In effort to help eliminate billions of dollars in wasteful spending, I recently announced my support for a 72-hour mandatory minimum public review period on all major spending bills brought before Congress. This 72-hour review proposal, which would help to prevent taxpayer-funded outrages such as the empty “Airport for No One” in the congressional district of Democratic Rep. John Murtha (D-PA) and huge bonuses for AIG executives, is a reform proposal that been advocated by nonpartisan organizations such as the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), a coalition of reform-minded state legislators, and the pro-transparency Sunlight Foundation.
If the Administration chose to support such a review, and follow through on its own promise to allow for five days of public comment on all bills before signing, it would represent a good first step toward greater transparency and accountability in government spending.
292 Organizations and Corporations Support Swift Action to Restore Strong, Comprehensive Whistleblower Rights
May 14, 2009
An Open Letter to President Obama and Members of Congress
The undersigned organizations and corporations write to support the completion of the landmark, nine-year legislative effort to restore credible whistleblower rights for government employees. We offer our support to expeditiously pass legislation that includes the critical reforms listed below. Whistleblower protection is a foundation for any change in which the public can believe. It does not matter whether the issue is economic recovery, prescription drug safety, environmental protection, infrastructure spending, national health insurance, or foreign policy. We need conscientious public servants willing and able to call attention to waste, fraud and abuse on behalf of the taxpayers.
Unfortunately, every month that passes has very tangible consequences for federal government whistleblowers, because none have viable rights. Last year, on average, 16 whistleblowers a month lost initial decisions from administrative hearings at the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB). Since 2000, only three out of 53 whistleblowers have received final rulings in their favor from the MSPB. The Federal Circuit Court of Appeals, the only court which can hear federal whistleblower appeals of administrative decisions, has consistently ruled against whistleblowers, with whistleblowers winning only three cases out of 209 since October 1994 when Congress last strengthened the law.
It is crucial that Congress restore and modernize the Whistleblower Protection Act by passing all of the following reforms:
• Grant employees the right to a jury trial in federal court; • Extend meaningful protections to FBI and intelligence agency whistleblowers; • Strengthen protections for federal contractors, as strong as those provided to DoD contractors and grantees in last year’s defense authorization legislation; • Extend meaningful protections to Transportation Security Officers (screeners); • Neutralize the government’s use of the “state secrets” privilege; • Bar the MSPB from ruling for an agency before whistleblowers have the opportunity to present evidence of retaliation; • Provide whistleblowers the right to be made whole, including compensatory damages; • Grant comparable due process rights to employees who blow the whistle in the course of a government investigation or who refuse to violate the law; and • Remove the Federal Circuit’s monopoly on precedent-setting cases.
We know you share the commitment of every group signing the letter below to more transparency and accountability in government. Please let us know how we can participate to make this good government reform law to protect federal whistleblowers and taxpayers.
Sincerely,
Marcel Reid, Chair ACORN 8
Adele Kushner, Executive Director Action for a Clean Environment
David Swanson, co-founder AfterDowningStreet
Pamela Miller, Director Alaska Community Action on Toxics
Dan Lawn, President Alaska Forum on Environmental Responsibility
Cindy Shogun, Executive Director Alaska Wilderness League
Ruth Caplan Alliance for Democracy
Susan Gordon, Director Alliance for Nuclear Accountability
Rochelle Becker, Executive Director Alliance for Nuclear Responsibility
Gil Mileikowsky, M.D. Alliance for Patient Safety
Linda Lipsen, Senior Vice President for Public Affairs American Association for Justice (AAJ)
Mary Alice Baish, Director, Government Relations Office American Association of Law Libraries
F. Patricia Callahan, President and General Counsel American Association of Small Property Owners
John W. Curtis, Ph.D., Director of Research and Public Policy American Association of University Professors
Christopher Finan, president American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression
Caroline Fredrickson, Director, Washington Legislative Office American Civil Liberties Union
Michael D. Ostrolenk American Conservative Defense Alliance
Dr. Paul Connett, Executive Director American Environmental Health Studies Project, Inc.
