Senator Demint

Kudos to Senator DeMint (and his bipartisan co-signers) for getting the Senate to begin publishing votes in the more accessible XML format.  A simple thing to do, sure, and yet it really did take pressure from US Senators to make it happen.

As John Wonderlich writes, "This is what transparency reform looks like. Complicated, messy, confusing, often bipartisan, often initially unsuccessful, and helpfully spurred on through public involvement. If this case serves as any example at all, we should be very encouraged about future efforts."

Senator DeMint has taken a very impressive step forward, leading a bipartisan request to the Committee on Rules and Administration (Senator Schumer and Senator Bennett), asking them to post Senate votes in XML format.  This would make vote records much more transparent and accessible to the public.  Kudos to Senator DeMint for taking the lead on this.  It will be instructive to observe how Senators Schumer and Bennett respond.  Tom Jones, Professional Staff for Senator DeMint, explains what Senator DeMint is doing. - Jon Henke

The Senate has been referred to as the “world’s most exclusive club," a place where deals are made behind closed doors and the public having no idea what’s going on. Too often, transparency can be an after-thought and the privileges of the institution seem to trump the Americans' right to information on their elected officials.

Some reform minded Senators are working to fix these problems. They believe that the Senate can do better because the American people demand and deserve an open and transparent government. Senator DeMint is leading a bipartisan effort to shine a little more sunlight on the Senate by dragging its antiquated vote reporting system into the 21st century.

Currently the Senate posts its votes in HTML (HyperText Markup Language). In 1999, this was acceptable. But today plain HTML is the technological equivalent of a rotary telephone, adequate for a basic service but unable to perform the variety of functions modern technology now allows.

Instead of HTML, Senator DeMint is asking that votes be posted in XML (Extensible Markup Language). Without going to deep into the technology, XML would allow roll call votes in the United States Senate to be disseminated in a format that anyone can download, parse, disseminate, and distribute in any form they see fit. By having an authoritative XML stream provided by the Senate, application developers could build databases that could overlay different types of data onto Senate votes, public interest groups could match up policy background with votes, or any of a hundred other possible applications. The result would not be merely some whiz-bang technology, but rather a better informed electorate.

Unfortunately with the current HTML formatting, the best we can hope for is that outside groups successfully “scrape” the Senate webpage for votes and repackage the data on their website. This forces the public to either pay for the information from other websites or to rely on data which can be prone to errors. Such basic democratic information, how elected officials vote on important issues, should be available in the most transparent format, free and accessible to all Americans.

Many assume the lack of modernization is simply characteristic of an institution with a very un-modern image. Unfortunately, there is evidence that the difficulty in acquiring voting information is not just an oversight, but may be an intentional effort by Senators to keep their votes hidden from nationwide scrutiny.

In years past, employees of the Senate have asked to be allowed to post the Senate votes in XML, but the Rules Committee has curiously refused. The previous webmaster at the Senate explained the prohibition on XML posting this way, “The Rules Committee has always contended that Senators want to provide their voting records to their constituents themselves.” That's Washington-speak for allowing Senators to spin their votes rather than allowing others easier access to the information.

Reform-minded Senators believe Americans should be allowed to draw their own conclusions. Burying this important information with technology shouldn’t be an option.

Below is the text of a letter Senator DeMint and a bipartisan coalition of senators has sent to the new chairman of the Rules Committee, Senator Charles Schumer, asking him to make this simple change that could help make "the world's most exclusive club" also one of the most transparent as well.

A guest post from an anonymous insider on the Right.

In general, when Congress funds a specific product or program, companies engage in a competitive process to receive the money.  However, earmarks circumvent the process and allow Politicians to determine who gets the government funds.  Earmarks allow Politicians to fund their pet projects or provide benefits to companies which help fund their campaigns. 

For instance, General Motors has contributed $29,000 to Sen. Carl Levin's campaign.  In exchange, he earmarked $10 million dollars for them in the Department of Defense Appropriations Bill.  That's a substantial return on an investment.
 
Senator Levin apparently does not like the press he is receiving from his earmarking efforts (49 requests in this legislative cycle alone), so he has devised a scheme to cover up his activity - a scheme that threatens the entire fight against earmarks. 

I am reliably told that Senators DeMint and Senator Coburn are willing to go to war on this issue.

To cover up his activity, Senator Levin is attempting to place earmarks in committee reports instead of including them as part of the legislative language.  He did this by hiding some language in the Department of Defense Appropriations Bill which changes the way earmarks are viewed. 

Most senators don't bother to read legislative language and even fewer have time to read more extensive committee reports.  Under Senator Levin's cover up scheme, he can hide behind committee reports that are never voted on and talk out of both sides of his mouth by arguing that committee reports do not have the force of law.  What Levin will not tell you is that, because of the special language he slipped in, earmarks in committee reports do have the force of law.
 
Senator DeMint has an amendment (cosponsored by Senators Coburn and Burr) to strike the requirement that earmarks which have not been voted on in committee or otherwise be treated as law.  Senator DeMint attempted to offer his amendment to the Department of Defense Appropriations Bill on Thursday afternoon, but Senator Levin objected to even the right to debate the issue and would not allow Senator DeMint to introduce the amendment for consideration. 

Obviously, Senator Levin has something to hide.

If Senator DeMint is not allowed to offer his amendment, $5.9 billion in earmarks will be handed out at the taxpayers' expense without the benefit of any debate.

As the Chairman of the Armed Services Committee, Senator Levin has the responsibility of writing the committee report and he can place anything in the report he chooses.  He has chosen to use his Chairmanship to the tune of $198 million.  And to cover it up so that the corrupt earmarking status quo would continue.

Senate Democrats promised more open government.  This is not it. 
 
Senator Levin announced on Thursday that cloture on the bill will be filed on Friday.  If cloture is invoked, America will suffer a $5.9 billion cover up.