Here's How Transparency in Government Works
In what has to be a first, Senator Jon Tester (D-Montana) has posted his daily schedule online. Much like Governor Brian Schweitzer, who has opened up his office to regular Montanans, Tester is a man of high moral integrity who believes that government should be accountable to the people. By posting his schedule, Senator Tester shows himself to be a man of his word that if he meets with any lobbyists, the public will know.
These are the kinds of public servants we need in office.
kencamp | January 17, 2007 | Comment on This Post (3 so far) |
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Hey there, loved the post on Tester, who I continue like the more I see of him (and not just because of that stylish 'do).
I posted a diary on the subject over at Kos (as well as my own, er, um, slightly less trafficked blog) and I thought you'd be interested in some of the comments.
Posted by: CaliBlogger | Jan 19, 2007 5:56:33 PM
Color me skeptical. What Tester is posting is his schedule - as provided to him in the morning. It's not his actual schedule - as confirmed at the end of the day.
After all, nobody actually lives their life in quarter-hour increments. Not only that, but his published schedule doesn't include all the 2-minute "drop-by" visits in the Senate office, nor any of the interactions with Senators or lobbyists that happen in 2-3 minute segments while walking back and forth to the floor.
Personally, I don't believe it's possible to actually produce a real schedule for a US Senator - unless you pay a staffer to stand next to him at all times and write it all down. ("Excuse me, sir, what's your name and who do you work for?")
What we have here is the appearance of transparency, without actual transparency. Personally, I think that's worse than nothing at all.
Just you wait: Eventually, there will be an article written in which some Senator or lobbyist says to a reporter, "Yeah, and then I bumped into Senator Tester, and he said he was interested in our bill."
Only that "meeting" won't be on the schedule - and all hell will break loose, including Republican oppo guys dreaming up attack ads... "Senator Tester said he'd tell us when he meets with special interest lobbyists, but when he met with lobbyist X, he kept it secret. What's Senator Tester hiding?"
Either produce a 100% accurate schedule, or don't bother.
Posted by: Kari Chisholm | Jan 21, 2007 3:54:38 PM
Your points are well-taken Kari and thanks for presenting the alternative viewpoint. You're right that should Tester meet with a lobbyist and it isn't on the calendar, it could definitely create some bad PR for him. And I'd agree with your assessment that he should post everything or nothing. It's a first step, but let's hope that Tester's staff is reading this blog and will either post all of his meetings or none, though we know it will be a challenge to post every single drop-in meeting or hallway encounter.
Posted by: Ken Camp | Jan 22, 2007 12:59:45 PM
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(and yes, we know that sometimes they're very, very wrong. Other times, they're right on.)
