A society might be more trusting if citizens could see the tax returns of all their fellow taxpayers. Norway is doing exactly this.
To be complete, Norway might also publish the citizens receiving taxpayer funded services.
Some possibilities ramifications to consider:
- Norweigian Tim Geigthners and other tax avoiders might be turned in by their neighbors.
- Those […]
Enron avoided public scrutiny of many of its shady business dealings by placing them out of public view in off balance sheet entities.
Now the employees of Washington taxpayers are using a similar ruse to place their activities out of public view with an entity called Association of Washington Cities.
The first item of the […]
Government bureacracies implement a standard set of dodges to avoid the accountability that comes from disclosure.
In its dealings with FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency), The Advocate newspaper has been the victim of two of the most common ploys to avoid disclosure:
1. Charge extraordinary amounts for copying,
2. Provide information in the most difficult to use for […]
Arlington Mayor Robert Cluck said he would not name the lone pharmaceutical chemical found in the city’s drinking water.
Once again a “people’s servant” concludes that he knows what’s best for you.
The Open Records Project remembers similar arguments against release of sex offender names and addresses. “Trust us” the bureacrats said. Of course we […]
The Texas Department of Public Safety plans to update its online sex offender registry this spring to let people know where offenders work or go to school. https://records.txdps.state.tx.us/DPS_WEB/Sor/index.aspx
Anyone can go to the state’s site to look up a person by name or ZIP code. The information includes physical descriptions, photos, offenses, aliases and legal […]
John Washburn learned that the Texas governor’s office automatically destroys virtually all of its emails every seven days. A cynic might conclude that this policy is an attempt by the State to avoid the embarassment of open records disclosure required by law.
Mr. Washburn responded by writing a computer program that automatically requests emails every […]
People with felony criminal records would be able to more quickly shield that information from prospective employers under legislation filed today by Gov. Deval Patrick.
Boston Mayor Thomas Menino hailed Patrick’s proposals as “much needed.”
“Ex-offenders often have little or no support upon release, in effect giving them life sentences by denying them opportunities for […]
In one of his last decisions of the year on Monday, December 31, 2007, President Bush signed into law the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) reform bill (S. 2488).
For the first time, there will be a penalty for agencies who do not comply with the FOIA’s time limits.
Those of us who make open […]
A Santa Clara County resident infected with a dangerous strain of tuberculosis flew back to the United States earlier this month without alerting authorities of her illness - potentially threatening fellow passengers and people at Stanford Hospital’s emergency room with whom she came into contact.
Citing federal patient confidentiality rules, health authorities would not name the […]
The British gave America the basics of government and a history of societal organization dating to the Magna Carta. However, the United Kingdom has no equivalent of the US Bill of Rights. American concepts such a freedom of speech, freedom of state interference in religion, and rights to bear arms are unmatched in […]