John Gage, National President American Federation of Government Employees
Charles M. Loveless, Director of Legislation American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees (AFSCME)
Mary Ellen McNish, General Secretary American Friends Service Committee
Caitlin Love Hills, National Forest Program Director American Lands Alliance
Jessica McGilvray, Assistant Director American Library Association
Tom DeWeese, President American Policy Center
Alexandra Owens, Executive Director American Society of Journalists and Authors
Charlotte Hall, President American Society of Newspaper Editors
Patricia Schroeder, President and CEO Association of American Publishers
Prudence Adler, Associate Executive Director Association of Research Libraries
Ms. Bobbie Paul, Executive Director Atlanta WAND (Women's Action for New Directions)
Samuel H. Sage, President Atlantic States Legal Foundation, Inc.
Jay Stewart, Executive Director Better Government Association
Jay Feldman, Executive Director Beyond Pesticides
Matthew Fogg, First Vice-President Blacks in Government
Chip Pitts, President Bill of Rights Defense Committee
Diane Wilson, President Calhoun County Resource Watch
Jane Williams, Executive Director California Communities Against Toxics
Peter Scheer, Executive Director California First Amendment Association
Terry Franke, Executive Director Californians Aware
Reece Rushing, Director of Regulatory and Information Policy Center for American Progress
William Snape, Senior Counsel Center for Biological Diversity
Charlie Cray, Director Center for Corporate Policy
Gregory T. Nojeim, Senior Counsel and Director, Project on Freedom, Security & Technology Center for Democracy and Technology
J. Bradley Jansen, Director Center for Financial Privacy and Human Rights
Joseph Mendelson III, Legal Director Center for Food Safety
Paul Kurtz, Chairman Center for Inquiry
Robert E. White, President Center for International Policy
Lawrence S. Ottinger, President Center for Lobbying in the Public Interest
Merrill Goozner, Director Integrity in Science Center for Science in the Public Interest
John Richard Center for Study of Responsive Law
Linda Lazarus, Director Center to Advance Human Potential
Craig Williams, Director Chemical Weapons Working Group & Common Ground
Phil Fornaci, Counselor C.H.O.I.C.E.S.
Leonard Akers Citizens Against Incineration at Newport
Evelyn M. Hurwich, President and Chair Circumpolar Conservation Union
David B. McCoy, Executive Director Citizen Action New Mexico
Doug Bandow, Vice President for Policy Citizen Outreach
Deb Katz, Executive Director Citizens Awareness Network
Barbara Warren, Executive Director Citizens' Environmental Coalition
Elaine Cimino Citizens for Environmental Safeguards
James Turner, Chairman of the Board Citizens for Health
Michael McCormack, Executive Director Citizens for Health Educational Foundation
Gerard Beloin Citizens for Judicial Reform
Laura Olah, Executive Director Citizens for Safe Water Around Badger
Anne Hemenway, Treasurer Citizen's Vote, Inc.
Rick Piltz Climate Science Watch
John Judge Coalition on Political Assassinations 9/11 Research Project
Zena Crenshaw, 2nd Vice-Chair 3.5.7 Commission on Judicial Reform
Sarah Dufendach, Vice President for Legislative Affairs Common Cause
Greg Smith, Co-Founder Community Research
Clarissa Duran, Director Community Service Organization del Norte
Neil Cohen, Publisher Computer Law Reporter, Inc.
