You have to account for your working hours to your boss, right? So why shouldn’t your representative in Congress account for his or her working hours to his or her boss, who happens to be … you? That’s the point of the Punch Clock Agreement, which asks incumbents and congressional challengers of all parties to agree to post their daily schedules on their Web sites if they are elected.
To date, “only” 40 congressional challengers have signed the Punch Clock Agreement. The campaign is sponsored by the Sunlight Foundation, a nonpartisan Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit that is doing great things to advance accountability and transparency in government. The word only in the preceding sentence is in quotes because Sunlight is committed to the Punch Clock Agreement effort for the long haul.
That is heartening to know because getting politicians everywhere — not just in the nation’s capitol — to be open and above board about who they are meeting and dealing with is no easy task under the best of circumstances. Some come to mind — former-congressman Randy Cunningham, who is now serving time in jail for bribery — because they areor were up to no good, so it is easy to understand why they don’t leap at the opportunity to sign on the dotted line for the Punch Clock Agreement. But it is puzzling to see so much reticence among the rest, the vast majority of whom are honest men and women seeking to do the right thing as representatives of the folks back home in their districts.
Only one congressional incumbent — Rep. Kay Granger, R-Texas — has expressed “interest” in signing the Punch Clock Agreement. Incumbents Jeb Hensarling of Texas, John Hostettler of Indiana, Stephanie Tubbs of Ohio, Randy Neugebauer of Texas and Ron Paul of Texas declined or otherwise were non-committal about signing the Punch Clock Agreement. Another 33 congressional candidates were similarly non-committal or refused.
To be sure, the vast majority of congressional incumbents have not yet been contacted by Punch Clock Campaign supporters, who are primarily drawn from the ranks of Internet users with an above-average interest in politics. With the current campaign heating up, it is probably unrealistic to expect much activity on a project like Punch Clock until after the votes have been counted and the partisan lineup of the next Congress is established.
Wouldn’t it be interesting to see what happens to incumbents and challengers alike who not only agree to publish their daily schedules, but also to post their annual office budgets, campaign donors, full travel schedules and comprehensive financial disclosure documents (not the all-but-meaningless categorical declarations now required), as well as support legislation to apply the Freedom of Information Act to Congress (it doesn’t now). Call it the Sunshine Caucus.
