A new project is ramping up right now that has the potential to change the way we do democracy. Seeds are being planted for real transparency and true collaboration between government and the community at large. If successful, this project signals a qualitatively new way of having ongoing citizen participation and a redefinition of the relationship between government and "we the people."
If that sounds too good to be true, maybe it is. Then again, maybe we have been lied to for so long, that having a government that works with its people instead of against them is something we need to get used to. If GWB was all excited about something called The Honest Leadership & Open Government Act, it would be cause for alarm.
Just a few days after the election, dailykos blogger greenreflex announced the Congressional Committees Project. The goal of this project is to create a forum where people can sign up and watch individual committees or subcommittees, so that we know what would otherwise be missed. There's also a wiki.
greenreflex researched and wrote up an excellent piece on transparency as it relates to the project: How far in can we get? Committee Transparency and Daily Kos
As an aside, greenreflex was a Webb volunteer. No surprise there. From that diary -
At polisigh's insistence, I've been reading an old version of "Congressional Prcedures and the Policy Process," by Walter J Oleszek, which has been invaluable thus far, since I have no political background, aside from years of Daily Kos readership and volunteering for Jim Webb's Phone from Home Service.
A Pelosi staffer read the transparency diary and contacted greenreflex to discuss the project, and greenflex followed up on this today.
So What's Going to change?Well, that's where you all come in. The staffer and I discussed several things that will hopefully be changing with the passage of the The Honest Leadership & Open Government Act. These things (that, as far as I know, should be happening soon) include: the text of bills being posted before their consideration, and conference committee hearings being held in the open.
That's not all, though. Speaker-to-be-Pelosi's office is interested in seeing our suggestions about how Congressional Committee websites are set up, and also on how they can most effectively share information with the netroots and the public.
I suggested the best I could think of: transcripts of all hearings that are open (some are closed due to what has to remain secret in them) available as soon as possible after they occur, along with audio or video of the hearings and meetings available nearly immediately if not live, with public archives available, and all of this available from a centralized location.
:)
Not all of that is going to happen. Not right away at least. The response, however, made me as happy as the ability to make the request. Pelosi and her staff seems to me to be completely committed to transparent government, and also sees the internet as essential to that goal. (That's a paraphrase.)
We discussed two things that are more likely to be doable in the near future without severely changing the way things are done. First, we talked about a House Committee RSS feed, which could signal the availability of things as they're public: transcripts, testimony, the text of bills up for consideration. We also discussed making the information not posted in .pdf format whenever possible.
Please take a few minutes to read some of greenreflex's diaries and check out the project. Better yet sign up to follow one of the subcommittees. This is a great way to make a difference and learn more about the process. There's work involved, but no one said it was going to be easy.
Here are some items of many give aways which carried with a majority of Demo votes.
The House also approved, 330-59, an agreement to allow U.S. shipments of civilian nuclear fuel to India, an administration priority that is opposed by some because India, which has nuclear weapons, has not submitted to full international inspections. The Senate quickly cleared the bill for Bush's signature. (For Mangoes)
The trade measures establishes permanent normal trade relations with Vietnam, which is generally supported, with the extension of trade benefits for sub-Saharan Africa, Haiti and Andean nations. The Haiti provisions in particular raised red flags with lawmakers trying to protect home state textile industries.
Eight GOP senators from North and South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama and Kentucky on Thursday wrote congressional leaders saying 100,000 textile jobs in their region had already been lost due to trade agreements and they would oppose "as forcefully as possible" the Haiti measure. But of the eight, only Lindsay Graham, R-S.C., and Richard Burr, R-N.C., followed through on threats to oppose the Haiti trade preference after it was added to the broader bill.
You can read the rest ot the give aways at:
Transparency is a long-term thing.
Kathy, your posts are always excellent, informative, and well written. I really look forward to reading what you've posted.
I also like Rob's comment about posting legislative and oversite docs on the internet. More transcripts means a better goverment. I am struck by the fact that it's sometimes easier to get trancripts on the UN site than for our own government. Unless a particular senator takes an interst or is shepherding a set of docs, we don't get to see the material.