Fighting against government spending

Senator Tom Coburn (R-Oklahoma) and Senator Barack Obama (D-Illinois) are proposing a plan whereby government contracts and grants will be compiled and housed in a searchable database.

For example:

Type in "Halliburton," the military contractor, or "Sierra Club," the environmental group, for example, and a search engine would show all the federal money they receive. A search for the terms "Alaska" and "bridges" would expose a certain $223 million span to Gravina Island (population 50) that critics call the "Bridge to Nowhere."

Mr. Coburn's hope is that making this information easily and publicly accessible to the general public will provide some true checks on politicians and their freespending ways.

The article goes on to say:

While advocating for openness, Mr. Coburn is also placing a philosophical bet that the more the public learns about federal spending, the less it will want.

"Sunshine's the best thing we've got to control waste, fraud and abuse," he said. "It's also the best thing we've got to control stupidity. It'll be a force for the government we need."

While this is popular with TRUE conservatives and advocates of openness on the left, Mr. Coburn will face resistance:

But liberal critics see a revival of what they call old partisan efforts to "de-fund the left," by reducing grants to liberal groups or adding conditions that limit their activities.

and...

While the bill has few overt critics, it may encounter resistance from Congressional insiders who have used their influence to secure projects back home. When Mr. Coburn tried to attach the measure to a lobbying reform bill this spring, Senator Trent Lott, a Mississippi Republican known for his zeal in aiding his state, killed it on procedural grounds.

I can only hope that Mr. Coburn can succeed in this endeavor. It's ridiculous that something like this doesn't already exist and it's contemptible for any of the taxdollar-wasting politicians to oppose it.

Mr. Coburn, thank you and PLEASE keep up the good fight. You give me a little hope that Congress still has some folks who are interested in doing the right thing for the people.