I came across this little tidbit on the Washington Post website today:
One legislator's "pork," of course, is another's vital public works project. But all are earmarks, those tax and spending directions added to money bills at the behest of anonymous lawmakers -- anonymous, that is, until the legislation is passed and they can boast of it to constituents.
A coalition of odd bedfellows is trying to bring more transparency to earmarking by encouraging citizens to get involved in tracking who is trying to get what money for which special interest. And all of this will be online and available to the public.
Well, that certainly sounds like a good idea. This coalition aims to create a single database of earmarks, which the public can then access and investigate on their own. Any findings will be reported back to the database, hopefully creating a one-stop-shop for seeing where our tax money is going and on which Member of Congress' initiative.
"We feel the public should get involved in appropriations when it matters -- before the legislation is passed," she said. Teachout noted that some money mandates "are wonderful earmarks," but said, "It's our money," and secrecy invites bad governing.
Well put. We'll keep you updated on anything more we learn about this project.
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