Accountability and Transparency
A bipartisan group of Senators introduced the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006, which would create a public, searchable database of all federal grants and contracts. It would enable the public and press to see where money is being spent, and would be a huge step towards eliminating ridiculous, wasteful spending.
Republican Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska, who became famous for trying to waste taxpayer dollars to build a "bridge to nowhere” placed a secret hold on the proposal, which prevented it from being vote on. Ted Stevens, the most senior Republican in the Senate, doesn't want you to see the wasteful mess that Republicans have made of the federal budget.
For example, in 2004, the Army Corps of Engineers asked for $105 million for hurricane and flood programs in New Orleans. The White House carved it to about $40 million, but congressional Republicans agreed to a $286.4 Billion pork-filled highway bill which included a $231 million for a “bridge to nowhere” for a small, uninhabited Alaskan island.
Under this Republican Congress, the number of contracts awarded without competitive bidding has skyrocketed, as Democrat Henry Waxman on the House Government Reform Committee has documented. There are thousands of examples of money wasted, stolen or misspent under this regime.
From Iraq to our own Gulf Coast, dollars that could be saving lives are being held up, misspent, or wasted. Troops didn't have the body armor they need, small businesses in New Orleans haven't received support, and across the country 45 million people go without health insurance.
Republicans have created the most expensive government in history through their corruption and out-of-control spending, and at the same time they've failed to meet the challenges of governing, like adequately preparing for disasters like Hurricane Katrina.
Senate Republicans must be pressured to give this accountability measure an up or down vote. This election is about the open government and the fiscal responsibility taxpayers deserve.
Republican Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska, who became famous for trying to waste taxpayer dollars to build a "bridge to nowhere” placed a secret hold on the proposal, which prevented it from being vote on. Ted Stevens, the most senior Republican in the Senate, doesn't want you to see the wasteful mess that Republicans have made of the federal budget.
For example, in 2004, the Army Corps of Engineers asked for $105 million for hurricane and flood programs in New Orleans. The White House carved it to about $40 million, but congressional Republicans agreed to a $286.4 Billion pork-filled highway bill which included a $231 million for a “bridge to nowhere” for a small, uninhabited Alaskan island.
Under this Republican Congress, the number of contracts awarded without competitive bidding has skyrocketed, as Democrat Henry Waxman on the House Government Reform Committee has documented. There are thousands of examples of money wasted, stolen or misspent under this regime.
From Iraq to our own Gulf Coast, dollars that could be saving lives are being held up, misspent, or wasted. Troops didn't have the body armor they need, small businesses in New Orleans haven't received support, and across the country 45 million people go without health insurance.
Republicans have created the most expensive government in history through their corruption and out-of-control spending, and at the same time they've failed to meet the challenges of governing, like adequately preparing for disasters like Hurricane Katrina.
Senate Republicans must be pressured to give this accountability measure an up or down vote. This election is about the open government and the fiscal responsibility taxpayers deserve.
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