Editorial: Soon you can follow the pork
Chicago Tribune
September 13, 2006
Did you ever want to follow the money? That is, the billions of dollars collected and spent by the federal government each year? That has been hard for ordinary taxpayers to do, and Congress liked that secrecy just fine. But, miracle of miracles, that's about to change.
Soon anyone with a computer will be able to search $1 trillion worth of federal spending on grants, contracts, earmarks and loans. A new law setting up a Google-like search engine for the federal budget (just about everything except entitlement spending on Social Security, Medicare, etc. and covert activities) is expected to be on its way to the president's desk by month's end.
By 2008, anyone will be able to search the federal spending database online by congressional district, state, county and city. Citizens will be able to search by recipient--"Boeing" or "Sierra Club," for example. They will be able to search by specific spending program--"highway spending," for example--or by federal agency. By 2009, all subcontract information will be available online too. (That's an area where members of the House and Senate have buried earmarked spending for many pet projects in the past.)
This is a shocking turn toward transparency for Congress, which for years has fed off secrecy in everything from lobbying to travel to those notorious earmarks.
It would not have come without the dogged efforts of the bill's Senate sponsors, Democrat Barack Obama of Illinois and Republican Tom Coburn of Oklahoma; a campaign from the blogosphere; and a refreshing willingness by House GOP leaders to compromise.
Internet bloggers helped to unmask Republican Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska and Democratic Sen. Robert Byrd of West Virginia, who had placed secret "holds" on the bill, hoping to kill it. The senators withdrew their objections, and the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act passed the Senate by unanimous consent Thursday. The House agreed to fast-track the broader Senate bill with some modifications.
This is a welcome development for taxpayers, who will get a little more of a fighting chance to hold elected representatives accountable for spending decisions.
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$9,769,490,801,830.00
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$31,868.04 Per Citizen |
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