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Is anybody else on these boards a fan of science fiction writer David Brin? Well I am. He's a democrat, but some of his ideas are still interesting. He posted a list of ideas for congress to consider. I don't think many of them stand a chance of going before congress eventually, but I do think it would be interesting to deliberate a few of his ideas here. My favorite was this one, for creating the office of the Inspector General.

The above is only an excerpt from the (very long) list he submitted.

Indeed, separate from the legislative, executive and judicial branches?

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.

You said ... "He's a democrat, ..." but I get the feeling it is much in the same line as Zell Miller being a member of the Democratic Party. I've been a BIG fan of Mr.Brin since reading the "Ender's War" series and the Uplift series. He is a very cogent writer and I think that he urged all to avoid voting for Democratic Party candidates this past election for just the headlines we are now seeing.

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!