The organized testimony provided by John Hart, the CEO of , OpenTheBooks, is below. The non-profit organization, based in Chicago, collects people standard funds from all levels of government.
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Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA ) presided over the House Oversight and Accountability Committee’s government efficiency committee, which is led by his testimony on Tuesday, April 8. Ranking Member is New Mexico Democrat Rep. Angela Stansbury.
As we gather in this cramped hall, Ranking Member Stansbury, and other distinguished members have the opportunity to reflect on the root cause of the expensive issue that Madame Chair Greene described in her beginning speech.
The broad, over-the-top, and occasionally opulent national real estate portfolio of today is both a tomb of American taxpayers ‘ lost dreams, opportunity, and freedom.
Progressives like Herbert Croly had the idea in the early 20th centuries of governing a complicated new earth with a management course. Croly backed the statement, “increasing power over house in the open attention.” He would undoubtedly become pleased to see this hall and the amazing collection of office space provided by the administrative state.
Congress has a chance to revert to our founding fathers’ classic vision for confined, constitutional authorities and transparency by rejecting this failed plan of the past at this hearing.
Transparency is viewed by us at Open the Publications as a First Principle in a free nation. The Coburn-Obama bill, which I helped craft while working for Senator Tom Coburn (R-Okla. ), and landmark bipartisan transparency legislation, made our work possible in part. USASpending was born out of that act. and for the first time online all national spending.gov
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Our founders made it a wise decision to put accountability first and incorporate it into the Constitution. A typical Declaration and Account of the Receipts and Expenditures of all people Funds may be published from time to time, according to Article I, Section 9, Clause 7.
Take notice that these phrases come before the First Amendment, the Bill of Rights, and even our own right to free speech. Clarity is like gas in the public sq. If we didn’t breath, we didn’t respond.
When we examined the collection of national real estate and opened the books, we learned how expensive it was to remodel and redecorate the operational state.
The reading today is actually a kitchen table issue, in the eyes of the taxpayers. Every home has a problem with the cost of equipment. Why are taxpayers so upset when they learn that federal agencies spend billions of dollars on some high-end items openly each year.
Executive firms have spent more than$ 4.6 billion on furniture alone since the fiscal year 2021. 9.2 million American households may receive a moderate$ 500 kitchen table with that number. Of course, offices need tables, chairs, and gathering furniture. And it’s true that beautiful surroundings does increase our productivity.
But what price, and for what, is charm offered?
Complete federal employees require seven figures of contemporary, abstract art to run the government? The State Department spent$ 1.4 million on various embassies ‘ artwork, including$ 2,000 to purchase two original works of art from an abstract contemporary artist.
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Do they require expensive set recliners that cost thousands of dollars each? Thanks to forty Ethan Allen seats, which cost citizens$ 120,000, our embassy in Islamabad is a place where you can put your feet off.
Offices spent$ 3.3 billion on equipment during the COVID emergency’s peak times, 2020 to 2022, as operate moved to Zoom.
However, a quote-unquote “refresh” at DARPA, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, was provided with premium Herman Miller furnishings and a$ 250, 000 price tag. And the SEC was able to devote$ 700,000 on furnishing just one meeting place in New York.
Yet the Centers for Disease Control was unable to comply with social distancing recommendations that prohibited the purchase of solar-powered picnic chairs with charging ports that, by their own standards, may have sat empty.
Several spaces are in long-term ruin, which adds to the taxpayer burden: Federal buildings need$ 370 billion in repairs. Overall, we have an unfathomable amount of physical space and furnishings, too much of it being rented out, maintained, and purchased inadvertently.
We at Open the Books think that citizens want accountability and transparency. They want Congress to increase their company and their right to pursue pleasure on their words with their resources rather than expanding national agencies.
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The natural progression of points is for rights to produce and government to get floor, according to Thomas Jefferson. Every penny saved in Washington is a fantasy that has been realized somewhere in the world. The well-designed real estate portfolio of the managerial state is a good place to start.
I look forward to your inquiries.
Go . if you want to watch the entire reading at which Hart testified.
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