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Sun Journal:Keeping the lid on bids that fail
Scott Taylor at the Lewiston Sun Journal has an interesting story that illustrates a rather dramatic contrast in the transparency of Maine's Senators and Maine's Representatives:
"We don't provide lists of requests that are not ultimately approved, because that would put the people asking at a disadvantage," said Mark Sullivan, communications director for Rep. Tom Allen, D-Maine.
Both of Maine's U.S. representatives declined to list the funding requests they made that didn't make it through to the final spending package.
Maine's Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins were more than happy to make their lists of requests public, however.
Both Michaud and Allen are burying their failed earmark requests, according to the article. The LSJ published a spreadsheet given to them by Maine's Senators, and here is how they described the attitude of transparency that seems to have eluded our Democratic House members:
"Sen. Collins is happy with her record on making earmarks transparent," Burita said. Collins helped author rules requiring legislators to attach their names to funding requests.
"So the days of slipping a funding request into a budget anonymously are gone," she said.
In a written statement, Snowe said voters should expect openness and accountability from legislators.
"Funding requests should be done in the public light so that the American people have the opportunity to review what we're asking for and why we're asking for it," she said.
Apparently Representatives Allen and Michaud disagree.
The machine mentality of Maine Democrats toward issues of transparency has been evidenced in the worst way through the antics of the Baldacci Administration. Now, according to this article, this mentality is being mirrored by our Representatives in Washington. All of this should serve as yet another reminder of the perils strict partisanship pose to the concept of an actual participatory democracy, and how poorly-served the people of Maine have been by a party singularly focused on self-preservation.
