S.2852 was recently introduced by Senator John Comyn (R-TX) and has a laudable goal of creating a publicly available and searchable website of “Earmarks” - those wasteful spending items Congress uses to repay local contributors and thus launder tax dollars into campaign contributions. This bill shares many of the objectives of the Legislative Accountability Amendment, which would provide increased transparency and accountability of both legislators and citizens on all bills, not just earmarks, but S.2852 does not actually comply with it. However, rewriting it to be in compliance is not difficult.

First, the purpose statement needs to be rewritten - the phrase “and other purposes” is not a specific purpose.

The purpose of this Act is to make available to the citizens the spending habits and appropriations processes of the Federal government, thus increasing the accountability of the government to the people and the responsibility of the people to oversee their government.

Second, the “Findings” section should be removed - findings are facts and as such are not rendered either true or false by a vote of Congress.

Third, Section 4 and Section 5 should each be spun off into separate bills, as while they are thematically connected with the Earmarks web site, they are in fact different creations and should each be handled on their own merits.

Get PDFs of the bill text as introduced and as rewritten to be compliant .

A review of recently introduced bills in the House of Representatives shows that at least some of its members wouldn’t have a problem with the Legislative Accountability Amendment. I have posted copies of four bills as introduced, and will keep track of them to see if they still would comply after committees get a hold of them:

• H.R 5767 by Barney Frank (D-MA)
• H.R. 5771 by Michael McCaul (R-TX)
• H.R. 5842 by Barney Frank (D-MA) and Ron Paul (R-TX)
• H.R. 5843 by Barney Frank (D-MA) and Ron Paul (R-TX)

H.R. 5842 and H.R. 5843 do violate the “known by number only, not by name” clause, but removing their Short Title sections would be a minor alteration.

Senator McCain has introduced S.2890 which proposes a “holiday” from Memorial Day to Labor Day for the Federal tax on gasoline.  I see several problems with this.

First, it is a politician advocating that we borrow (that is, add to the national debt) to buy your vote and stick you and your children with the payments.

Second, it is bad energy policy.  The good thing about rising fossil fuel prices is that it provides an economic incentive to conserve energy and look for alternative energy sources.  We (as in all of us acting through our government) should use tax policy to put back in place those costs which the free market ignores.  Pollution is one of the major ones that does not get paid directly by the polluter.

Senator McCain, we have had eight years of an Oil Company President,
and it has brought the United States to the brink of moral, environmental, and economic bankruptcy.  This bill tells me that having you as President would not actually bring us a change.

Our future hinges on having a sustainable energy policy.  It is at the heart
of our environmental issues, our economic issues, and our foreign policy issues.  We cannot continue to let that policy be formed only on the basis of this quarter’s profits and this quarter’s public opinion poles.  This change will not be easy, and it will not be painless, but the alternative is worse.

Current energy policy funds both global warming and terrorism.   The proposed Gas Tax Holiday is more of the same.  No pain, no gain, Senator.

The recent controversy over the Earmark added to the Highway Corrections Bill (H.R. 1195) shows the urgent need for more tranparency in the lawmaking process.  Earmarks in general are bad enough, but this controversy is about more than money - the text of a law was CHANGED between the time Congress passed it and the President signed it into law.  This means that we now have  a law on the books that was never voted on by Congress!

This is being investigated from the point of view that the earmark funds will benefit a contributor to the local Congressman involved, which of course does need to be dealt with. However, the news reports I have seen don’t seem to be concerned with how the bill got changed AT ALL between Congress and the White House.  What’s next - a bill that passes Congress with the phrase “Waterboarding shall be considered torture” gets signed into law as “Waterboarding shall not be considered torture”?

Suggestion for a simple correction by Congress:

“The Highway Corrections Bill, H.R. 1195, is hereby repealed in its entirety as the bill as signed by the President was not what was passed by Congress.”

Publishing the full text of each and every bill for 48 hours before it can be voted on would make this kind of deceit much more difficult to even attempt. I wonder how many times this has been gotten away with that we don’t even know about?

“It’s not surprising, then, they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.”

Sounds like a pretty good assessment for many places in the world today, not just abandoned factory towns in middle America. In fact, it sounds like a pretty good description of the tools used by politicians all around the world to justify their personal power grabs and try to drag the common people along to die for their wealth. Hitler blamed the Jews for Germany’s trashed economy. Bush uses the “war on terror” as an excuse to trash the Constitution.
Hamas and Bush’s twin in Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, blame the US and Israel for everything that’s ever gone wrong in the Middle East.

If you think I’m talking down to you when I make these points, then you need to step up. The ones who are really condescending are the ones who are using your frustration to make themselves rich. Its easy to get people to hate of you make the object of the hate somehow not quite human. It’s not so easy to hate when you realize that the “other” is really just like you in wanting to bring up their children in a reasonably safe and comfortable environment.

