John Culberson (R-Tex) is trying to stir up a storm on twitter, saying that new house rules being proposed would ban services such as twitter from being used by members of Congress. He points to this letter from the House franking commission. I don’t see where it bans any such thing, but he would be more likely than I am to read between the lines.
I’m put off by the very obvious partisanship of his appeal, pinning it on “the Dems,” without a lot of substance. I’d guess that if there is something here, this is very much coming from the old guard of both parties. Clearly, it’s brain dead.
I still remember a talk I gave to the House staff in 1993 about the internet. I was taken aside beforehand by some members of the House IT department, who beat around the bush for a while. I asked the point, and was told, “Don’t get them too excited, because we’re not going to give it to them.” We saw where that ended up.
I doubt very much that even the old guard will be able to shut down the increased permeability that new media gives to old institutions.
I’d love to hear more from people who know the ins and outs of current politics and transparency policy than I do. I have some queries out. Will report more as I hear it.