Bluey Blog - Official Blog of Robert B. Bluey

A Day to Celebrate Open Government

Liberals and conservatives, Democrats and Republicans, our adversaries and our friends came together today on Capitol Hill to release the Open House Project report. Produced by the Sunlight Foundation, it is one of the most comprehensive projects every undertaken to promote open government in the halls of Congress.

The report was written by citizens — many of whom never met and have vastly different political views. (In the above photo, David All and I confer with liberal blogger Matt Stoller, right.) But with the common goal of bringing openness to the House of Representatives, we produced a report that outlines 10 ideas that we hope Speaker Nancy Pelosi will bring to the forefront of her reform agenda.

The Open House Project got a major boost from Republican Leader John Boehner, who spoke at a Capitol Hill press conference this morning (video below). Boehner’s appearance is significant for a few reasons: 1) Having bipartisan support for these ideas is crucial to making sure they’re implemented; 2) The presence of the Republican leader enforces the significance of the issue to allies on the right; and 3) Boehner demonstrated that he understands the importance of embracing technology rather than running from it.

In the bipartisan spirit of the Open House Project, former congressional staffer David All, a Republican, joined forces with Philip de Vellis, a Democrat better known as ParkRidge47, to produce a video about the report.

We’re eager to have many more people involved in the project. It’s easy to join our Google Group. And if you’re in the Washington area, please stop by the Heritage Foundation on Thursday at 10 a.m. for a panel discussion with Sunlight’s John Wonderlich, Matt Stoller of MyDD and David All. (Click here to RSVP.)