Joni Arends, Executive Director Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety
Lokesh Vuyyuru, MD, Founder Concerned Citizens of Petersburg
Daniel Hirsch, Member, Executive Committee Concerned Foreign Service Officers
Matthew Fogg, President Congress Against Racism & Corruption in Law Enforcement (CARCLE)
Linda Sherry, Director of National Priorities Consumer Action
Ellen Bloom, Director of Federal Policy Ami Gadhia, Policy Counsel Consumers Union
Bob Shavelson, Director Cook Inlet Keeper
Neil Takemoto, Director CoolTown Betta Communities
Tonya Hennessey, Project Director CorpWatch
Louis Wolf, Co-Founder CovertAction Quarterly
John Issacs, Executive Director Council for a Livable World
Anne Weismann, Chief Counsel CREW, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington
Cathy Harris, Founder, Executive Director Customs Employees Against Discrimination Association
Miho Kim, Executive Director DataCenter
Mary Elizabeth Beetham, Director of Legislative Affairs Defenders of Wildlife
Sue Udry, Director Defending Dissent Foundation
Bob Fertik, President Democrats.com
Paul E. Almeida, President Department for Professional Employees, AFL-CIO
Courtney Dillard, Founder Dillard-Winecoff Boutique Hotel
Ben Smilowitz, Director Disaster Accountability Project
Dr. Patrick Campbell Doctors against Fraud
Dr. Disamodha Amarasinghe Doctors for National Healthcare
James J. Murtagh, Jr., President Doctors for Open Government
Dr. John Raviotta Doctors for Reform of JCAHO
Marco Simons, Legal Director EarthRights International
Bruce Baizel, Senior Staff Attorney Earthworks
Larry Chang, Founder EcolocityDC
Thea Harvey, Executive Director Economists for Peace and Security
Lisa Walker, Executive Director Education Writers Association
Mike Ewoll, Founder and Director Energy Justice Network
Gregory Hile EnviroJustice
Chuck Broscious, President Environmental Defense Institute
Carol Werner Environmental and Energy Study Institute
Judith Robinson, Director of Programs Environmental Health Fund
Eric Shaeffer, Executive Director Environmental Integrity Project
Peter Montague, Ph.D, Director Environmental Research Foundation
Jason Zuckerman The Employment Law Group
Rob Weissman Essential Information
George Anderson Ethics in Government Group (EGG)
Bob Cooper Evergreen Public Affairs
Gabe Bruno FAA Whistleblowers Alliance
Robert Richie, Executive Director FairVote
Janet Kopenhaver, Washington Representative Federally Employed Women (FEW)
Steven Aftergood, Project Director Federation of American Scientists
Marilyn Fitterman, Vice President Feminists for Free Expression
Ellen Donnett, Administrative Director Fluoride Action Network
Andrew D. Jackson Focus-On-Indiana for Judicial Reform
Wenonah Hauter, Executive Director Food and Water Watch
Bob Darby, Coordinator Food Not Bombs/Atlanta
Andy Stahl Forest Service Employees for Environmental Ethics (FSEEE)
Tom Ferguson Foundation for Global Community/Atlanta
Ruth Flower, Legislative Director Friends Committee on National Legislation (Quakers)
Brent Blackwelder, President Friends of the Earth
Conrad Martin, Executive Director Fund for Constitutional Government
Gail Naftalin, Owner Gail’s Vegetarian Catering
Karyn Jones, Director G.A.S.P
Gwen Marshall, Co-Chairman Georgians for Open Government
Neil Tangri Global Anti-Incinerator Alliance
Denny Larson, Executive Director Global Community Monitor
Reede Stockton Global Exchange
Paul F. Walker, Ph.D., Legacy Program Director Global Green USA (The US Affiliate of Green Cross International, Mikhail Gorbachev, Chairman)
Bill Owens, President The Glynn Environmental Coalition
Tom Devine, legal director Government Accountability Project
Bill Hedden, Executive Director Grand Canyon Trust
Molly Johnson, Area Coordinator Grandmothers for Peace, San Luis Obispo County Chapter
Alexis Baden-Mayer Grassroots Netroots Alliance
Luci Murphy Gray Panthers of Metropolitan Washington
Alan Muller Green Delaware
Jenefer Ellingston Green Party of the United States
Tracy Frisch Greenwich Citizens Committee
James C. Turner, Executive Director HALT, Inc. -- An Organization of Americans for Legal Reform
Tom Carpenter, Executive Director Hanford Challenge
Arthur S. Shoor, President Healthcare Consultants
Helen Salisbury, M.D. Health Integrity Project
Vanessa Pierce, Executive Director Healthy Environment Alliance of Utah (HEAL Utah)
Gerry Pollet Heart of America Northwest
Ernie Reed, Council Chair Heartwood
Liz Havstad, Chief of Staff Hip Hop Caucus
Doug Tjapkes, President Humanity for Prisoners
Keith Robinson, Interim President Indiana Coalition for Open Government
Scott Armstrong, Executive Director Information Trust
Arjun Makhijani, Ph.D., President Institute for Energy and Environmental Research
Brenda Platt, Co-Director Institute for Local Self-Reliance
Donald Soeken, President Integrity International
Michael McCray, Esq., Co-Chair International Association of Whistleblowers
Mory Atashkar, Vice President Iranian American Democratic Association
Mark S. Zaid James Madison Project
John Metz, Executive Director JustHealth
Brett Kimberlin, Director Justice Through Music
Elizabeth Crowe, Director Kentucky Environmental Foundation
Tom FitzGerald, Director Kentucky Resources Council, Inc.
