GOP Overseer: Technology = Transparency

Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., who could well become chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee if the Republicans take control of the House after next week's elections, says the key to transparency in government can be summed up in one word: technology.

In an op-ed in the Washington Examiner, Issa makes the case for agencies to be required to use "consistent, compatible electronic data formats for financial, regulatory, and legislative information."

If agencies used such common formats, Issa argues, it would be a simple matter to reconcile agencies financial reports and for citizens to track federal spending. Specifically, he makes the case for the Extensible Business Reporting Language data-tagging format.

Of course, in keeping with Issa's overall view of the federal bureaucracy, the purpose of the effort wouldn't be to show where government might be getting a decent bang for its buck, but to determine "exactly how much waste, fraud, and abuse goes on every day."