In more positive news....

Perhaps the federal government needs to take a look at how we do things here in Virginia to learn how to increase transparency for a lower cost... (okay, that's not the only lesson they could learn from Virginia- the #1 best managed state, but that's another post entirely...)

The Heartland Institute reports...

Virginia taxpayers scored a big win in the 2009 General Assembly session ... [with] a bill putting more of the state’s budget and expenditures online in a user-friendly format easily accessible to the general public.

Now that's great news in and of itself. Making it even better? The pricetag.

Early in the legislative session the bill faced serious opposition from all parties when the Department of Planning and Budget hung a $3 million price tag on it. However, Cuccinelli worked closely with Virginia’s auditor of public accounts, Walter Kucharski, to eliminate any financial impact or additional burden on taxpayers.

Government spending transparency? No added costs to taxpayers? Priceless.

News Virginian: "VDOT needs outside look"

It this doesn't paint a picture of government waste, I don't know what does. The Waynesboro News Virginian makes the case for an external audit of VDOT- not as a cure-all - but as an important additional tool to helping control costs and increase efficiency.

Government wastes like a fat man breathes, heavier and more frequently with each step. Few agencies are fatter than state departments of transportation, whose waste may be anything but voluntary. Feeding perpetually on taxpayer money, state DOTs are a traditional repository of raw gluttony, with parasitic legions swarming to nibble and sometimes chomp at bounties of billions of dollars. A query that percolates in the commonwealth: Is VDOT different?

"Shining a Spotlight on Transparency"

Check out the latest on one of our favorite topics: Transparency, from Bacon's Rebellion,

The legitimacy of government is based on the consent of the governed. As owners of our state government, every citizen of Virginia is entitled to full and complete information about how their government acts and what their Representatives do. If we cannot keep ourselves informed on the workings of our government, we cannot retain control over our government.

Read on...