Asha Rangappa Quotes

These are issues we've been grappling with since the Constitution was written: how you hold your government to account for its words and deeds. It's all about power and the abuse of power.

The great thing about Watergate is, is that the system worked. The American system worked. The press did its job. We did what we were supposed to do.

Thank God for our form of government. The media won't let there be any cover-up.

Power always has to be kept in check; power exercised in secret, especially under the cloak of national security, is doubly dangerous.

The intelligence community, for the most part, has no accountability at all; to the Congress, to us the American people, and so they feel that they above the law.

Accountability and democratic choice, I deeply believe, are guaranteed by rigorous scrutiny only.

Even in non-democratic countries, people have a legitimate interest in knowing about actions taken by the government.

We must have systems of checks and balances to make sure that those people who are making critical decisions for our country are held accountable, and nowhere is that more important than in the area of national security.

I, for one, will remain constantly vigilant of a government that admits its transgressions of liberty only when they are caught lying.

The government itself is — and should be — accountable when its officials run amok.

We must have government, but we must watch them like a hawk.

Opposition will act as an outward conscience and prevent the abuse of power.

It is not the function of our Government to keep the citizen from falling into error; it is the function of the citizen to keep the Government from falling into error.

Independence sounds good in theory, but in practice, it is mutually exclusive with accountability. The more independence you give a prosecutor, the less you make that prosecutor accountable to the public and regular checks and balances.

What makes a politician accountable is not that there are millions of people who vote, but that there are procedures of government that force him to account for himself.

Our system of checks and balances requires policymakers to have accurate information about government actions.

I think it's the height of patriotism to continue to exercise your right as a citizen and to hold your government to account. Isn't that what the very essence of democracy is about?

The American people should not be footing the bill for federal employees who stonewall Congress or rewarding government officials' bad behavior.

As long as the government's actions are secret, it cannot be held accountable. A government for the people and by the people should be transparent to the people.

It's my father's legacy. My father's view was that the public is the employer of these government employees and has the right to know what they're up to.

Democracies must have equilibrium... and the entanglement of politics and information must be minimized.

Government must be a transparent garment which tightly clings to the people's body.

I will run an open government that speaks with honesty, seeks opinion, listens to its citizens.

There can be no faith in government if our highest offices are excused from scrutiny - they should be setting the example of transparency.

Government will no longer be run on the whims of individuals.