Bloggers Take On Congress

WASHINGTON — A new online movement is trying to shed light on the murky inner workings of Congress by assigning citizens to watch every congressional committee.

And the idea of making Congress more transparent is gaining traction in high places — like House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office.

John Wonderlich, a.k.a. greenreflex on the Daily Kos blog, is leading what he calls the Congressional Committees project. The idea is simple: make Congress more accessible to the public by closely watching the committees where the legislative deals are made.

"What I am really interested in is empowering people," said Wonderlich, a 27-year-old sales manager in a telemarketing firm in Pennsylvania.

Wonderlich came up with the idea on Daily Kos a few days after the November elections. He wanted to tap into the energy displayed during the election by the Daily Kos community. He didn't have faith in the media to ask the tough questions and he was tired of complaining about congressional corruption.

Then it dawned on him: why not get the Daily Kos community to watch Congress and advocate change?

After he posted his suggestion and received hundreds of responses, he created a page that links to Daily Kos. A staffer for Pelosi contacted him after seeing it, he said, and told him that Pelosi is serious about creating a more transparent House.

"We have been collaborating with ways to improve access," Wonderlich said. Pelosi, who took office on Thursday, has not responded to a request for information about the project.

As Wonderlich was organizing his project, another group had a similar idea.

Enter the Sunlight Foundation, a new nonprofit based in Washington dedicated to using the Internet to engage the public about Congress. It was planning to launch a project to hold lawmakers more accountable.

Wonderlich is now collaborating with the foundation and Pelosi's office to create a decidedly low-profile project aimed at finding ways to require lawmakers to become more transparent by posting information online.

For example, they will work to publicly release Congressional Research Service reports, reports that are not publicly available by law despite being paid for by taxpayers. The CRS reports have been kept under wraps to give lawmakers nonpartisan research information about sensitive policies without the pressure of public scrutiny.

And they will prod Congress to post online reports that are difficult to access. Members are required to disclose campaign receipts and expenditures, personal financial disclosure, trips, gifts and travel. The foundation wants those reports to be filed electronically every month in a format that the public can easily search.

"There is no question that the public cares about corruption," said Ellen Miller, director of the Sunlight Foundation. "There is no question that disclosure and greater transparency only breed more accountability."

In addition to working with Wonderlich, the Sunlight foundation wants Congress to agree to:

— End secret legislation by identifying the authors of all earmarks, bills and amendments and posting non-emergency legislation online at least 72 hours before a vote.

— Require lobbyists to register and disclose all legislative contacts, all legislation discussed and any contributions made to members, prior government employment and any relationship to members of Congress. All lobby reports should be filed online within 24 hours of a meeting or contribution.

Markos Moulitsas, the founder of the Daily Kos, applauds the efforts of his blogging community.

"Congress has been so utterly corrupt because legislators — thanks to gerrymandering and other advantages of incumbency — are no longer accountable," Moulitsas said. The rules of Congress are so complicated and arcane, he said, that it's impossible for lay people to keep track of it all.

"One way to keep our public servants honest is to make sure they know we are watching and keeping tabs on their actions," Moulitsas said. "We need a Congress that is far more transparent and responsive to the people it serves."

The efforts to make Congress more accountable and to engage the public online are promising, said Patrice McDermott, executive director of OpenTheGovernment.org, a coalition of conservative and liberal groups concerned about government secrecy.

Right now, the public has trouble even e-mailing a lawmaker, let alone following all the congressional committee actions.

"We have a moment of pledged openness that if successfully seized will make any going backward much more difficult," McDermott said. "The public indicated in the November that, regardless of party, they want more accountability."

But McDermott predicts the bloggers will be challenged. "Committee accountability and openness will not be given; it will have to be wrested," she said.

Political scientists say that the Congressional Committees project and the work of the Sunlight Foundation could affect the behavior of lawmakers.

"It's possible there will be more scrutiny, more attention paid to what happens in Congress," said Bruce Buchanan, a professor of government at the University of Texas. "There will be less opportunity to shirk responsibility or misbehave."

On the Web:

Daily Kos: www.dailykos.com

Sunlight Foundation: www.sunlightfoundation.com/