As Unemployment Continues to Rise, Democrats Spend Millions on a Website That Isn’t WorkingPosted by Kevin Boland on July 9th, 2009
Late last night, ABC News’ Senior Political Reporter Rick Klein reported that: “$18 million in additional funds are being spent to redesign the Recovery.gov website.” That’s in addition to the $84 million the Administration has already obligated towards Recovery.gov, bringing the total spent on Recovery.gov to more than $100 million. And, as this morning’s Washington Examiner reported, that additional $18 million has an interesting connection to House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD):
Back in February, President Obama said that: “every dime of the spending will be made available to the public on Recovery.gov so every American can see where their tax dollars are going.” He also said that, “Ultimately, this is your money, and you deserve to know where it’s going and how it’s spent.” There’s only one problem: the Administration’s website doesn’t actually show were the “stimulus” money is going, as the Washington Times noted in April:
Little has changed since then. In April when discussing proposed budget cuts, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said that: “only in Washington, D.C. is $100 million not a lot of money. It is where I’m from. It is where I grew up. And I think it is for hundreds of millions of Americans.” With unemployment nearing 10 percent nationally and more than two million Americans out of work since the Democrats rushed through their $1 trillion “stimulus,” $100 million sure is a lot of money to spend on a website that isn’t working. My Response to President Obama on National Journal’s Energy BlogPosted by John Boehner on June 30th, 2009
Yesterday President Obama delivered remarks at the White House in support of Speaker Pelosi’s national energy tax, which House Democrats narrowly passed last Friday. In response, I posted the following on National Journal’s energy blog:
The White House’s Cloudy Transparency InitiativePosted by Nick Schaper on June 5th, 2009
Seeing an opportunity to start a discussion on transparency in government spending with the American people, Leader Boehner recently submitted an idea to the White House’s “open government initiative.” The Boehner-submitted idea, a 72-hour mandatory minimum public review proposal on spending legislation, is backed by a wide range of outside groups including the pro-transparency Sunlight Foundation and the nonpartisan American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), a coalition of reform-minded state legislators. Leader Boehner’s submission also asked that President Obama make good on his promise to provide for five days of public comment on all legislation before being signed into law. To date, President Obama is one for 23 in providing that review period. In announcing the “Open Government Initiative,” the Administration welcomed any and all ideas on increasing openness and transparency, saying:
This is an ideal forum for the 72 hour / 5 day reviews, especially considering the established support of the public…and the President himself. Thousands of Americans agreed, and at the conclusion of the scheduled voting period, the idea received more votes than any other. So, surely the White House took the idea into consideration, right? Not so much. When ideas from the “brainstorm” phase were chosen to move forward for further development it was apparent that the Administration officials handpicked them with no regard for public support or merit. In a White House blog post “Wrap-Up of the Open Government Brainstorming: Transparency,” White House Deputy CTO Beth Noveck indicates that the process will not be “government-wide” as previously stated and, coincidently, your votes don’t matter either:
So to the nearly 1,200 supporters of Leader Boehner’s submission, the thousands of supporters of the Read the Bill initiative, American taxpayers seeking more accountability in government spending, and yes, even the President, who has been a vocal supporter of the concept in the past, Administration officials have a message for you: It doesn’t “make sense” to discuss your ideas any further. On the brainstorming site, commenter “sobi” offers his/her appraisal of the situation:
We will continue to follow the process and look for more opportunities to engage the White House in a genuinely open discussion on these critical issues. For that discussion to be truly open, it’s time for the White House to acknowledge submissions that make sense to all Americans, even those that are inconvenient or happen to highlight their own broken promises. Please take a moment to give us your feedback on Leader Boehner’s submission or any others, in the comments below. |
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