March 2022 Squeal Award: Who let the dogs out? 

It’s daylight savings time again!  

With the sun setting later, we are all reminded what a big difference a little extra sunlight makes. And that is what Sunshine Week, the annual celebration of openness in government, is all about.

Government transparency has always been a priority of mine because Iowans have a right to know what is happening in Washington.

Whether it’s the Pentagon spilling $1,220 for a single coffee cup, Speaker Pelosi steering billions of dollars to gravy trains in California, or Dr. Fauci masking millions he sent to China’s Wuhan Institute of Virology, you can count on me to shine a light on how the big spenders in Washington are wasting your hard earned tax dollars and to make ‘em squeal.

Just last year, I wrote a law to expose billion dollar transportation boondoggles and another to put a price tag of the cost to taxpayers on defense research projects. Along with other important sunshine laws, like the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), this information makes D.C. decision makers more accountable to you. 

However, too often laws can be more bark than bite if no one is watching to make sure they are being enforced. There has been a dramatic increase in the number of FOIA information requests that have not received responses within the required time. Government spending data that is required to be made publicly available is inaccurate, incomplete, and even unreliable. And taxpayer-funded projects that are required to display the costs are not doing so.

That is why I am giving my March 2022 Squeal Award to the unelected bureaucrats and political hacks who are keeping taxpayers in the dark.

These Squeal Awards don’t make me many friends in D.C., but you know what they say: If you want a friend in Washington, get a dog!

That is why I have introduced the Watchdog Act, which will establish a new Director of Openness in Government (DOG) within the White House to hound government bureaucrats until they fetch the facts for taxpayers. Agencies not providing complete and timely information will be dogged until they do, making the DOG taxpayers’ best friend in Washington.

Do you have an example of government waste or inefficiencies that I should take a look at? Send me an email by clicking here.

Thank you!