Sparks are flying over the revelation that Hillary's pollster and spokesman Mark Penn's PR firm has been advising Blackwater on how to deal with Congressional inquiries. With Blackwater making headlines over the activities of its unaccountable security forces, the issue has become an annoying focus of attention for the Clinton camp.
Before this scandal broke and before there was points to be scored in the media, however, Barack Obama had the foresight and judgment to begin to move forward legislation to create transparency and accountability for contractors.
"We cannot win a fight for hearts and minds when we outsource critical missions to unaccountable contractors. To add insult to injury, these contractors are charging taxpayers up to nine times more to do the same jobs as soldiers, a disparity that damages troop morale."
--Barack Obama, Oct 3
http://www.press-citizen.com/...
The situation with private, unaccountable contractors is out of hand and something needs to be done. More than that, we need leadership that has the judgment to recognize a problem before it gets out of hand and isn't just reacting to the headlines. That's why I was happy to hear Obama not just talk about what he will do about contractors when I saw him at the Iowa Memorial Union earlier this week. I also heard him talking about what he has been doing already, quietly working in Congress for accountability before the scandal hit the headlines.
Back in Febuary, Obama first proposed the "Transparency and Accountability in Security Contracting Act of 2007". Amnesty International gave its full-throated support for the bill.
In January, Rep. David Price (NC) introduced a bill, the Transparency and Accountability in Security Contracting Act of 2007, which would address the lack of oversight and apparent impunity for contractors in the "war on terror" and other U.S. operations abroad by, for example, expanding Justice Department authority to prosecute security contractors. Sen. Barack Obama (IL) introduced companion legislation in the Senate in February. In May, the House passed an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act that adopted some of the transparency provisions proposed by Reps. Price and Jan Schakowsky (IL). Additionally, Sen. Obama submitted an amendment to the House bill that requires the Defense Department to report its strategy for ensuring that contractors do not perform "inherently governmental functions."
Amnesty welcomes these steps forward, encourages the Senate to support and further this momentum and continues to urge both houses of Congress to put their full support behind the provisions of Reps. Schakowsky and Price and Sen. Obama's bills to ensure that their aims -- legislative oversight, transparency and full accountability of contractors-- become law.
http://www.amnestyusa.org/...
For those that have followed Obama's career, transparency and accountability aren't new themes. In Illinois, Obama succeeded in getting the first ethics reform passed in 20+ years, gaining bipartisan support for a reform package requiring disclosure of lobbyist donations to campaigns. The issue was of fundamental importance to Obama and he fought against the odds to get it done. They don't play patty-cake in Springfield and Obama's experience includes concrete accomplishments delivering change on gridlocked issues.
"'He caught pure hell,' Mr. Jones said of Mr. Obama. 'I actually felt sorry for him at times.' The job required negotiating across party lines to come up with reform proposals, then presenting them to the Democratic caucus. Senator Kirk Dillard, the Republican Senate president's appointee, said, 'Barack was literally hooted and catcalled in his caucus.' On the Senate floor, Mr. Dillard said, 'They would bark their displeasure at me, and then they'd unload on Obama.'"
--New York Times, 7/30/2007
He continued his work on transparency in in the US Senate, galvanizing his claim to a track record of delivering results on ethics reform. Notice how the words "accountability" and "transparency" come up again and again in Obama's legislative track record. These aren't issues he's just discovered. They're the foundation of how he thinks a government of, by, and for us ought to work.
http://obama.senate.gov/...
When the scandal broke Obama continued his legislative work, finally getting his Transparency and Accountability legislation passed as an amendment to a Defense Department Authorization bill and pressuring Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice for answers on the Blackwater incident.
http://obama.senate.gov/...
And, Obama's not done.
"I've also proposed tougher government reform than any other candidate in this race -- reforms that would eliminate the kind of no-bid contracts that this administration has given to Blackwater."
--Barack Obama, Oct 3
There's more plans and more promises. There's hopeful rhetoric about reform, about doing things differently, about turning the page and not having DC insiders like Penn, O'Hanlon, and Keane shape the terms of our debate and policy judgments. Beyond the rhetoric, there's a track record to back it all up. That's not just on ethics, transparency, accountability, etc. It's on issue after issue that matters to progressives.
Obama is a great and principled leader, but he needs your help. So, please, join us.
http://my.barackobama.com/...