Weekly Opinion/Editorial

TRANSPARENCY IS JUST CAMPAIGN TALK!
by Steve Fair

When Congress passed the $800 billion dollar federal stimulus package last year along Party lines, they required states to set up a web site where citizens could track the federal stimulus monies in their area. During his campaign President Obama said his administration would be the most transparent in history. On the White House website- http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/TransparencyandOpenGovernment/, it states, “My Administration is committed to creating an unprecedented level of openness in Government. We will work together to ensure the public trust and establish a system of transparency, public participation, and collaboration. Openness will strengthen our democracy and promote efficiency and effectiveness in Government.”
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But the President’s campaign rhetoric and statement do not square with reality. Back in March during ‘Sunshine Week,’ the Associated Press issued a review of the first year of the Obama administration. The A.P. found the Obama administration had substantially increased (+49%) the use of the so-called ‘exemption’ to disclosure under the Federal of Information Act from the last year of the Bush White House. It’s clear that transparency and Chicago politics do not go hand in hand. Transparency appears to be just for the campaign trail!
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The feds have a website to track federal stimulus monies- recovery.gov. A zip code can be entered and federal stimulus projects in that area can be viewed. But the federal site has been so inaccurate (inflating jobs/wrong information) and lags so far behind that it has become a joke. Several non-official sites, operated by a variety of organizations (liberal and conservative), are available on the web for tracking the stimulus monies, but their information may or may not be accurate.
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Oklahoma got 928 awards from the federal stimulus bill for a total of $2.42 billion dollars. Thus far, the state has received around 1 billion of the $2.42 billion dollars awarded. Most of the Sooner state’s awards went to infrastructure-roads/bridges/buildings. Oklahoma set up a hotline to report abuse of the federal stimulus monies, but in the year the hotline has been in existence, not much has been reported. "The calls haven't really been fast and furious, but, the money hasn't all been out there that long," said James Finch, FBI Special Agent In Charge. It could be taxpayers didn’t know the number existed. If you know about any stimulus fraud, waste or abuse, call the statewide hotline. That number is 1-877-259-7337.
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But waste and fraud may be a subjective term when you are talking about the federal stimulus monies. Citizens against Government Waste estimates that up to sixty percent of the $800 billion is not related to ‘stimulating’ the economy.
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Congress should never have passed this huge spending bill in the first place. Former Congressman Dick Armey was right when he said, “Taxing moves money and spending moves resources.” In other words, why on God’s green earth would anyone with a pulse believe taking money (taxes) from the most productive side of the economy (private sector), which uses resources efficiently thanks to the invisible hand of the market, and give it to the most unproductive side of the economy (government) who continually wastes finite resources (spending), thanks to the visible boot of the market? But the federal stimulus bill is did pass and become law and it’s our money that is being spent. The American taxpayer has a right to know where and how our money is being spent.
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State Senator Anthony Sykes, (R-Moore) authored SB #1759 which was signed into law by Governor Henry on June 11th. The bill carried an ‘emergency’ provision, meaning the law went into effect immediately. #1759 requires Oklahoma State Auditor and Inspector Steve Burrage to set up a web site to keep Oklahoma taxpayers informed on where their tax dollars are being spent in regard to the federal stimulus monies. As of this date, the web site is not up and running.
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The job of the Oklahoma State Auditor and Inspector is to make sure citizens have accountability and transparency from their local and state government. Burrage’s unwillingness or tardiness in getting this site up immediately- as required by law- reflects his lack of commitment to providing transparency for taxpayers. In a Sepember 2009 interview with KWTV Channel 9 Burrage said he was committed to making sure the federal stimulus dollars are “spent free of fraud, waste and abuse.” Until Burrage gets the website up, I guess the talk of transparency was just for the campaign trail!