Rep. Wicker vs. LegiStorm: It's ON

Regular readers know that we have special appreciation for LegiStorm, the start-up site that publishes congressional staff salaries on the web.  Our list of Senate press secretary salaries, based on LegiStorm data, is one of our most-trafficked posts ever.

Anyway, Roll Call reports today that Rep. Roger Wicker (R-MS, right) "introduced legislation last week that would prevent the names of House staffers from being listed in the public reports on chamber disbursements."  The bill is a direct response to LegiStorm.

LegiStorm founder Jock Friedly offered the following pointed rebuttal to Potomac Flacks:

"Congressman Wicker would do better to focus on the needs of Hurricane Katrina victims in his state than to try to prevent the disclosure of how he and his colleagues spend taxpayer dollars. He is trying to prevent the dissemination of important public information by introducing this anti-LegiStorm legislation."

More Friedly: "LegiStorm has been hailed by journalists and bloggers around the country as a valuable public resource. The fact that we have had millions of page views since launching this fall is evidence that there is a demand by the public for this kind of information."

Our two cents: it's hard to win a battle of public opinion in the Internet age when you're on the anti-transparency side. Exhibit A: the earmarks database debate. Over to you, Rep. Wicker.