Kit Wood, Owner Kit’s Catering
James Love Knowledge Ecology International
Josephine Carol Cicchini LeapforPatientSafety
Jonathon Moseley, Executive Director Legal Affairs Council
James Plummer Liberty Coalition
Greg Mello, Executive Director Los Alamos Study Group
Dr. Janette Parker Medical Whistleblower
Ayize Sabater, Organizer Mentors of Minorities in Education's Total Learning Cic-Tem
Jill McElheney, Founder Micah's Mission Ministry to Improve Childhood & Adolescent Health
Ellen Smith, Owner and Managing Editor Mine Safety and Health News
Mary Treacy, Executive Director The Minnesota Coalition on Government Information
Helen Haskell Mothers Against Medical Error
Mark Cohn, President MPD Productions, Inc.
James Landrith, Founder The Multiracial Activist
Larry Fisher, Founder National Accountant Whistleblower Coalition
Tinsley H. Davis, Executive Director National Association of Science Writers
Jim L. Jorgenson, Deputy Executive Director National Association of Treasury Agents
Dominick DellaSala, Ph.D., Executive Director of Programs and Chief Scientist National Center for Conservation Science & Policy
Joan E. Bertin, Esq., Executive Director National Coalition Against Censorship
Eileen Dannemann, Director National Coalition of Organized Women
Russell Hemenway, President National Committee for an Effective Congress
Sally Greenberg, Executive Director National Consumers League
Terisa E. Chaw, Executive Director National Employment Lawyers Association
Andrew Jackson National Judicial Conduct and Disability Law Project, Inc.
Kim Gandy, President National Organization for Women
Paul Brown, Government Relations Manager National Research Center for Women & Families
Sibel Edmonds, President and Founder National Security Whistleblowers Coalition
Pete Sepp, Vice President for Policy & Communications National Taxpayers Union
Colleen M. Kelley, National President National Treasury Employees Union
Steve Kohn, President National Whistleblower Center
Amy Allina National Women's Health Network
Lewis Maltby, President National Workrights Institute
Terrie Smith, Director National Nuclear Workers For Justice
Tim Hermach, President Native Forest Council
Doug Kagan, Chairman Nebraska Taxpayers for Freedom
Sr. Simone Campbell, SSS, Executive Director NETWORK, A National Catholic Social Justice Lobby
Ron Marshall, Chairman New Grady Coalition
Rick Engler, Director New Jersey Work Environment Council
Douglas Meiklejohn, J.D., Executive Director New Mexico Environmental Law Center
Caroline Heldman Ph.D., Director New Orleans Women’s Shelter
Marsha Coleman-Abedayo, Chair No FEAR Coalition
Nina Bell, J.D., Executive Director Northwest Environmental Advocates
Alice Slater, Director Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, New York
David A. Kraft, Director Nuclear Energy Information Service (NEIS)
Michael Mariotte, Executive Director Nuclear Information and Resource Service
Jay Coghlan, Executive Director Nuclear Watch New Mexico
Gwen Lachelt, Executive Director Oil & Gas Accountability Project
Sean Moulton, Director, Federal Information Policy OMB Watch
Nikuak Rai, Arts Director One Common Unity
Rob Kall Op Ed News
Patrice McDermott, Executive Director OpenTheGovernment.org
Paul Loney, President Oregon Wildlife Federation
Ellen Paul, Executive Director The Ornithological Council
Joe Carson, Chair P. Jeffrey Black, Co-Chair OSC Watch Steering Committee
Judy Norsigian, Executive Director Our Bodies Ourselves
Betsy Combier, President and Editor Parentadvocates.org
Ashley Katz, MSW, Executive Director Patient Privacy Rights
Blake Moore Patient Quality Care Project
Dianne Parker Patient Safety Advocates
Former Special Agent Darlene Fitzgerald Patrick Henry Center
Paul Kawika Martin, Organizing, Political and PAC Director Peace Action & Peace Action Education Fund
Bennett Haselton, Founder Peacefire.org
Rev. Paul Alexander, Ph.D., Director Pentecostals & Charismatics for Peace & Justice
Michael McCally, MD, PhD, Executive Director Physicians for Social Responsibility
Dale Nathan, J.D., President POPULAR, Inc.
