The House Financial Services Committee has just launched a newly designed website. And get this—they have a blog.
"It’s where Members of the Committee and Committee staff will help educate policy makers, market observers and constituents about the financial markets and legislative proposals before the Financial Services Committee. We hope this blog will inform its readers about the ongoing debates surrounding financial services issues. We hope this blog will make people think. And finally, we hope this blog will make people want to read it," says its first public posting.
They are, apparently, allowing comments on their posts. That's good.
One of the great things about blogs is that they can foster conversation, rather than just pushing out the views of those that publish them. Unfortunately, the commenting function appears to require approval for each comment. That seems a recipe for disaster.
Requiring the pre-approval of comments will either result in huge delays in comments getting posted or require manpower dedicated to reviewing comments. I don't think we want taxpayer money spent on an official Financial Services comment guardian. It would be far better to allow all comments, subject to review only after reader-initiated complaints about the content of those comments.
In addition to the blog, the new Fin Services website allows users to participate in the Committee’s hearings, voice their opinions about legislation, and contact the Committee with tips about waste, fraud and abuse.
We'll have to see whether this lives up to its promise. But, for now, the committee deserves applause for making a go of it.
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