Posted on 03/08/2007 9:10:49 AM PST by sociotard
11. TOP PROPOSAL... create the office of Inspector General of the United States...
... or IGUS, who will head a uniformed agency akin to the Public Health Service, charged with protecting the legal and ethical health of government.
No, I am not asking for yet another vast new bureaucracy. Ninety percent of this service exists today! Every major department or agency already has an internal Inspector General (IG), charged with examining operations and giving warnings -- when it comes to minor infractions -- or else stepping in when things get out of hand.
The problem? Nearly all of these officials owe their jobs and paychecks to the very same secretaries and directors who head the agencies they must inspect! In some cases, they were old pals, ensuring partiality and conflict of interest. Many of the IGs are biding their time, working toward promotions that have nothing to do with a career in accountability.
Only now picture this. What if we made a very simple change, by appointing and assigning and paying all of the inspectors through a civil service unit completely separated from each department's political chain of command? Indeed, separate from the legislative, executive and judicial branches?
A uniformed service, with its own elite career path like the Coast Guard and NOAA and the Public Health Service... so that the word "general" has real meaning, encouraging higher-than-normal traditions and standards of conduct.
Under this simple law (possibly it could fit on one page), IGUS will command a corps of trusted IG observers, cleared to go anywhere and see anything. And thereby assure the American people that the government is still theirs, to own and control. IGUS might be appointed by a commission consisting of all past presidents and retired justices of the US Supreme Court, plus other nationally respected sages, with advice and consent of Congress.
One might imagine special rules requiring inspectors to stay mum when it comes to legal policy decisions that fall rightly in the political sphere, but giving them a range of options when they uncover violations of basic ethics and/or the law. These needn't all entail immediate revelation or disciplinary action! For example, an IG cannot rebuke executive officials for their confidential musings, but should speak up, confidentially, when a plan seems likely to break a law.
One might even picture the Inspectorate as a way to provide basic rights to people who are being held under urgent "special circumstances" -- ensuring that those rare exceptions aren't abused or over-used. And above all, that all exceptions are temporary.
Ponder this; the very act of establishing such a General Inspectorate would so clearly be neutral, offering no visible long-term advantage to the Democratic Party, that this law would have immediate political effects, triggering public approval that (ironically) benefits the Democrats. Indeed how could the GOP dare oppose it?
Finally, consider this: who needs a special prosecutor when every agency already contains the pieces that we'd need? All of the right parts are already in place to create an ideal force for accountability, simply by incorporating all of them into a professional service that serves the people and the republic and the cause of honest government.
The above is only an excerpt from the (very long) list he submitted.
Absent a constitutional amendment, the USIG would have to belong to one of these branches since they make up the whole government. That quibble aside, not a bad idea although I suspect the whole office would be corrupted almost instantly.
I kind of like this idea of an Executive Branch Inspector General Corps but I know that there would be BIG problems in the implementation there to. My Dad was IG at Ft.Dix in NJ in 1965 because he was being kind of dead-ended in his Army career. He was assigned there following a South Vietnam tour and wanted to return to Vietnam rather than take another year as IG. Given that the IG post was all he was offered, he retired instead.
The IG position is like an ombudsman and frequently carries the same kind of power, to whit - NONE but what the higher-up will grant. If you can walk into the Commanding General / Controlling Secretary Office without an appointment and have an honest discussion, you can be EFFECTIVE otherwise, you are a bureaucrat!
I think that he urged all to avoid voting for Democratic Party candidates this past election
Er, No. He hates President Bush with a purple passion. He has some respect for conservatives, but thinks that our party is controlled by the most extreme elements. His list of new legislation ideas was published just after the Democratic Party retook the House.
If you can walk into the Commanding General / Controlling Secretary Office without an appointment and have an honest discussion, you can be EFFECTIVE otherwise, you are a bureaucrat!
Do you have any idea how we might ensure the IGUS retained that kind of respect and influence?
Uh, you'll have to clear that up for me. How do current federal orgainizations (FBI, FDA, IRS, etc) fit into the the standard three branches? I was under the impression that they generally didn't fit into any of them.
The agencies you name are all part of the executive branch. Most, but not all, agencies are.
I am so BUSTED!!! You are absolutely correct, I did conflate Mr Brin and Mr Card in this post - need strong drugs. Please ignore all such stupidity on my part, and I do agree that Mr Brin and Mr Card are at the opposite ends of the current political spectrum. At least I was right about the "Uplift Wars" series (I Hope). As far as a US Cabinet-Level Inspector Generalship - Would take a real strong executive and willing legislature - no time soon!
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