Let’s Make This Clear

Certain recent events indicate that Congress may finally be discovering the virtues of transparency. First, Rep. John Boehner has gotten the House of Representatives to adopt a new rule that requires all Congress members to sign off publicly on “earmarked” projects, i.e., pork-barrel projects. More dramaticall~ President Bush has just signed the “Federal Transparency Act,” Sen. Tom Co- burn’s shrewd and helpful bill, which establishes a publicly accessible database of over a trillion dollars in federal contracts, loans, and grants.

These structural changes will act as a deterrent to pork-barrel spending: the public and press will be better able to find out who is behind many if not all pork projects approved. This will certainly be a deterrent, because most congressmen and all senators now rely on contributions from people outside their states; a record of pork that may please the voters in your district will cost you support elsewhere.

 Ralph Nader, in a recent letter printed in The Wall Street Journal, has suggested a good further step. Nader, a man for whom I usually have little respect, has proposed that we require that the full text of all federal contracts (suitably redact- ed to remove sensitive information) likewise be posted in a publicly accessible database. The public and the press would then be in a better position to look for patterns of corruption in government procurement.