The taxpayers do their part, and faithfully fling their hard-earned treasure into the gaping public maw. Surely they should be allowed to know what happens to it. So why not put government spending online?rnIt is a good idea that began in Congress, of all places. In 2006 Barack Obama and Tom Coburn, then freshman senators from Illinois and Oklahoma, sponsored a bill calling for an online database of federal contracts and awards. Robert Byrd of West Virginia and Ted Stevens of Alaska, both notorious for pork, briefly blocked the idea with an old Senate trick, the anonymous hold. They were soon unmasked by the blogosph-ere. The Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act sailed through to passage with bipartisan support.
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