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Daily Archives: February 23rd, 2015

Telling IT In Music


Just before President Nixon resigned his office, Stevie Wonder presented this song with the Jackson 5, I have  shortened for the purpose of  brevity. This is still applicable to our Congress now! 

We are amazed but not amused
By all the things you say that you do
Though much concerned but not involved
With decisions that are made by you

But we are sick and tired of hearing your song
Telling how you are gonna change right from wrong
‘Cause if you really want to hear our views
You haven’t done nothin’

It’s not too cool to be ridiculed
But you brought this upon yourself
The world is tired of pacifiers
We want the truth and nothing else, yeah

And we are sick and tired of hearing your song
Telling how you are gonna change right from wrong
‘Cause if you really want to hear our views
“You haven’t done nothing”

We would not care to wake up to the nightmare
That’s becoming real life
But when mislead who knows a person’s mind
Can turn as cold as ice

Why do you keep on making us hear your song?
Telling us how you are changing right from wrong
‘Cause if you really want to hear our views
“You haven’t done nothing”, yeah no, no nothin’, nothin’

Thank you Stevie.

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Ongoing and Hopefully Not Everlasting


The new majority Congress is again acting “on behalf of the American people” with out our consent. This Congress with the backing of big money and the help of closeted bigots is aiding our enemies indirectly with the withholding of funding for the agency  (Homeland Security) that provides protection for us all. There are members who have stated that the funding should not be held up but the top dogs or curs of the Congress are at a loss to control their members and are hoping to keep an edge for the upcoming 2016 elections. These masters of ineptitude are showing us now how bad they really are since they do not have the Scamocrats to blame. How is it doing the work of “The American People” when they put us at risk to satisfy the few?  If ” The American People ” was really their concern, they would have acted appropriately on the ACA (Obama care) and the emigration bill . All that was required was for them to do the job they were elected to by the “real American People” not the fictional ones they are so fond of quoting. This is not about Race, ethnicity or anything else, it just about inept politicians whom we trusted and have now betrayed that trust. Our job (the real American People) is simple, we vote them out and trust nothing that passes from their lips!

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Andy Shaw’s Guest Column


 

Andy Shaw is president and CEO of the Better Government Association. Email him at ashaw@bettergov.org or find him on Twitter:@andyshawbga. Mr. Shaw wrote a guest column for the State Journal Register in Springfield, IL. This what it is really about! This can be applied to the actions of  the Congress of  the United States.

 

Fighting for access to the transactions of our rulers
In 1788, Revolutionary War hero Patrick Henry said, “The liberties of people never were, nor ever will be, secure, when the transactions of their rulers may be concealed from them.”

It’s not his most famous line — that’s “Give me liberty or give me death” — but more than 200 years later, it still reflects the ethos of watchdogs like the Better Government Association.

We rely on the Freedom of Information Act to help us shine a light on government and hold public officials accountable. Illinois’ FOIA gives us access to most of the information on where our tax dollars are going and how key policy decisions are being made.

That paper trail detailing “the transactions of our rulers” — our elected and appointed government officials — undergirds countless investigations. And let’s face it, this is Illinois, where transactions are frequently the product of patronage, inside deals and conflicts of interest.

Henry probably would recognize the latest battle in our ongoing fight to make government transparent.

We asked the Chicago suburb of Rosemont — you may recognize it as a neighbor of O’Hare Airport and home to an arena and convention center — for copies of last year’s contracts for entertainment events, including country music superstar Garth Brooks’ concerts. We wanted to see how village officials managed those extravaganzas, but they wouldn’t give us the most important details, including how much they paid out in incentives to attract the performers and what they took in.

Rosemont hid behind a new village ordinance classifying the information as “secret” and claiming authority as a home rule unit of government to make up its own FOIA exemptions.

You don’t need to be Henry to play this one forward: other home rule units of government making the same claim as they stonewall us.

We’ve already seen many other state and local government agencies refuse our document requests on shaky grounds, forcing us into litigation to keep the “liberties of the people” secure. So now we’ve taken Rosemont to court, and we’re encouraged by Attorney General Lisa Madigan’s binding opinion against the village’s intransigence.

Hopefully Rosemont will see the light, but this won’t be our last FOIA fight because there simply aren’t enough disincentives to convince government that transparency is our right. The horror stories we hear from hundreds of regular people who take our FOIA training courses indicate secrecy is an epidemic in Illinois.

FOIA also has been eroded in Springfield by lawmakers who apparently care more about the convenience of their counterparts in local government than the obligation of those officials to be transparent and accountable.

The open records process certainly can be improved — we support changes that make it easier for the public and government — and we’ve encouraged officials to work with us on a balanced reform effort. In fact, that’s the goal of FOIA Facts and Friction, a free BGA “Idea Forum” we’ll host in Springfield next month in partnership with The State Journal-Register and WMAY News Talk 970. Stay tuned for details.

Meanwhile, we’ll continue to fight for the information we’re entitled to, whether it’s in the courts or the General Assembly. Henry and the other patriots who shed their blood and gave their lives to create this great democracy deserve no less. — Andy Shaw is president and CEO of the Better Government Association. Email him at ashaw@bettergov.org or find him on Twitter:@andyshawbga.

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