Shining a Bright Light on K Street
Todd Purdum of Vanity Fair, writing in the New York Times “Week in Review,” tries to put the lobbying scandal gripping DC into perspective. In mentioning some of the ideas floating around on how to mitigate against corruption, one strikes me as simple, effective and, because of technology, possible in a way it never was before:
Mr. Gingrich…would require that all contacts between lobbyists and elected and appointed officials be posted weekly on the Internet.
What would be so difficult about that? Meeting happens, both the lobbyist and the government official send an email to Lobby Reporting Central, the fact the meeting took place gets posted in real time, it’s there for anybody who wants to look it up. National security isn’t compromised. Free speech isn’t violated. It doesn’t create a whole new bureaucracy. It doesn’t make corruption go away, either, but at least it uses technology to make government more transparent. But maybe I’m just being naive.
