington, lies in computer files that, with little effort, could be uploaded to state websites. Much of it already is on the Internet, in fact. Contracting with an existing search engine company, such as Google, or working in tandem with the computer science departments at LSU or UNO, could arrange much of the information in an easily searchable form.
Of course, that would mean that our elected officials would be subject to the oversight of the average citizen. Just a few keystrokes, and the usually overtaxed voter could discover where his representative or senator spent the money he sent to Baton Rouge. That might prove the politician's greatest fear. Still, with term limits taking affect in 2007, a new crop of legislators might be open to such a revolutionary and simple idea. Makes you wonder why no one has thought of it before.
