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'Plain English' bill advances in Senate |
April 02, 2009 A bill intended to banish bureaucratic language from government letters, forms, brochures and other public documents was cleared Wednesday by the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. The bill sponsored by Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii, would require that government documents be written in plain English, defined by the measure as that which "is clear, concise, well organized, and follows the best practices in language writing." After passing the House 376-1 last year, a similar bill was on the verge of clearing the Senate in September when Sen. Robert Bennett, R-Utah, placed a hold on the measure. Bennett said he was concerned about its possible effects on the Federal Election Commission.
From: www.govexec.com/story_page.cfm?articleid=42414&dcn=e_gvet
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Geithner calls for tougher standards on risk |
March 26, 2009 Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is calling for changes in how the government oversees risk-taking in financial markets, pushing for tougher rules on how big companies manage their finances as well as tighter controls on some hedge funds and money-market mutual funds.
From: online.wsj.com/article/SB123807231255147603.html#mod=WSJ_topics_obama?mod=rss_topics_obama
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Gobbledygook’s persistence |
February 23, 2009 Few Americans remember him today, but Maury Maverick was a World War
I hero and, for a time, a member of Congress. He later served as mayor
of San Antonio, a job he lost when his opponents hinted darkly that he
was a “communist fellow traveler” in a day when such hints had bite. He
was an ardent New Dealer who returned to Washington at FDR’s request
during World War II to run something called the United States Smaller
War Plants Corporation. Maury didn’t fit in all that well
here, because he was at base a plain-spoken Texan. He came back to town
at a time when government was a growth industry peopled by bureaucrats,
technocrats and elitists who were proud of the fact few other than
their peers could understand a word of what they were saying. The flood
of legislation, regulations and unintelligible instructions that
continues to this day had just begun, and Maury found himself spending
more and more time trying to figure out what the bureaucrats in his own
little agency were actually saying. By early 1944 Maury had
had enough. He wrote what The Washington Post at the time called “the
most refreshing and … effective memo ever written in the Federal
Service.” This memo coined the word “gobbledygook,” used to
describe the incomprehensible way government bureaucrats communicate
their ideas to each other and their superiors — and, unfortunately, to
the public, the ultimate target of their ideas. Maury instructed those
working for him to “Stay off the gobbledygook language. It only fouls
people up. For Lord’s sake, be short and say what you’re talking about
… Anyone using the words ‘activation’ or ‘implementation’ will be shot.” The
Post reported that Maury had tried for several hours without success to
understand a report written in “bureaucratese” by one of his
assistants, threw the report down, grabbed his Dictaphone and dictated
the memo. He told the reporter that, on finishing it, “I was relieved.
I felt as though my soul had been cleansed. For years I have been
confused and frustrated by this strange language that’s used around
here.”
From: thehill.com/david-keene/gobbledygooks-persistence-2009-02-23.html
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City recognized for financial report in plain English |
September 06, 2008 It's hard to beat plain English for understandable communication. Tallahassee City Auditor Sam McCall thinks that same basic rule should apply to a financial report, too. Tallahassee has become the latest city to publish a "Citizen-Centric Report" as a means of communicating clear, understandable government financial information to residents and encouraging citizen involvement in the budgeting process. The distinction has been recognized officially by the Association of Government Accountants. "This is the first year we did it," said McCall. The AGA is made up of about 15,000 financial-management professionals in federal, state and local government. Their concern is that if citizens are to hold government financially accountable, then they need information that clearly explains what government is doing and how it's spending the dollars it takes in. "What they are getting and what they want are two different things," McCall said. While many public officials and agencies today regard citizens as customers, he likes to think of them as owners — similar to the stockholders who receive company financial statements to know how their investments are doing. While stockholders seek profits and return on equity, taxpayers expect to see what their money was spent on and what was accomplished. "Are we doing what the citizens expect us to do?" he added. The four-page report begins with a description of the city's government and organization, leading into the services provided and how they are funded. One chart breaks down the sources of the various revenues, and another shows how they are allocated for police, parks, public works, debt service and other expenses. And there is a distinct lack of jargon that often appears in such reports. The AGA's initiative for financial reporting is called Advancing Government Accountability. The intent is to develop new thinking and practices in government accountability and transparency, promoting their value to the public as well as to those in government. The organization stresses the importance of government financial information that is clear and understandable, updated regularly, easily accessible and technically accurate in detail. McCall says he is interested in Tallahassee residents' reaction as well, including areas of interest in which an audit may be warranted to determine whether the taxpayers are getting value for their dollars. "I'm keeping a folder on all the responses I get back from people," he said, adding that nearly 40 have offered their input. For a copy of the report, go to www.talgov.com/auditing/pdf/citizenreportt2007.pdf.
Full Story: tallahassee.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080906/BUSINESS/809060327/1003
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