What about a 23% Approval Rating Don't You Get?

They still don't get it.

That's what I was thinking as I watched Anderson Cooper interview Rahm Emanuel yesterday on CNN.

CNN's "Keeping them Honest" segment called every congress-person and asked for their list of proposed Earmarks. Initially less than 10% of our government agreed to publicly list Earmarks they had asked for. About 15% said absolutely not - unless there was a legal requirement to do so. Over 300 never responded to the inquiries at all.

Rahm Emanuel, who was aghast at the coverage of the issue, appeared with Anderson Cooper to defend the progress that Dems had made in turning the entire process transparent.

He argued that Dems were going to force Earmarks, which end up added to other legislation, to be identified by the sponsoring Congressperson. He argued that is substantial progress towards the path to transparency.

Nice try Skippy.

When more than 90% of Congress is unresponsive to public requests for proposed Earmarks, it's very clear (at least to the Public) that Congress doesn't appear to understand that it is they, who are supposed to be serving US.

For Rahm Emanuel to appear on CNN and defend Democratic earmark initiatives as being "progressive" would be like the Army Corps of Engineers defending themselves after Katrina by saying that "not all the levies broke."

Regardless, New Orleans was under water.

Congress has a 23% approval rating.

What is it that you don't understand?

Mr. Emanuel was acting like the Dems were about to "cross the finish line" on Earmarks. Bad news Congressman, you're not running a 100 yard dash. You're in a marathon.

When the public gets a 100% response from its elected representatives on Earmark requests, when Dick Cheney's office discloses what information his office has classified as secret or declassified, when Government contracts are forced to be open-bid, when the President stops trying to amend legislation with signing statements, when the Executive branch stops hiding behind the notion of Executive Privilege and ignoring subpoenas from Congress, when shadow email systems are exposed as a circumvention of the Hatch Act and the perpetrators punished, when the Executive Branch releases its stranglehold on the Department of Justice,
then we'll be at the 1 mile marker in the race for transparency, Mr. Emanuel.

Our expectations are simply a little higher than yours.

Before you appear on CNN again, at least make sure that everyone in your party has disclosed their Earmarks. Otherwise you simply appear foolish and inept.