Vina Colley, President Portsmouth/Piketon Residents for Environmental Safety and Security (PRESS)
David Banisar, Director, FOI Project Privacy International
Evan Hendricks, Editor/Publisher Privacy Times
Robert Bulmash, President Private Citizen, Inc.
Ronald J Riley, President Professional Inventor's Alliance
Dr. Paul Lapides Professors for Integrity
Tim Carpenter, Director Progressive Democrats of America
Danielle Brian, Executive Director Project On Government Oversight
Ellen Thomas, Executive Director Proposition One Committee
David Arkush, Director, Congress Watch Public Citizen
Jeff Ruch, Executive Director Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility
Robert L. FitzPatrick, President Pyramid Scheme Alert
Dr. Diana Post, President Rachel Carson Council, Inc.
Lucy A. Dalglish, Executive Director The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press
Kirsten Moore, President and CEO Reproductive Health Technologies Project
Tim Little, Executive Director Rose Foundation for Communities and the Environment
John W. Whitehead, president The Rutherford Institute
Adrienne Anderson, Coordinator Safe Water Colorado and Nuclear Nexus Projects Rocky Mountain Peace and Justice Center (Whistleblower Anderson v Metro Wastewater)
One thing I find frustrating is that congress can pass a bill with "hidden" mini laws.
For example, congress recently passed a bill to reform credit card companies and it also included a provision allowing people to carry handguns into national parks. What? How do those two ideas relate?
Those items should have been two separate bills. I know politics is about compromise; but, I want congress debating the details of credit card reform and not slipping in a gun law so that they can get a few extra votes. This seems disingenuous.
Each bill should focus on one idea/concept/law. This only seems fair.
Board meetings are where some of the most important decisions are made by our government. Allow the American people access to the decision making process by requiring all of these meetings to be webcast on the Internet both live and on-demand.
The Governor of New York State pioneered this initiative in 2007 when he required all State agencies and authorities to webcast their meetings (Executive Order 3). It's been highly successful. The State requires all the agencies to webcast their meetings live if they have the Internet access to do it live and requires them to post the meetings online within 48 hours for on-demand viewing. The webcasts need to work for both broadband and dial-up users and be compatible with at least 2 media players. All videos are closed captioned within 7 days for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing.
Having these meetings online will save a ton of money for both the government and interested parties who normally have to travel to attend these meetings. By having these meetings webcast online, some people who would normally travel to the meetings will no longer have to -saving time, money, and energy. It's the green way to go.
No one can verify that the Federal Reserve Bank has contributed positively or negatively to our markets or economy without transparency of it's actions. Period.
This seems logical, and yet bills with sweeping consequences, sometimes numbering in the hundreds of pages, are printed when there is no time for anyone to read the bill, let alone intelligently consider it, before voting. Constitution-bending pieces of legislation have been bullied into passage with a lot of noise about how we can't wait to pass it, even though we have to live with the consequences for years after it is passed. This is how the Patriot Act was passed, for instance.
The president should issue a policy directive prohibiting agencies from creating secret “laws” or regulations or from using secret processes to prevent public input in the development of government rules.
