Dec/090
White House releases Open Government Directive
The Obama administration, as of December 8th, 2009, is requiring every government agency to release three high-value data sets to the public within 45 days.
The Sunlight Foundation reports:
In a livestreamed chat, blogpost, and document online, the White House has announced a bold new plan for openness in the Executive Branch. The result of months of interior conversations, and three public components, the new policy introduces sweeping goals and initiatives aimed at bringing citizens closer to their government, through technology, information, and public interaction.
I’ve been impressed by the Obama’s emphasis on opening the door to the raw numbers of government. Data.gov was the first great leap forward. And now this directive to institutionalize his spoken priorities looks promising.
However, I do have one lingering question: how do we ensure accountability when we are allowing the agencies themselves to choose these “high value” data sets? We ought to ask the media, or the general public, to vote for or at least suggest data sets that will be of high value — and let the aggregation of those (filtered) suggestions form the strict directive that agencies must follow.
Allowing the departments themselves to discriminate among what data they choose to release (out of the thousands of data sets within the scope of their work) will almost guarantee that they will release inconsequential data sets so as not to make their department “look bad”. Unless agency leadership carries an ethos of constant improvement and critical self-evaluation, all we will get is the gristle.
If we are not ruthless, we could find ourselves with a dangerous new level of Washington “doublespeak,” where the White House hails a new era of unprecedented transparency, but citizens are only let in on 10% of the data that is actually available from the billions of dollars and many decades of agency operations. Erstwhile we are steered clear from the federal bureaucracy’s most egregious inefficiencies and problems.
Dec/090
Opportunity for reform?
An interesting article in the New York Times on the current opportunity for reform.
“In recent years, ethics reform, especially at the state level, has become a priority,” said Caitlin Ginley, a staff writer at the center who helped prepare the rankings. “But it really needs to come from citizens calling for this. Legislators are not going to write a law to give themselvesmore work.”
Dec/090
FBI Official: Corruption is America’s No. 1 Problem
The Palm Beach Post reports that John Gillies, FBI official with 22 years of experience, gave a spirited talk to the West Boca Chamber of Commerce:
Gillies regaled about 70 attendees with tales of his work investigating politicians, judges and attorneys in prior FBI postings across the country. These FBI targets all displayed an unhealthy thirst for money, power and greed, he said.
…
Gillies said transgressors are adept at rationalizing their untrustworthy behavior. He gave examples of the types of excuses that FBI agents typically hear: “I’m not hurting anybody.” Or “I deserve this.” And especially: “Everybody does it.”But rationalization isn’t OK, Gillies said, whether it’s coming from an elected official, [or] an attorney.
Do these rationalizations sound familiar to citizens in Massachusetts? To this day, for instance, indicted former House Speaker Sal diMasi — even after resigning under a growing corruption cloud — continues to claim he’s always acted in the best interests of the Commonwealth, and apparently without ever addressing the damning evidence before him pinning him to a kickback scheme involving tens of millions of dollars in taxpayer money.
Oct/090
Read the Bill!
The Boston Globe reveals the utter absurdity of law-making in our federal government.
From “Lawmakers, read the bills before you vote”:
Ramming legislation through Congress so quickly that neither lawmakers nor voters have time to read and digest it is a bipartisan crime; Republicans have been as guilty of it as Democrats. The 341-page Patriot Act, to mention just one notorious example, was introduced in the Republican-controlled House on Oct. 23, 2001, brought to a vote on Oct. 24, adopted by the Democratic-controlled Senate on Oct. 25, and signed into law by President George W. Bush on Oct. 26.
Fortunately there is a bill designed to require that lawmakers post the final text for any non-emergency bill online for 72 hours before voting on it. LetFreedomRing.org and ReadTheBill.org are both the main advocacy organizations working to get the bill discharged out of Committee by having Congressmen sign a petition to do so. Strangely, not a single legislator in Massachusetts has signed the discharge petition.
Well, what are you waiting for? Start calling!
Sep/090
Three. In a Row.
Well folks, I know what I’m about to talk about isn’t front page news any more, but unglue your eyeballs from the single-payer Titanic for a minute and think about something you can actually change, and that is your state government.
Three. In a row.
What am I talking about? Strikes at Fenway? $10,000 donations for our campaign? My bouts of genital warts in a month?
No, I’m talking about the Speaker of the House of Massachusetts. You know, that elected official who draws a six-figure salary to lead* the rest of his cohorts in shaping our collective future?
Yes. Three. In a row. On our watch.
You know how leadership often “sets the tone” in an organization? Well, welcome to your state government folks, where millions of your tax dollars goes to politicians’ friends companies for services to the state, regardless of their companies’ competence or bloated price-tags. Go ahead and pull up a chair, butter up the popcorn, shave off some of your paycheck and throw it to the wolves.
This House Speaker crisis is merely a symbol for a long history of public abuse in Massachusetts. Many before me have written and shouted about it, about this “culture of corruption,” where elected officials treat the public sphere as if it is the private sector. They give their friends and family special jobs and handouts. They protect one another from the court punishment and law enforcement. They not only ignore but also outright thwart and undermine government reform efforts. All on your dime.
So, with the situation as it is, I ask you friends…
How tall does the pile of evidence have to tower in order for us citizens to realize that we cannot allow our own officials to self-correct?
How rancid does the stench from Beacon Hill have to get before we citizens themselves, on their own initiative, have to grab some mops and get mopping?
And how hard must we cackle at this parade of our state’s limp, uncompetitive elections before we realize that our public servants will never change the game because the game serves them so comfortably and they know, THEY KNOW, that there’s no one out there that gets angry enough to shake them up?
I know that this hand-wringing over our crooked politicians is an old story. But here’s what’s different about my message here: we can change it, swiftly and directly, through the democratic channels that are already written into the State Constitution: the Initiative Petition process. This law is a rare example of direct democracy. The beauty of it is that does not require millions of dollars to succeed. It simply requires citizens who recognize a sense of purpose to act collectively to get something done on behalf of a weary, frustrated public.
That’s why we need you to get involved in Voter Choice now, while we push to get a question on the ballot which, if passed by the voters of Massachusetts, will change the way that we self-govern forever and will set such an important precedent for the rest of the country.
Please explore www.voterchoiceMA.org for more information.
* Well, “dictates” might be more accurate, according to MA legislative procedural rules. Read Lobbying on a Shoestring for more on that.
Aug/090
William Jefferson, US Rep, found guilty of corruption
Representative (D) from Louisiana. He took bribes of over $400,000. Some of it found in his freezer.
Crews Most Corrupt: Summary of the crime
Wall Street Journal: Why you should pay attention to this trial
Jun/090
Welcome to the Notebook
Here is a great way for citizens to record ideas that will contribute to a better democracy.
Our primary goal is to organize case studies of special interest influence on government processes into issue areas.
We can also use this as a platform to share summaries and links to content relevant to our work as state-level government reform agents and citizen servants.
We are also welcome to post snippets on our thoughts and dreams regarding new ways to engage the public and to make lasting change in the way that the public sector operates.