June 21, 2007

The Openness Smokescreen

As part of their effort to clean up Capitol Hill, Democrats have proposed a new ethics process in the House that allows outside groups to file complaints. However, the proposal has hit a brick wall with these watchdog groups that would presumably use the new process to hold Congress accountable for ethics violations. Democrats want these groups to reveal their entire donor list when they file any complaint to the new ethics panel.

The irony of open-government groups may be palpable, but at Heading Right, I argue that the irony only exists on the surface. The requirement supposes an equation between government and citizen groups that is simply fantasy, and acts as a smokescreen for a hostility to open government that seems to have increased in the 110th Congress.

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Comments (6)

Posted by Neo | June 21, 2007 9:28 AM

Pelosi is a loser. She lies even better than the Clintons.

All that crap about bipartisanship last Fall has now been laid bare as lies. How a Democratic controlled Congress would work hand in hand with the minority. All Lies.

Posted by Monkei | June 21, 2007 10:10 AM

All that crap about bipartisanship last Fall has now been laid bare as lies.

As I can recall, Bush also took the bipartisanship pledge.

Pelosi is not the only losers, Washington is full of them on both sides.

Posted by Immolate | June 21, 2007 10:16 AM

Well Monkei, it further appears that Bush has proven to be just as adept and predisposed to lead the Democrat congress down the golden path as he was the Republican congress, so I'd say that particular campaign promise was fulfilled.

Posted by Monkei | June 21, 2007 1:00 PM

Well Monkei, it further appears that Bush has proven to be just as adept and predisposed to lead the Democrat congress down the golden path as he was the Republican congress, so I'd say that particular campaign promise was fulfilled.

exactly. his legendary leadership is secured for future generations to admire and dismiss

Posted by Immolate | June 21, 2007 1:16 PM

It's amazing to me how a brainless chimp can make so many smart people jump around to do his bidding. Must be a rovian-cheney-halliburton-abu graib-gannon-libbey conspiracy type thing. Obviously, Bush is just the merely slightly evil front for a more diabolical bunch of serious bad guys.

The real problem Monkei is that the problem associated with electing an idealog for president is that, when his ideology departs from yours, he's just as impossible to reason with for his friends as for his enemies. The real lesson here however is the difference in response depending on whose nose is getting rubbed in it. The Democrat response: unhinged insanity and wildly speculative conspiracy theorizing. The Republican response: we kick ourselves and wish for a moment we hadn't elected the guy. We don't think that he is satan reincarnate. He's just a guy who believes deeply in certain things and won't be moved from them. But he can be beaten. Watch and learn.

Posted by Paul A'Barge | June 21, 2007 3:26 PM

Wrong.

I want citizen groups and NGOs to have to reveal every financial detail about their operation, including their donors.