'Open' government vow may be undone by red ink

San Francisco Chronicle ^ | 4/5/11 | Andrew S. Ross

[SmithL]

Remember President Obama's vow, in his inaugural speech, to usher in an era of "open and transparent" government?

It's taken a couple of hits of late.

A White House award ceremony last week honoring his "commitment to transparency" was closed to the press, to the surprise and chagrin of the open government organizations that had joined together to present the award. One of the attendees called the press ban "baffling."

A more concrete setback came with reports that much of Obama's "open government initiative" is facing the ax.

According to Washington's Federal News Radio, seven public websites launched as part of the initiative could be shut down beginning in May. They include data.gov, a fire hose of federal information; IT Dashboard, which tracks government tech spending; and paymentaccuracy.gov, which is supposed to ensure federal money is going to places for which it's intended.

USASpending.gov ("Government spending at your fingertips") may go dark by the end of July, said the report.

The administration's e-government budget is, like so much else, caught in Capitol Hill's deficit reduction dance. The White House was initially looking for $35 million in funding for the various websites. The House has come up with $2 million, the Senate with $20 million. In the current climate, the latter figure seems to be a bit of a reach.

"We need at least another $4 million just to keep USASpending.gov operating this year," an Office of Management and Budget official told Federal News Radio. "We are looking at a pass-the-hat approach, but it could be challenging to get that done in time" (sfg.ly/gnCXn1).

[ComputerGuy]

Aw shucks. Now we’ll never see HeresMyLongFormBC.com