Barack Obama should be congratulated for telling the truth, not asked to apologize for it. Big Government and Big Media (the public face of Corporate America) do realize that “the truth shall set you free”, and they want none of it.  If telling the truth is “political suicide”, then lying is the convenient path to power.

This proposed Amendment to the House bill (tax bills have to originate in the House, not the Senate) is a perfect example of why the Legislative Acountability Amendment is needed. Keep in mind that this is only an amendment to be attached to what started as an Energy bill:

1. A standard property tax deduction for filers who do not itemize deductions.
2. Bonds for refinancing sub-prime loans, mortgages for first-time homebuyers, and multi-famly rental properties.
3. Extending the net operating loss carry-back from two years to four years for businesses.
4. Raise the dollar limit on FHA insured mortgages.
5. A $7000 tax credit for new homeowners who buy foreclosed properties.
6. Community Development Block Grants for states to buy up and refurbish foreclosed homes.
7. Provide funding for programs to reduce foreclosures and provide mortgage counseling.

Regardless of who you think is responsible for the current mortgage and housing issues, it should be obvious that not all of these items actually address the issues.

On the property tax standard deduction - it is my experience that having a mortgage is what gets you to where you itemize deductions, so this would mostly benefit those who already own their home free and clear, not those struggling to make mortgage payments.

The tax credit for those buying foreclosed properties will benefit the banks which foreclose and further depress property values for everyone else. This will most likely increase the number of foreclosures, which does not fit with the stated purpose of the bill.

Extending the net operating loss carry-back period will allow builders to get back taxes they paid during profitable years. How does this help anybody but builders who don’t want to adapt to the market changes? It amazes me how the politicians most in favor of free markets and against welfare for individuals are the first to propose corporate welfare.

Each member of the House and Senate has a web site with their contact information on it - phone, mail, and a web form in place of email due to spam issues.  A directory of Senators and a Write Your Representative page make finding them easy.  Knowing your Zip+4 will help if your zip code is spread across multiple House districts.

You will generally get a reply (assuming you are in the area the legislator represents - communications from outside the state or district are generally not responded to), but it is usually a canned response crafted for the particular bill or issue. Sometimes it can even be rather hard to tell if the legislator agrees or disagrees with you. One key phrase to look for is “I will keep your views in mind.” The rest of that sentence is “when I vote the other way.”

It gets really sad when you try to continue a dialog and get the same canned response back to your questioning of phrases from the first response. At least that is how things go in Georgia,where Congressmen utter such memorable quotes as “I voted for torture!” and campaign to have the Ten Commandments posted it courthouses even though they cannot remember what they are.

These songs aren’t just about one issue or event, but stay meaningful year after year.

For What It’s Worth - Buffalo Springfield (Stephen Stills)  lyrics

I love songs where the title has some meaning, not just an echo of the
“hook”.  The people in power may not listen or ever learn
anything, but that doesn’t mean you stop trying.  Over forty years
old and still relevant.

Best line:  ”It starts when you’re always afraid”

The Cult of Personality - Living Color (V Reid, C. Glover, W. Calhoun, M. Skillings)  lyrics

If you are going to vote for or against Clinton because she’s a woman
or Obama because he’s black, you need to listen to this one until it
sinks in.

Best line:  ”I exploit you; still you love me”

Tell the Truth - Derek & the Dominos (Eric Clapton/Bobby Whitlock)  lyrics

I don’t know if this was ever really intended as a  political
statement, but since we have come to a place where we expect that every
statement from a public official is a lie, every journalist has an
agenda, and making an honest statement of your opinion in public will
get you fired from a campaign staff, it sure needs to be.

Best line:  ”You better come to terms with your fellow men soon”

Won’t Get Fooled Again - The Who (Pete Townsend)  lyrics

For all the people in all the places where “Misson Accomplished” and “Peace in our time” have been declared.

Best line:  ”For I know that the hypnotized never lie”

7. Congress must decide upon and fund a system to implement section 6 so as to have it operational within 180 days from passage of this amendment.

I would suggest an internet site with no login, cookies, or other tracking devices, as well as publishing to all newspapers and news stations.

The time limit is necessary to prevent the stalling that would otherwise result from the fact that implementing this is going change the way Congress operates substantially, and most of them won’t like it.  Six months should be long enough that on one can claim they have to rush through a no-bid contract, though.  I might be overly optimistic on that score though.  It will seem awfully short to those whose power will be diminished by open government.

I can think of no better way to counter the influence of lobbyists than, as Woodrow Wilson put it, “open covenants openly arrived at”. Before a bill comes to a vote, everybody gets to read it and contact their representative about it.

Add an amendment? Post the revision and wait another 48 hours.

Add a comma? Post the revision and wait another 48 hours.

This also acts to remove the “I didn’t know it was in there” excuse from the citizens. Read and speak out early and often or you have no right to whine about it later. “We the people” can only get back our government if we are willing to put more time into it than just the nightly sound bites.