Text 1632, 143 rader
Skriven 2006-07-03 02:27:00 av ROSS SAUER (1:123/140)
Ärende: Government contracts
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This is exactly what bugs the hell out of me, regarding politicians and 
government contracts. 
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July 3, 2006
Push for Government Openness on Right and Left 
By JASON DePARLE

WASHINGTON, July 2 

Exasperated by his party's failure to cut government spending, Senator 
Tom Coburn, Republican of Oklahoma, is seeking cyberhelp.

Mr. Coburn wants to create a public database, searchable over the 
Internet, that would list most government contracts and grants, exposing 
hundreds of billions in annual spending to instant desktop view. 

Type in "Halliburton," the military contractor, or "Sierra Club," the 
environmental group, for example, and a search engine would show all the 
federal money they receive. A search for the terms "Alaska" and 
"bridges" would expose a certain $315 million span to Gravina Island 
(population 50) that critics call the "Bridge to Nowhere."

While advocating for openness, Mr. Coburn is also placing a 
philosophical bet that the more the public learns about federal 
spending, the less it will want. 

"Sunshine's the best thing we've got to control waste, fraud and abuse," 
he said. "It's also the best thing we've got to control stupidity. It'll 
be a force for the government we need."

But Mr. Coburn's plan, hailed by conservatives, is also sponsored by a 
Democrat, Senator Barack Obama of Illinois, and applauded by liberal 
groups that support activist government. The result is a showcase of 
clashing assumptions and the oddest of coalitions, uniting Phyllis 
Schlafly, a prominent critic of gay rights, with the National Gay and 
Lesbian Task Force.

Liberal groups, while also praising openness, are hoping for a new 
appreciation of what government does, like provide clean water and feed 
the hungry. "We need to remind people where Uncle Sam helps us each 
day," said Gary Bass, director of OMB Watch, a liberal group that got 
its start monitoring the Office of Management and Budget. 

The House unanimously passed a version of the proposal in late June, 
though in a form that had drawn outside criticism. The House bill 
creates a database that would omit contracts, which typically go to 
businesses, but would include about $300 billion in grants, which 
usually go to nonprofit groups.

"Contracts are awarded in a much more competitive environment," said 
Representative Thomas M. Davis III, a Virginia Republican who was a 
sponsor of the bill. That makes them more self-policing, he said. Mr. 
Davis, whose district includes many government contractors, said grants 
"are more susceptible to abuse." 

But liberal critics see a revival of what they call old partisan efforts 
to "de-fund the left," by reducing grants to liberal groups or adding 
conditions that limit their activities.

Mr. Coburn joined them in criticizing the House omission of contracts. 
Including them in the database, he said, is "the only way you're going 
to bust these indecent relationships of former Pentagon employees 
working for defense contractors and getting sweetheart deals from 
buddies inside."

When told of Mr. Coburn's statement, Mr. Davis said, "As usual, I think 
he's headline grabbing." While Mr. Davis supports more openness in 
contracting, he said including contracts would "gum up the works" 
legislatively since more Congressional committees would be involved.

Spending hawks have sought a spending database for years. The Heritage 
Foundation, a conservative Washington group, tried to build one itself, 
but search-engine technology now makes the task easier. 

On the right, support for the plan reflects an old concern about 
spending and a new faith in the power of blogs. Supporters picture a 
citizen army of e-watchdogs, greatly increasing the influence of 
antispending groups in Washington.

"Now that you've got the Internet, you'll have tens of thousands of 
watchdogs," said Bridgett G. Wagner of the Heritage Foundation, who is 
leading a coalition of conservative groups that support the Coburn bill. 
"That's what people see in it."

Among the bill's leading supporters is Mark Tapscott, the editorial page 
editor of The Washington Examiner, who has promoted it there and on his 
blog, Tapscott's Copy Desk. While most spending is already a matter of 
public record, Mr. Tapscott argues that it is often buried in obscure 
documents. 

"The spending cannot be sufficiently scrubbed," Mr. Tapscott said. 
Whether the database causes spending to rise or fall (he guesses it will 
fall), "what's important to me is the principle of the public's right to 
know," Mr. Tapscott said.

A number of blogs popular among conservatives have praised Mr. Coburn's 
bill. Instapundit, among the most popular, has pushed it. Seeker Blog 
called it "the best news I've heard out of D.C. this year." Captain's 
Quarters demanded "Give us the Pork Database," and Porkopolis hailed the 
measure with the slogan, "Show Me the Money."

While the bill has few overt critics, it may encounter resistance from 
Congressional insiders who have used their influence to secure projects 
back home. When Mr. Coburn tried to attach the measure to a lobbying 
reform bill this spring, Senator Trent Lott, a Mississippi Republican 
known for his zeal in aiding his state, killed it on procedural grounds.

Not everyone is convinced more sunshine will matter. "All this 
information is out there right now" and being mined by watchdog groups, 
said Douglas Holtz-Eakin, a former director of the Congressional Budget 
Office. While it was "certainly appropriate" to build a database, he 
said: "I don't think it would dramatically change public perception of 
the appropriate size and scope of government. That's a much deeper 
issue."

One important challenge involves tracking subcontractors. Money awarded, 
for example, to Lockheed, to build a military plane, might get divided 
among hundreds of parts suppliers. The database, Mr. Coburn said, would 
seek to list them all.

The push for openness runs counter to the trend of increased secrecy 
among government officials who cite the need to protect national 
security. Criticizing that trend, Mr. Tapscott said, "people in the 
Pentagon, like bureaucrats everywhere, overclassify too much because of 
the basic instinct to protect yourself." 

But Mr. Coburn said he was comfortable with the overall level of 
secrecy. His database would adhere to current disclosure rules, he said.

What if sunlight so cleanses the government that the public wants more 
of it? Grover Norquist, an antitax advocate who supports the House bill, 
just laughed. "They might say, 'Oh my goodness, look at all the good 
work that's being done,' " he said. "But I'm willing to take that 
chance."

Copyright 2006 The New York Times Company 

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