OFFICIAL REAL ISSUE THREAD # 2: Government/Campaign Finance Reform

[More Than A Feeling]

Hillary has proposed a comprehensive, 10-point plan to restore Americans' confidence in their government by increasing transparency and cutting waste and corruption. Her plan includes:


* Banning Cabinet officials from lobbying a Hillary Clinton administration.
* Strengthening whistleblower protections.
* Creating a public service academy.
* Ending abuse of no-bid government contracts and posting all contracts online.
* Cutting 500,000 government contractors.
* Restoring the Office of Technology Assessment.
* Publishing budgets for every government agency.
* Implementing Results America Initiative to track government effectiveness.
* Tracking and eliminating corporate welfare.
* Expanding voting access and safeguarding voting machines.

In addition to her comprehensive plan for government reform, Hillary has proposed a detailed plan to restore professionalism to the Department of Justice. Under President Bush and his attorneys general, partisanship and cronyism have driven investigations, case selection, and the hiring of new career personnel. We have to believe that justice is blind in America and that our government will effectively and impartially uphold the law. Hillary has a plan to restore that belief. She will:


* Rebuild the Department of Justice's traditional role in defending civil rights and the rule of law, and review charges of improper, politically motivated hiring.
* Help local school districts pursue voluntary integration and reduce racial inequality, in the face of a Supreme Court decision limiting districts' options.
* Strengthen our voting laws so that every citizen can fully exercise his or her constitutional right to vote.
* Combat ongoing racial and sex discrimination in the labor market by improving laws and expanding enforcement.
* Modernize and strengthen the federal hate crimes law.

Hillary has also outlined a set of proposals to end the Bush administration's war on science and to restore scientific integrity to government decision-making. She will:


* Rescind the ban on ethical embryonic stem cell research.
* Ban political appointees from unduly interfering with scientific conclusions and publications.
* Direct department and agency heads to safeguard against political pressure that threatens scientific integrity and to promote transparency in decision-making.
* Appoint an Assistant to the President for Science and Technology Policy and strengthen the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.


http://www.hillaryclinton.com/issues/reform/

-or-

Obama...Ethics

At a Glance

* Shine the Light on Washington Lobbying

Centralize Ethics and Lobbying Information for Voters

Require Independent Monitoring of Lobbying Laws and Ethics Rules

Support Campaign Finance Reform

* Shine the Light on Federal Contracts, Tax Breaks and Earmarks

Create a Public “Contracts and Influence” Database

Expose Special Interest Tax Breaks to Public Scrutiny

End Abuse of No-Bid Contracts

Sunlight Before Signing

Shine Light on Earmarks and Pork Barrel Spending

* Bring Americans Back into their Government

Hold 21st Century Fireside Chats

Make White House Communications Public

Conduct Regulatory Agency Business in Public

Release Presidential Records

* Free the Executive Branch from Special Interest Influence

Close the Revolving Door on Former and Future Employers

Free Career Officials from the Influence of Politics

Reform the Political Appointee Process

http://www.barackobama.com/issues/ethics/

WHAT IS THE BEST GOVERNMENT/CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM PLAN? --> DISCUSS: AND PLEASE include lots of juicy information, links, op-eds, ideas and any other relevant details in support of an INFORMATIVE discussion on this important subject!

(with thanks to Labors of Hercules for the borrowed text!)

[blm]

1. Obama's because I don't BELIEVE Clintons on open government issues at ALL.

Bill said alot of what we wanted to hear and when he took office he immediately sided with secrecy and privilege of closed government.

http://consortiumnews.com/2006/111106.html

The single stupidest, most destructive action of his presidency.

[More Than A Feeling]

2. I was wondering if you'd show up here.

I know releasing records is very important to you.

[blm]

5. It should nmatter to EVERY American. 9-11 NEVER would've happened if American

people and American JUSTICE were trusted with full disclosure of the documents in IranContra and BCCI.

And there would be NO Iraq war right now if Iraqgate had a full vetting.

But Bushes and Clintons don't RESPECT the American people enough to tell them the truth = so who is really able to ACT as a responsible citizen when they are rarely given the information needed to make a sound decision?

[More Than A Feeling]

6. We're all low information voters now.

Conservatives either practice the soft bigotry of low expectations, or they know that we wouldn't countenance what they do, if they had to be clear about it. I know which one my bet is on.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

3. They both would stop no bid contracts and lobbyists

and campaign reform. But I do see Obama exposing special interest tax breaks. I think all ties to corporations and government being fully exposed.

[More Than A Feeling]

4. But Hillary's got protection for whistleblowers.

I don't think I saw that in Obama's list. Probably because he isn't relying on whistleblowers to make government information public.

[blm]

7. Exactly. GREAT POINT! That would make a great thread in itself. Imagine no need

for whistleblowers risking their jobs and their careers and in some cases their lives because we would already HAVE a government open to the people.

[More Than A Feeling]

8. That'd make a big difference.

That, plus a reduction in governmental obsession with spying on its citizens, and we'd all feel a lot more free and democratic.

[Leopolds Ghost]

9. Need a REAL ISSUE thread on warrantless wiretap / telecom immunity / privacy / deregulation

Before Tuesday when Harry Ried is voting to legalize it
and Dems will vote to shut down Dodd's filibuster.

Heads up, Heaven and Earth! :hi:

[More Than A Feeling]

10. Especially in light of the secrecy surrounding this FBI-Corp partnership:

FBI Deputizes Private Contractors With Extraordinary Powers, Including 'Shoot to Kill'

By Matthew Rothschild, The Progressive. Posted February 8, 2008.

Today, more than 23,000 representatives of private industry are working quietly with the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security. The members of this rapidly growing group, called InfraGard, receive secret warnings of terrorist threats before the public does -- and, at least on one occasion, before elected officials. In return, they provide information to the government, which alarms the ACLU. But there may be more to it than that. One business executive, who showed me his InfraGard card, told me they have permission to "shoot to kill" in the event of martial law. InfraGard is "a child of the FBI," says Michael Hershman, the chairman of the advisory board of the InfraGard National Members Alliance and CEO of the Fairfax Group, an international consulting firm.

http://www.alternet.org/rights/76388

If you want to start one, go right ahead. I didn't start this series, just continued it. It'd be great if each REAL ISSUE thread was a different person.