Two news articles this week turned my thoughts to the issue of the public’s “right to know” about how government conducts business — more specifically how government spends our money.
U.S. Sen. Jim Bunning, R-Ky., with support of fellow Republicans and some Democrats, wants to change Senate rules with a resolution that requires posting all bills and their cost estimates on a Web site at least 72 hours before votes on them by subcommittees and committees. The impetus for the resolution comes from the health care reform bill now heading to a Senate committee vote.
Meanwhile, Kentucky state Rep. Jim DeCesare, R-Bowling Green, plans to re-introduce a bill the failed in the state’s previous session that would require placing an itemized report of all government spending on a Web site.
The citizenry’s “right to know” about what government does to them appears nowhere in the U.S. Constitution, although I think most people consider that right invaluable.
The issue arises quite frequently in federal court cases, and in many cases Supreme Court justices have ruled that the right does exist within the framework of the Constitution but that it is not “absolute.” Some turn to the Ninth Amendment, written previously on this site, to defend the public’s right to know. Others, including me, argue that it exists in the First Amendment precept of the right to petition government with grievances. I think that right gets diluted significantly if government refuses to tell us what it does.
The Federal Freedom of Information Act and its counterpart the Electronic Freedom of Information Act help, as do state open records and meetings laws, called Sunshine Laws. But filing a state or federal FOI request can become a ponderous process that often requires lawyers to shake records loose. And the federal and state FOI and Sunshine Laws routinely come with long lists of exemptions, especially since Sept. 11, 2001, and the rise of privacy concerns. More often than not, both those concerns get overplayed and become convenient excuses for government at all levels to cover its tracks.
Many people believe and lawmakers often try to make people believe that only the news media benefits from access to government records gained through public records requests, a myth. The vast majority of these requests come for average folks, not media types, who need that information to make wise decisions about their businesses, their families or their heritage (genealogy searches result in thousands of FOI requests) .
But it seems that few of us successfully avoid paying taxes, and the majority of government spending finds its source in those taxes. So, whether you buy into the public’s right to know as a constitutional matter, you have bought into it — literally — with your taxes.
Web sites that track how our taxes get spent make sense to me. What do the lawmakers have to hide?
Resources:
- http://www.usdoj.gov/oip/
- http://www.usdoj.gov/oip/foia_updates/Vol_XVII_4/page2.htm
- http://www.gpoaccess.gov/coredocs.html
- http://www.usconstitution.net/constnot.html
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