by Sarah Dohl

Created on: May 28, 2008

American Patriot Patrick Henry once said, "The liberties of a people never were, nor ever will be, secure, when the transactions of their rulers may be concealed from them."

And I ask you today, are you convinced that our liberties are secure?

Are you convinced that the individuals you have chosen to represent you on Capitol Hill stand committed to the transparency that must exist in government?

Are you convinced that we have the technology in place to support such transparency?

I'm not convinced. And you shouldn't be either.

In the throws of one of the most interesting and unprecedented Presidential Primary seasons in history, the candidates are missing an opportunity to connect with voters on open government issues.

Well, most candidates.

While Presidential Candidate John McCain spent hours behind closed doors with President George W. Bush fundraising away from the lenses of photographers and the watchful eyes of the general public, he has maintained that he believes transparency in government is important to a fundamental democracy.

Hillary Clinton has said that she "is committed to restoring open government," but is looked upon by the public and media as having a relatively closed door policy during her husband's Presidency and tenure as a member of the Senate.

The truth is that both of these candidates have done little more than paid "lip service" to the issue.

America is ready for the answer.

And Barack Obama stands alone as the candidate that has put forth an actual transparency plan that aims to throw government into the spotlight and encourage Americans to become more involved in democracy through actual participation.

"We will put government data online in universally accessibly formats, [allowing citizens to] track federal grants, contracts, earmarks and lobbying contracts, participate in government forums, ask questions in real time, offer suggestions that will be reviewed before decisions are made, and comment on legislation before it is signed," said Presidential hopeful Barack Obama during a speech at Google headquarters in November.

Right now, we live in a country where the government can make decisions about the consolidation of the media without the insertion of public opinion about the importance of diversification. We live in a country that can limit overtime pay for workers without asking the workers how they depend on that money to put food on the table for their families. And we live in a country whose government is so technologically inept that even

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