First off, this isn’t just a “he lied! look at him lying!” or typical partisan finger-pointing at politicians.  All politicians lie.  It’s inexcusable, but there hasn’t been one that I know of that can refute it.  Some lie more than others, perhaps, and others may be over-zealous in their accusations of “lie”.   For example, if they promise to work towards something, and it doesn’t happen, I don’t consider that a lie.

Actually, I want to point out how Obama told the truth. 

Back in 2007, Obama signed the Oath of Presidential Transparency indicating that if he’s elected, he’ll issue an executive order during his first month in office instructing the entire executive branch to put into practice the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006, a Google-like search tool will allow you to see how your tax dollars are being spent on federal contracts, grants and earmarks. (here’s his signed oath).  That Act was signed into law by Bush but hadn’t been followed as much as it should.

As such, I could find no such Executive Order signed by Obama.  I did find an undated memo… looks like a press release, though.  Maybe that’s good enough.  There is one about Ethics and stuff, and it’s neat – it says appointees in Executive branch vow not to take gifts from Lobbyists, for example. 

All good stuff, but where’s the transparency?

Early on, Obama promised open government, and talks about policy being open.

This is awesome stuff, but where’s the transparency?

Then there was the whole promise of Health Care Reform Legislation and talks all being out in the open, with hearings broadcast on C-Span, talks available on the Internet, and definitely, whatever may come, definitely NOT behind closed doors.

It all sounds great, but where’s the transparency?

Obama also promised that legislation would be put out on the Internet for at least 5 days for public review before being voted on, and then he later promised it would be out for 3 days, and there have been a few times where bills were voted on the day they were made available.  However, to be fair, I can’t fault Obama for this – he never should have made that promise, because he can’t be held accountable.  It’s not his decision to call a vote or make legislation available.

Either way, it’s all very nice, but where’s the transparency?

I believe I finally found it.  It’s at the airport!

Thank you Obama for bringing transparency to us all!

If elected president, I will issue an executive order instructing the entire executive branch to make its spending data available to an online search engine.

Whoa – what a concept, eh?  Being able to pore through and see where all our taxpayer’s money is being spent?  It kind of sounds interesting – I mean, as a stockholder in a public company, I’m entitled to see reports on spending, income, etc.  Why not in the most public company of all?

To be fair, I can see some items needing protection in the interest of national security, but in general, I would think the more people are aware of where money is going, the more they’ll care where money is going.  If nothing else, it would reveal pork spending, “earmarks,” and maybe as a result politicians wouldn’t be so hungry to appease lobbyists if they knew their financial decisions were available for all to see.

What do YOU think?  Do you care where our money is spent? 

btw, so far, the following candidates have signed the oath:

• Barack Obama
• Ron Paul
• Sam Brownback
• Mike Gravel
• Dennis Kucinich

I already had many reasons to like Obama over Hillary, but this is yet another.  I wonder if McCain has the cajones to follow suit?