A number of freshmen Republican Representatives called upon their more senior colleagues in both parties to enhance transparency in the legislative process by putting bills online several days before reaching the floor.

“As a freshman member of the House, I was disappointed earlier this year when the Democratic leadership refused to allow members of Congress to read and reflect on landmark legislation,” said Rep. Steve Austria (R-Ohio). “It’s just common sense … this Democratic leadership and previous Congresses, including Republican ones, have failed to live up to this common-sense standard.

Approximately half of the Congressmen in attendance had served in state and local legislatures, and pointed to the stricter transparency guidelines they had worked under as proof that increased transparency is feasible.

“One week before we had a city commission meeting, everything on that agenda was published online,” said Rep. Phil Roe (R-Tenn.), who had served as mayor in Johnson City, Tennessee.

Roe added that the guidelines he was subjected to were so strict, that he was not permitted to discuss policy amongst other lawmakers in a private setting.

“It made it a little more difficult, you couldn’t make deals, but guess who benefited? The people of our city.”

Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI.) states that the American people deserve transparency and public debate about health care reform. (0:22)

 

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House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.) he accuses Democrats for blocking transparency in the health care reform effort.

“The question to me is: what is the majority hiding?” said Cantor. “Did they not want to vote on an amendment which would require that members of Congress fall under any kind of public option that we impose on the American people? If so, shame on them.” (0:32)

 

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House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) says that during the 2008 Presidential Campaign, President Barack Obama promised greater transparency in the shaping of the health care reform legislation. Boehner contends that “this bill is being written in the dark of night.” (0:18)

 

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Senator Mary. L Landrieu (D-La.) wants to have full disclosure of the costs and effects of the health care bill before it comes to the Senate floor for debate. She hopes that the Senate can continue to work on the floor in order to bring down the cost for the taxpayers, businesses, and individuals. (1:06)

 

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Visitor Logs

Press Secretary Robert Gibbs called the White House decision to release visitor logs “as important a transparency mechanism as has been instituted in decades” and said that for future administrations it would be “difficult if not impossible to walk away from.” He said that visits will not be included in the release if they fall into one of three categories: family visits, such as friends of Malia and Sasha; national security exceptions, such as covert operatives; and meetings with people like potential Supreme Court nominees. Gibbs said that all decisions to withhold records under the national security exception will be reviewed by the White House Counsel’s office each month. He also said that visit logs “held back” for people such as nominees will be later released, and the White House will disclose how many records are being held back.

Gibbs cited the number of records—70–100 thousand per month—as a reason for not releasing the visit logs for the entire administration. Gibbs said that he would check with the Counsel’s office about whether the same disclosure policies would apply to Camp David and Air Force One. The records will include the visitor’s full name, whom he or she met with, and the time of entry and departure.

School Address

Gibbs said the upset over President Obama’s address to school kids is “a little bit of the silly season,” and that if telling kids to study hard and stay in school is a political message, someone should tell the NBA. Gibbs noted that Presidents Reagan (in 1988) and H. W. Bush (in 1991) also addressed school children. Responding to schools that are not going to be showing the address, Gibbs said that “there are school districts that won’t let you read Huckleberry Finn,” but he also said there could be logistical reasons for some schools refusals.

Jobs Report

On the new jobless numbers out this morning, Gibbs said that the country is “continuing to see a slowing of the pace of job loss,” pointing out that new jobless claims are about one-third what they were in January. He attributed the slowing to manufacturing numbers being up, new home sales being up, and consumer confidence being up.

Van Jones

Gibbs refused to discuss the Van Jones allegations, saying only that the “Truther” statements are not something the president agrees with and confirming that Van Jones continues to work in the administration.

By Michael Ruhl, University of New Mexico – Talk Radio News Service

Senator John Kerry (D-Mass.)
Photo by Michael Ruhl

In the next 5 years, the Pakistani infrastructure will be fortified by almost $10 billion American dollars, if Senators John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) have anything to say about it. The aptly titled Kerry-Lugar Bill will provided money for rebuilding the lives of civilians in war torn Pakistan.

Both Kerry and Lugar said that most of the money that has been funneled into Pakistan in the past few years has gone towards security. The aim of this bill is to shift the balance, to place more of an emphasis on infrastructure.

The Senators want to use the money for building schools, improving health care, building bridges, water projects, and other elements of infrastructure. Kerry said that the target projects are “things that would improve life and give people a sense of progress” to civilians.

The money would also be used for ensuring an independent media, expanding human rights and the rule of law, expanding transparency in government, rooting out political corruption and countering the drug trade.

Additionally military funding would be conditioned upon several things, including Pakistani security forces preventing al Qaeda and Taliban forces from operating in Pakistan. The military forces would not be able to interfere in politics or in the judicial process, according to the provisions of the bill.

The legislation bill would give $1.5 billion each year from FY 2009-2013, and would recommend similar amounts of money over the subsequent five years. There would be required benchmarks to measuring how effective the funding is, and the President will have to submit semi-annual reports to Congress about progress made.

Senator Feingold (D-WI), speaking at a hearing of the Constitution, Civil Rights and Property Rights Subcommittee on “Secret Law and the Threat to Democratic and Accountable Government,” says that it is important for the Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) to release its legal justifications for executive-branch programs. He says the OLC changes its justifications in response to Congressional legislation, so the Congress needs to know the OLC’s reasoning. (0:31)

 

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John Elwood, Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Office of Legal Counsel, Department of Justice, testifying at a hearing of the Constitution, Civil Rights and Property Rights Subcommittee on “Secret Law and the Threat to Democratic and Accountable Government,” says that legal justifications for implemented policies are available to Congress, since operative policy is “law.” However, he says there is a confidentiality interest in the legal opinions written by the OLC while they are advising among policy choices. (0:54)

 

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Robert Gibbs, the communications director of the Obama campaign, held a conference call today discussing Hillary Clinton, the tax returns and the need for transparency in the government.

 

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