Tell Senate to Demand Whistleblower Protection!

As the stimulus bill goes into conference this week, there were warnings of subtle but determined opposition from Senate offices to block key provisions of whistleblower protection.  The opposition is no longer subtle.  It's loud and unapologetic.

The Washington Post argues that anti-retaliation and classified congressional disclosure rights shouldn’t be extended to FBI and intelligence employees, insisting "that is just plain wrong." This is a red-herring over an anti-leaks measure that controls preexisting broader rights for classified congressional communications, and independent enforcement for preexisting anti-retaliation rights.  But the FBI and intelligence agencies like NSA will, and should, be involved with creating a new infrastructure.  National security whistleblowers have revealed that their agencies play a role in all Americans' lives.  Why shoulld there be an accountability loophole?

Whistleblowers tried to warn of the current economic crisis years ago, but they still don't have a fighting chance for justice when they challenge fraud, waste and abuse.  With current so-called "rights," their chances of winning are less than one half of one per cent. Studies consistently conclude that whistleblowers are the most effective weapon that exists against fraud. After the bailout, there is no excuse to spend another $800 billion without locking in accountability.  

This reform has been languishing for 10 years, despite eight approvals by relevant committees, and four approvals by Senate or House votes. Three were unanimous. Why isn’t this done? The legislative process has been a broken record of procedural sabotage trumping an overwhelming popular and political mandate. Three times "secret holds" have blocked votes on this anti-secrecy reform.

There was no whistleblower protection in the Administration’s unprecedented bailout of Wall Street--despite promises that it would be added "later"--and now we learn that a sizeable chunk went to pay corporate bonuses.

In 1991, the RTC law following the S&L crisis had "best practice" whistleblower rights for its time. In 2002, the Sarbanes-Oxley law wisely included whistleblower and witness protection as an enforcement cornerstone of that law.  Congress since has perfected weaknesses in these pioneer approaches in four subsequent laws, including three since 2006. A whistleblower provision should be included to provide teeth for any financial recovery bills to ensure that this crisis is never repeated.

Secrecy was the breeding ground for this disaster, because it sustained the reckless decisions and corruption that caused it. Now the Administration proposes to give $800 billion--the largest stimulus in history--and theWashington Post doesn't want any accountability for how it is spent: no judicial review; no whistleblower rights; no public acces to records; and waiver of normal government contract rules. Apparently, one financial disaster wasn't enough for the Post.

Today, the Washington Post has a lead editorial on why Senators should remove the whistleblower provision, which passed unanimously in the House, from the $800 billion stimulus package.http://www.washingtonpost.com/...  The editorial places form over substance.

Regardless of what the Washington Post thinks is "the way it is supposed to work," how about the taxpayers?  We are in the midst of an  unprecedented, nearly $2 trillion spending frenzy. That is the wrong time to sacrifice justice for whistleblowers, and accountability for taxpayers, at the altar of the "right way."  

Please call your senators and tell them to keep whistlelower protection in the bill! 

Thank you for helping us make it this far.  We now must tell the Senate to include the same common-sense whistleblower protections in their stimulus spending legislation, which they're planning to vote on early this week.  Please contact your Senators at http://www.senate.gov/...!

P.S. You can also send a letter to the editor of the Washington Post at letters@washpost.com, but it's more important to contact your Senators.