In a true man-bites-dog story, one member of Congress — Republican Rep. Justin Amash of Michigan — is trying to shine a light on almost every action he takes in Washington, including the votes he flubs. Bloomberg Businessweek explains.
After a rapid series of votes on the House floor last September, Representative Justin Amash admitted to his Facebook (FB) followers that he’d inadvertently opposed a land use bill he meant to support. “I accidentally voted ‘no’ on the Grijalva of AZ Part B Amendment 4 to H R 5544,” he confessed. “I apparently confused the Grijalva amendment with the Ellison amendment before it.” Explaining his mea culpa, the Republican congressman wrote: “Being accountable means I let you know about every vote even when I goof up.”
Amash was just 30 when Tea Party supporters in Michigan first elected him to the House of Representatives in 2010. Like other right-wing Republicans running that year, he vowed to shrink the government and repeal Obamacare. (He’s among those calling for a government shutdown if the president doesn’t defund the health-care law.) His other big issue was accountability. He said he’d push to make Washington more open to voters. And when he took office, he brought with him a regimen of personal candor beyond that of any other member of Congress.
Amash, not a staffer, writes up his reasoning for each vote he casts and posts it online (“I voted yes on H R 45, which fully repeals Obamacare. The law is unconstitutional, and its harmful consequences have already begun to take effect?…”). He tweets his whereabouts hour by hour (“Thx to @google for inviting me to their awesome #NYC campus. Great conversation on security, privacy & education”). Amash has more than 67,000 Facebook followers—twice Speaker John Boehner’s. “By showing that I can do it in my own office, it reflects on what other agencies should be able to do,” he says.
Wouldn’t it be nice to see other elected officials dedicate such time and energy to transparency?