A secret law is a regulation, policy, or directive that, for one reason or another, has been kept secret from the persons to whom it applies. Secret law that is inaccessible to the public is inherently antithetical to democracy and foreign to the tradition of open publication that has characterized most of American legal history. Many consider such secret laws to be inherently illegal. Yet there has been a discernable increase in secret law and regulation in recent years. Among the examples of secret law are secret interpretations of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, secret opinions of the Office of Legal Counsel, secret presidential directives, and secret transportation security directives. While there are occasions when some presidential directives should legitimately be classified and therefore issued in secret, even these exceptions should only remain secret for a reasonable time period. The president should require all agencies to publicly disclose non-classified regulations and rules currently in place and commit to public process for all new regulations and directives. Additionally, all legal opinions from the Office of Legal Counsel should be made public.
Bloomberg News and the New York Times have documented nearly $13 trillion dollars given or promised by the Federal Reserve and the government since the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy in September 2008.
While this $13 trillion includes TARP money and some recovery money, there is much more in a variety of Federal Reserve programs where we don't know which banks and corporations have gotten money and how much.
Because it is public money being spent, the public has a right to understand the specific details of where that money has been spent.
Congress most of the time doesn't even know what they are voting on, some nameless aids write it and the tell them what it is about. 2. Show Where in the Constitution they have the authority to do what they are trying to do. 3. Make a mandatory balanced budget. 4. Make them publish their voting record in their home districts. 5. They shouldn't be able to spend money they don't have absolute proven fund for.
The IRS is the opposite of an open government. They operate in a "we are always right" fashion and are nearly impossible to get help from. They have been created for a purpose to collect money for the people to help our nation of the people. However, they forgot along the way that the same people they treat with indifference and as a number are those that they are working for.
First, the IRS should not deploy an assumption that every citizen is guilty until they themselves prove their own innocence. While this might be an efficient manner to operate within, this is providing a disservice to the citizen selected for examination. This does also mean that automated notices should be done away with. For example, some citizens get an automated notice that all of their charitable contributions are discarded and invalid along with the paperwork to pay the back taxes and fines associated with those contributions. The citizen was assumed guilty and they are able to try to prove their innocence by sending in their paperwork.
Second, the IRS should work in as efficient and open of a process as they expect the citizens to be. For example, upon being audited the IRS expects the citizen to return documentation within 30 days by mail or fax. However, they are "not able to" confirm the receipt of that information for 3 weeks let alone respond to it. Websites and interactions to check on the status of the information should be available.
Third, the IRS should allow for open communication to the people who can actually help. Upon being audited, many citizens are pointed to a toll free number they can call and talk to a representative that has nothing to do with the audit itself. This is not open and is also a disservice to citizens.
Finally, the IRS should allow for an open way to give feedback on a particular auditor's performance. If an auditor was being unreasonable, there should be an open process to complain about an auditor. For example, if an auditor is being rude or insensitive to a citizen, they should have the right to easily file a complaint and have that complaint responded to.
It's just my personal opinion, but if I have to show this information to get a Drivers License, replacement SS card etc, YOU Mr. President, ought to have to to prove that you are in fact eligible to serve. Based on what you have done (ie seal all records and hire leigons of attorneys to make sure that the records stay that way) I would speculate that you have something to hide - like maybe you were not born in the USA and just maybe went to Harvard on an International Student Scholarship?
When there is a bill that ends up on your desk as President, we the public will have five days to look online and find out what is in it before you sign it so that we know what our government is doing.
by restoring FISA protections that require warrants before surveilling communications between U.S. citizens. The "Cybersecurity Czar" Pres. Obama appointed resigned in protest because he claimed the NSA was refusing to pass on his recommendations for protecting the privacy of citizens using the Internet, and was creating a situation that threatened to treat all Internet communications, including communications with journalists as open to surveillance w/o distinction.
Barack Obama should provide his long-form birth certificate and prove that he is actually eligible to serve as president. Even my children had to provide certified copies of their birth certificates in order to participate in little league baseball.
College and passport records should also be made public for all presidential candidates.
A reasonable person does not spend more than a million dollars in legal fees to prevent the public from accessing records when there is nothing to hide.
Government/military employees undergoing investigation prior to being awarded even the lowest security clearances are required to provide more information than our current commander-in-chief.
....when the President spends a million to keep his vault birth certificate and other personal records secret?? He is very willing to make "transparent" secrets of the previous administration, but not so willing to show a simple document that would prove his eligibility and alleviate concerns of the people he is supposed to "serve".
