On December 17th the Assembly Judiciary Hearing released 4 proposals to amend the constitution. Republican Judiciary member Holly Schepisi repeatedly called into question cramming these proposals, each complex and important, into one hearing tightly controlled with limited time for testimony and debate. “It’s government as its absolute worst,” she said. And she was not entirely wrong.
Federal legislation is being unveiled today that would force the American Red Cross to do something that it has repeatedly resisted: open its books and operations to outside scrutiny.
American Red Cross CEO Gail McGovern has long portrayed her organization as a beacon of openness, once declaring “we made a commitment that we want to lead the effort in transparency.” But when the Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress, opened an inquiry last year into the Red Cross’ disaster work, McGovern tried to get it killed behind the scenes.
Some of you might remember I made a formal open records request to view internal records of how the Norman School District handled rape and bullying allegations that recently spawned a large demonstration supported by the organization YES ALL Daughters. Case closed, right? Organized protest works! Well, not so fast.
Nearly by definition, bureaucracy operates at a snail's pace. From red tape to hurdles, the English language is filled with idioms and cliches to describe the agonizing effort it takes to see actual change at a bureaucratic level. And yet, the FCC recently responded to a petition for transparency and disclosure in political ads on television and the radio in one week. The best part? It wasn't a slam of the door, but a genuine first step in getting the data of political advertisements online and open to the public.
OIRA operates largely in secret, exempt from most requests under the Freedom of Information Act. It routinely declines to release the changes it has proposed, the evidence it has relied upon to make them, or the identities and affiliations of White House advisers and other agencies' staff it has consulted. OIRA doesn't even disclose the names and credentials of its employees other than its two most senior officials. Maybe that's why you've never heard of OIRA.
It wasn’t too long ago that “transparency” and “disclosure” in political fundraising were rallying cries from Republicans. But four years after the Supreme Court majority in Citizens United v. FEC promised unlimited political fundraising posed no risks of corruption as long as the donors are disclosed, the 2014 election is shaping up to have the most undisclosed money ever. And with Congress tied in knots on nearly every policy issue, we shouldn’t hold our breath for a legislative fix to shine a light on this “dark money.”
A federal judge in Wisconsin ruled that constraints on coordination between soft money groups and candidates was unconstitutional, basically blowing the lid off of any spending caps and solidifying the burgeoning plutocracy so replacing the US' former, less corrupt, version of democracy.
Following Superstorm Sandy, donors gave $312 million to the American Red Cross. How did the aid organization spend that money? A year and a half after the storm, it's surprisingly difficult to get a detailed answer.
