Fallin's Government Polices Itself

This morning's news has an interesting piece about the inability for Oklahoma to enforce it's sunshine laws to create a more open government, because its law enforcement (DA's etc..) are too busy trying to solve murders and drug trafficking and other such things.  The result is a corrupt government at all levels.

The best part comes from Governor Fallin's general counsel - emphasis mine:

Last year during her gubernatorial campaign, Gov. Mary Fallin addressed a gathering of open government advocates during Sunshine Week. She pledged to designate someone in her office to handle open records matters and to advise department heads to comply with open records and meeting laws.

Judy Copeland, Fallin’s general counsel, said she is filling that role. But Copeland’s authority is limited to executive agencies.

“When you start talking about city councils, I think that would be beyond what the governor would have any authority over if she wanted to,” Copeland said.

You've got to love it when your own government is policing itself... it seems to be so effective and efficient. But at least it's cheap, right?  It we're not holding our own employees accountable to the law then we don't have to pay for trials and lawyers and people to replace them... so just think of it as government transparency being cut for budget reasons.  Corruption is so much more economical.

Fallin voted against Government Effeciency

For someone who wants government to be more efficient and effective... she sure goes about it a funny way.... DC Mary voted against a bill that directed the National Archives and Records Administration to create regulations on the capture, management and electronic preservation of electronic messages that would be electronically searchable.

All federal agencies were required to comply with the regulations within four years of the bill‟s enactment. Agencies were no longer able to use a “print and file” system. The bill required the National Archives and Records Administration to create standards for the management of presidential records, and required annual certification of whether the president‟s records management controls meets those standards.

This would have help increase government transparency and been a great step forward for our Nation, but once again DC Mary votes to keep something from the people.