Even though I don't agree with your political ideology, I respect the authority given to the President by the Constitution of the United States..but unless you prove your eligibility to serve as President of these United States as outlined in this very Constitution by our Founding Fathers, I am unable to legitimately acknowledge your title as being that of President of these United States. This will all go away if you will produce the documents that my fellow citizens and I have been calling for. At the very least, please provide proof of United States citizenship. If you will do this, I will promise to respect and acknowledge your role as President of these United States, even if I disagree with your political ideology. Thank You.
We have open government laws and privacy laws for the federal government. Individual privacy and government transparency are complementary ideals in a democratic society. Open government helps ensure transparency and enhance public participation. Privacy protections bolster public confidence in the government’s treatment of citizens. Citizens are better able to participate in government initiatives when they are certain the Administration will safeguard their personal information.
EPIC recommends that the Administration pursue policies that support both open government and privacy protection.
Federal departments can only become more Transparent, Participatory, and Collaborative with outsiders (citizens) unless those same things are adopted INTERNALLY. Those qualities can only show up on the *outside* if they are valued on the *inside*.
However, federal departments do NOT have the internal openness that makes it *safe* for their employees (and those of contractors) to suggest ways to make their organizations "work better and cost less".
Now, you don't have to work for the government to know that it can be dangerous to one's career to suggest to your boss (or your boss's boss) that their office is operating in a "less-than-optimum" way (i.e., that they might be wasting money, and don't even know it.)
However, it is more dangerous for government workers to make such suggestions about "better ways" of doing work because, even if the idea is successful, it is the Public's money that will be seen as having been "wasted" in the past. And so, the employee's manager fears being second-guessed by higher-ups as to why didn't the manager recognize this "better way" earlier? And how is it that this "better way" came from a lower-paid underling?
WATCH THE VIDEO: Here's a very good (satirical) video about "Barriers to Innovation" that, even though produced by a team at NASA, is easily recognized by virtually every federal employee (except the new ones). National Public Radio did a story on it (along with a link to the video)--> www.tinyurl.com/as3son
SOLUTION: There needs to be a ONLINE SYSTEM system that allows government employees to raise ideas AND also protects their true identity. These systems already exist and Fortune 500 companies use them to comply with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (following the WorldCom and Enron scandals). Anonymity is necessary because most government managers are comfortable with the status-quo and, quite naturally, take actions against those who would imply that current operations are somehow flawed. [BTW: The existing I.G. system is NOT safe.]
Yes, there ARE some enlightened managers in govt. who do encourage innovation and continous improvement, but they are relatively RARE. The vast majority of managers are not so enlightened and, as a result, the average employee is acting VERY rationally when they decide to keep their ideas to themselves!
And, BTW, those average employees will NOT start to act irrationally (by speaking up) just because the White House passes out awards to "champions" whose success is largely due to their blind luck in having an enlightened boss. There is no proof that V.P. Gore's "Golden Hammer" awards during the 1990's made any real change in the C.Y.A. mindset of federal managers.
This idea is important because nothing ever changes for the better until someone first says "Hey, why don't try it this way?" And, because there is always room for improvement in any organization (some more than others), we need to hear ALL the ideas that people have for improvements, ESPECIALLY from those who are the most familiar with the existing operations.
If the President wants to open up the operations of federal departments to allow for better public input and feedback, then he needs to give the "closet-innovators" working WITHIN those departments the same, if not MORE, of the freedom to challenge the status-quo without fear of reprisal.
BOTTOM-LINE:
If the President does NOT make it safe for federal employees to innovate (or to just point out waste), then they will NOT put their jobs on the line for him as "agents of change." If he wants to enlist them, then he must protect them from the enemies of change.
FOR MORE INFO about achieving government transparency (both internally and externally)--> www.UStransparency.com
We all have to show proof of birth just to get a driver's license. Why does Obama resist showing his long form birth certificate? The clamor would still if he would reveal his long form birth certificate. Refusal indicates fear of the truth.
Looks Promising!
I'm Not So Sure...
Close