Washington Post, LA Times Endorse Coburn-Obama Transparency Bill S. 2590
By Editorial
The Washington Post, LA Times
July 21, 2006
Today, two leading newspapers endorsed a bill by Senators Coburn and Obama to create a website disclosing federal funding. Opponents of the legislation must have something to hide, the editorial boards surmised, as they called for more transparency on how tax dollars are spent.
A QUESTION raised by The Post's recent reports on farm subsidies is this: Why does the nation tolerate this waste? As reporters Gilbert M. Gaul, Dan Morgan and Sarah Cohen explain, the federal government paid out $1.6 million in earthquake compensation to Washington state farmers who hadn't suffered earthquake damage . . .
The answer is that the taxpaying majority doesn't care, not least because it is oblivious. But maybe there is hope. In the era of online political organization and Internet search, information on pork-peddling scandals ought to spread faster and more widely. On Tuesday Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) held hearings on a bill to create a database of government spending and contracts that would make it easy to look up how much federal money flows to particular companies or nonprofits. The bill's bipartisan backers are hoping for quick passage, and they rightly point out that the only ground for opposing their idea is a desire to keep corrupt payments secret. It will be interesting to see whether any senator has the nerve to block the bill -- and whether leaders in the House, who want to exclude information on government contracts, are shameless enough to argue that taxpayers should be kept in the dark.
THE PUGNACIOUS, PORK-BUSTING Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) has been working to combat government waste for years. Now he's leading the charge on a bill that would mandate "full disclosure of all entities and organizations receiving federal funds" on the Web. It's a great idea . . .
It's hard to find fault with legislation that promotes such transparency -- and it's no surprise that there are enthusiasts on both sides of the aisle, including co-sponsors Sens. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), Thomas R. Carper (D-Del.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.). A refreshingly motley combination of interest groups, including Greenpeace, the Heritage Foundation, the Family Research Council and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, are also onboard.
