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Editorial: Earmarks need some sunshine
Muskogee Phoenix
July 7, 2006
Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., recently said he believes his proposed Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act will be passed by Congress.
We see no reason to object.
Coburn is correct about waste in government, and he’s correct, too, that every contract and grant the government hands out should be listed on a Web site open to view by the public.
We believe, like Coburn and other senators who endorse the act — John McCain, R-Ariz., and Barack Obama, D-Ill. — openness provokes honesty and efficiency.
Coburn, of course, has been critical of excessive government spending and waste, especially the practice of earmarking, congressional power to designate funds for specific projects, usually projects sought after by senators and representatives in their home states and districts.
These projects usually are approved not because of the merits of the projects but because senators and representatives want to see their own pet projects approved.
In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, we have also seen horrendous waste and fraud in the relief effort.
Posting contracts and grants on an Office of Management and Budget Web site won’t cure all the ills with our system, but enactment of the transparency act is one way for taxpayers to know exactly where the money is going. That’s potentially millions of citizen watchdogs having the ability to follow government spending and question its rationality.
That’s accountability we’d like to see.
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