Taxpayers cheated when government meets secretly
Hiding government records should never be considered a positive step. And having state senators meet in secret should not be tolerated.
That’s exactly what happened earlier this week when members of the Senate Finance Committee met behind closed doors to discuss budget matters. The gathering was shrugged off by one lawmaker in attendance who dubbed it nothing more than a meeting between friends.
The state senators may in fact be friends, but they’re friends deciding what to do with some $25 billion in taxpayer dollars. With so much at stake, the doors should be open — and the windows too.
What’s just as concerning is the lackadaisical attitude lawmakers displayed when they were caught. No one was ashamed. There was no disgrace. The atmosphere was that of “so what?”
It cannot be stressed enough that our Tennessee representatives are elected by the people to serve the people. That means there should be no cloak of secrecy, period.
It boils down to the basic principle that all citizens should have easy access to documents, budgets, and other governmental decisions, at all times.
This isn’t to suggest government officials aren’t playing by the rules — most are concerned citizens who truly want to make a difference — but as taxpayers and as Americans, we have the right to know what they’re doing.
The accusations surrounding state Sen. John Ford are a prime example of how government officials can try to bend the rules. It should be stressed that Sen. Ford hasn’t been found guilty of any wrongdoing, although it has been documented he received around $250,000 from a company affiliated with TennCare.
This shows a need to monitor our state legislators and other elected officials. Everyone should be held accountable, especially the people spending our tax dollars. But it’s impossible to monitor our governments if meetings are held secretly and information is suppressed.
All citizens, not just those affiliated with newspapers and TV stations, should demand for local, state and federal governments to operate in the open. That is unless they don’t care to know how their hard-earned tax dollars are being spent.