Washington is considering a proposal to add greater transparency to government to allow the public to see material online that is largely the domain of lobbyists today. The idea is to give the public equal access to government as lobbyists, an idea that Paul Miller, past president of the American League of Lobbyists warns is dangerous. After all, Miller notes, “what’s next? Are we going to let the American people decide our defense policy, our trade policy, our immigration policy?” Perish the thought.
The Sunlight Foundation went as far as to put the proposed Transparency in Government Act of 2008 on the Web at publicmarkup.org to allow the public to make recommendations and changes.
The bill would require Congress and the executive branch to be more transparent by making information, including sensitive financial data, available online.
