Government Transparency and Sunshine Week with Mattress Mack | The Layout

Sunshine week 2024 starts soon which means that it's the perfect time to talk about government transparency and your right to know what's going on behind the scenes so buckle up as we discuss the ins and outs of open government and explore how we might leverage it to restore trust in our institutions this is the layout [Music] I'm James quento a policy director here at the Texas public policy foundation and today I'm joined by a very special guest whose generosity kindness and compassion are absolutely legendary especially if you're a kid from Houston like me mattress ma thank you so very very much for being with us to celebrate Sunshine week hi James glad to be on is it uh the name of your show is the uh layout yes sir well getting government transparency is definitely not a layup I think that's well said now now Mac uh just to start you know I had the Good Fortune of of working with you during the last legislative session to Champion some open government measures and and I think our our audience would would certainly like to know what is it that Drew you into that process was there a particular issue that prompted you to get involved well I think it was the U massive uh voting irregularities in Harris County that happened during the last election and I don't really care who won who won fair and square is great but having all this uh o hidden stuff just didn't sit well with me at all so we went after the uh Powers it be at the Harris County government didn't get anywhere and they continue to cloak them themselves in secrecy last time I checked I thought the government officials were supposed to work for the citizens but of course that's not the way it works in Harris County all of us are the um uh surfs who work for them up in their High Castle so I'm still after government transparency uh these people need to understand who signs their paycheck that would be the taxpayers not the uh welfare recipients they give out the money to well and I think that's very well said and I'm right on target you know one of the issues that I that I I found interesting as that debate was unfolding is some people wanted to allege that it was a partisan matter but even the Houston Chronicle came out and said no no no guys this is not partisan it's actually important that we consider the condition of Texas's open government laws yeah the open government law means that you ought to be able to see whatever politician is doing what have they got to hide are they doing something nefarious and if you got nothing to hide then we ought to have a a uh video camera in your office showing us what you're doing we're paying you and we need to be able to know what you're doing as an employer out here several hundred people I have a right to know what they're doing and they see me I'm at the front all day I got nothing to hide so why why can't our wonderful government officials be held to the same standard they're getting paid they work 40 hours a week they knock down the door at 5:00 to go home why can't uh one the last time they had to make payroll or work overtime uh never I think that's exactly right Mack you know one of the concerns I have is that in the absence of transparency you can't have accountability and I I wonder if you share that concern well of course I mean if if I can do whatever I want then uh I have no accountability to anybody it's kind of like the the uh the big US federal government they have a a80 trillion doll debt there's no accountability to anything so we're gonna take money and uh screw off a couple million here it's like in Houston we've got the Metro Rail everywhere wherever it goes comes massive crime you think that after a while the light would go on to our Geniuses at Metro and say maybe Metro isn't working after all but no we got to build more Metro spend more money on buses and pay more Consulting fees in my next life I'll be a government consultant and I'll get rich and I'll do it under the table you know m one of the things that strikes me about today's environment is public trust is an absolute low basically across all of our institutions and I got to wonder if that's a consequence of the lack of transparency that we see from our our local our federal state and local elected officials um do you think that's the case that there's a connection between um very low public trust and an erosion in government transparency of course there's a a connection there between low government trust and um transparency you know Ronald Reagan said what 40 years ago the biggest lie in American history is I'm from the government I'm here to help ah you know of course there's uh the number one job of government I think is to keep the citizens safe are we safer in Houston or Austin or uh Dallas or San Antonio or Singapore which one I get these customers talking here all the time their expats they moved here back from Singapore I said where would you rather live in Texas or in Singapore Singapore all day long why because it's safe safe and safe that's the number one job of government and they have failed at that miserably yeah I think that's right on target Mac last question and I promise to let you go when you look at where we're going as both a state and a nation you know are you optimistic or pessimistic about the possibility of of moving in a better direction do do you think it's possible to to get to a better place you know we're out of control train heading to the uh the thousand foot Canyon and diving into it but I think there's a way to turn it around and it it gets turned around by both Democrats and Republicans demanding government transparency and uh kicking these bums out and all the entrenched bureaucrats have been there for 40 years they got to go too so they're entrenched in those jobs and all they want to do is is continue their fom the fum needs to get thrown out they need to go earn a paycheck and uh another thing that I'm terribly concerned with is paying people in this country not to work I believe that work is life's greatest therapy I believe work brings purpose and meaning to life and you pay people not to work you're taking away the greatest joy in living from them which is joy of work and I think it's criminal what we're doing to so many people I think you're right on target we got to get back to a place where government recognizes that it's the servant and the people are the master and until we get back to that point we're going to continue to I think Trend downward so Mac thank you so very much for your time and uh I I hope that uh we continue to move in a better Direction shine a light on it right it's shine a light on it