As we noted earlier in the month, Congressional appropriations committees have adopted Walz earmark reforms. This week, we linked to a post at Sunlight Foundation, Good TARP Transparency Amendment, which noted how the Congressman Walz had circulated a letter promoting his amendment designed require the
Treasury Department to post online reports on how funds are being
spent.
The Winona Daily News praises the first in an editorial, Law will help identify congressional porkers. They write, in part:
We wouldn’t argue that Congress’ power is one of purse-strings. We elect leaders to decide how government can best serve the people. And, it’s hard to serve people without cash.
But let’s be honest, for too long Congress has placated voters and bribed good feelings from constituents with projects that are more want than need. And, it’s certainly questionable whether many of the projects in omnibus spending have a clear public purpose.
What Walz’s plan does is make members of Congress sign on to the funding requests they make. It means that people should be able to see what earmarks members request and who’s bargaining for the most.
It used to be that all requests were done anonymously, meaning it was hard to pinpoint the source of the most egregious pork barrel spending.
Now, there’s the benefit of having the public scrutiny to keep federally elected officials in check.
It’s good reform especially in tough times, when our spending priorities have to be strictly need-based, not just some kind of government wish list.
Keep in mind, Walz is a Democrat. This isn’t just the typical tax-and-spend approach that so many Democrats have been accused of.
Also, it’s important to understand this has been an ongoing three-year mission for Walz since he started campaigning for office. In fact, it’s been something so important to him that even without these rules, Walz has always disclosed his earmark funding requests along with the dollar amount he’s sought.
That speaks volumes about what he believes — he started following the rules before there even were rules. . . .
Go read the entire opinion at the WDN. Unfortunately, it's possible that the future for the Walz TARP transparency amendment [pdf file] might not be as bright as his efforts to promote sunlight on the earmark process.
Paul Blumenthal writes in No New TARP Accountability Requirements at the Sunlight Foundation's blog:
Go read the rest for the discouraging details.
Although always subject to change, the Walz Amendment to H.R. 384 - TARP Reform and Accountability Act is up for a vote today.
Posted by: MinnesotaCentral | January 21, 2009 at 11:14 AM