Senators McCain and Obama Co-Sponsor Good-Government Bill

The appeal of Barack Obama and of John McCain stems in part from the perception that they are capable of acting in a bipartisan fashion for the public good. By the time the two of them make it to the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November, they will both have been branded unrepentantly partisan. However for now, they are acting together on a bill to increase the openness of government contracts. It appears there is a very good reason to nominate senators as opposed to governors; they actually have to work with the other side.

Susan Crabtree of The Hill reported, “The new bill will increase the transparency of federal contracts by posting them online. Previously, only descriptions of the contracts have been available. The bill is intended to approve an earlier measure, informally known as the ‘Google for Government’ act, backed by Obama, McCain, Coburn and Carper in 2006. That measure created a website — USASpending.gov – that allows the public to track down details on ‘all entities and organizations’ receiving federal money.”

She reported that Monday night Mr. McCain’s office got in touch with Mr. Obama’s office to sign on to the bill as a co-sponsor. She continued:

Before the call, Obama had been working on the measure primarily with Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), an ardent proponent of eliminating wasteful government spending and an early supporter and longtime Senate ally of McCain’s. After learning that Obama and Coburn were introducing the bill without his backing, McCain’s staffers immediately contacted Coburn to express concern and a desire to be named as an original co-sponsor of the update. They then called Obama’s office. Obama staffers were happy to comply with McCain’s request to sign on, an Obama adviser said, because they knew support from the two presumptive nominees could propel the legislation to passage in the final months of a packed legislative schedule.