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Bailout Agreement Hits the Net -- Is This Transparency?

By Ryan Singel, Kevin Poulsen, Sarah Lai Stirland, Kim Zetter, and David Kravets

The White House and congressional leaders agreed to the details of the $700 billion government bailoutof financial institutions late Sunday afternoon and they promptly released the bill on the internet.

The Huffington Postand The Open House Projectboth posted the legislation online shortly after the House server appeared to be overwhelmed by traffic. The Sunlight Foundationthen posted the bill up on its site PublicMarkUp.org.

The House apparently plans to approve the legislation Monday, and the Senate is expected to act on it Wednesday.

Several newspapers have summaries of the legislation and what it would do. But one wonders whether this is what we mean by transparent government.

Doesn't transparency amount to more than just posting a bit of legislation up on a Sunday, giving the public a few hours to wonder what it says, and then rushing to approve it in congress?

See Also:

• Advocates Demand Congress Put Bailout Details on Internet
• Online Bailout Outrage Jumps to Streets, and Into Lawmakers' Inboxes
• Treasury Secretary's Bailout Request Compared To Spam Scam

Full post as published by Threat Level on September 29, 2008 (boomark / email).