BY:Â JORDAN BOYD
The government is hiding information about spending, but Republican Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa wants to change that with a new watchdog bill.
Requests under the Freedom of Information Act have grown significantly over the last decade, but slow bureaucrats are not responding to taxpayers within the proper time frame or with accurate information. As the backlog grows, Americans are left wondering just how much of their money the government is squandering each day, but the FOIA process repeatedly falls short.
Under Ernstâs âWatchdog Act,â government agencies would be subject to âhoundingâ from a Director of Open Government, or âDOG,â in the White House. The DOGâs exclusive responsibility would be to act as the first liaison between Americans demanding records and answers about bureaucratic spending and the government staffers who have thus far delayed any response.