Google Your Government
Last year Google started Google U.S. Government Search, a Web service designed to make finding information about the federal government easier. A few months ago the western states of Arizona, California and Utah, along with my home state of Virginia, announced that they were partnering with Google to make it easier for citizens to search their sites.
A law sponsored by senators Coburn and Obama passed last year, directing that info about federal grants and contract disbursements be put online. Four states of the union have similarly opened up their books to taxpayers online: Minnesota, Oklahoma, Kansas and Texas.
And now Hawaii has joined the bandwagon, with both of its legislative chambers passing House Bill 122. For some reason, the governor didn’t sign the bill. But she didn’t need to. The support for spending transparency was that high.
It might seem like a little thing — after all, putting up online the information you’ve already prepared for other purposes is not that technically demanding — but it may yield big consequences.
Like what? Well, Barack Obama argues that “‘Googling’ the government will not only help expose and eliminate waste, but dispel misconceptions about the scope of our commitments.” I like the bit about eliminating waste. Maybe with misconceptions dispelled, we can reduce government’s scope, too.
Less controversially, Andrew Moylan of the National Taxpayers Union called transparency “vital to good governance.”
I agree. But it’s vital only if you go and google your government!
This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.
