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“Transparency mandates waste taxpayer money! Red tape!”
What You Say
Machine-readable spending data and lobbying disclosure prevent fraud that costs orders of magnitude more than compliance. GAO and IG reports routinely find billions in improper payments when oversight is weak. Real-time disclosure over $200 and daily federal spending databases — in SAFE-004 — are infrastructure investments, not red tape. The expensive option is undisclosed capture.
The Stab
Dark money is the expensive red tape.
Sources