Obama talks government reform

From NBC/NJ’s Athena Jones GREEN BAY, Wisc. -- In a speech his campaign dubbed “major,” Obama talked about how he would make government more transparent and more accountable, expanding on previously announced proposals to increase efficiency and reduce wasteful spending at a time when the nation’s attention is on the plan to use $700 billion in taxpayer money to rescue the financial system. Obama spoke about long-term proposals, including opening up the practice of writing legislation, making information about tax breaks provided to corporations publicly available, cutting federal spending on contractors by at least 10 percent, or $40 billion a year, banning gifts from lobbyists and instituting what he calls a SWAT team to make federal agencies more efficient. Over the weekend, the senator laid out the elements he wants included in the bailout legislation lawmakers aim to pass in the coming days and he touched on them again today, while responding to news reports about Wall Street firms ... (link)