I’m making a post from a comment I made over at Rich Miller’s Capitol Fax Blog. I don’t normally do that but now I need to work a little smarter. Miller does a great job for the government sunlight efforts and I’m a frequent reader of his material.
This morning Rich Miller is discussing, in his Hot Buttons and Reform post, reform and the politics of reform. It appears that one of his hot buttons is the spin of the ACORN/SEIU issue in Illinois politics.
My comment was (and I quote myself):
For the cynics: I’m not running for office or working for a campaign. I am nonpartisan. My agenda is good government.
The arrest of Blagojevich did not catapult me into advocacy, nor did Ryan’s. As a young kid I was inspired by the famous JFK inauguration quote. The ask not. But over time I’ve watched messengers get killed and our government on all levels transform to apparently follow the creed of another President’s famous quote: “I’m saying that if the President does it, its not illegal.”
I have sat in on meetings that were billed as an “affordable housing” agenda to instead listen to voter registration and get out the vote strategies. Objecting on the basis of 1) that’s not what’s on the printed agenda and 2) I’d prefer more information to voters over mass registration of targeted for agendas. The local ACORN member informed me that “mediocrity can be a good thing.”
ACORN receive(s)(d) public monies. They and SEIU use other people’s money to lobby elected officials. Within those parameters any such organization must be subject to full sunlight and, if warranted, independent investigation and prosecution.
I’m nonpartisan but I’ll take JFK’s espoused vision over Nixon’s illustrated example any day of the week.
Click Here To Submit A News Tip Or Story