Let’s say it together:  NO TAXATION WITHOUT INFORMATION!

Last week I got excited when the Denver Post made an issue out of government transparency, because we have been working diligently on the topic here at Independence.  Now, I’m unleashing my not so secret weapon: Amy Oliver, who has made transparency her mission:

Going forward, it will be my mission to get my city — Greeley; my school district — Greeley Evans District Six, which has a “Comprehensive Accountability System” that doesn’t include budget transparency; my county — Weld County; and my state — Colorado to put their check registries on-line, in a searchable database.

Even though the information regarding how our government spends our money is not behind lock and key, it’s more or less behind a door that’s stuck with a big bucket of water hanging above. Putting the information on an accessible website can help alleviate the amount of bureaucratical nonsense the average citizen must endure just to know where his or her money is going. Our friends over at the Sam Adams Alliance cleverly titled the sunshine effort, “no taxation without information.” Or as I like to call it, “no taxation without first stepping into the 21st century.” The Independence Institute will continue to carry the torch for transparency with projects like Justin Longo’s local government research and now Amy Oliver’s crusade.