by Shane Osborne

Lincoln, Neb. -Nebraska has always been a little different. We cast electors for president based on congressional districts, not winner-take-all for the state. We have a single, nonpartisan body as the legislature, the Unicameral. We also have a habit of fiscal responsibility that's kept spending in check and taxes within reason -- and has helped sustain a modestly robust economy amid a severe national recession.

Our state's unemployment consistently hovers in the 4%-5% range (the latest federal figures peg it at 4.5%, while the national average is 8.1%). The national foreclosure rate is one in every 500 homes; in Nebraska it is one in 25,500. The state currently has a record surplus.

We ended the year with about $550 million in our rainy-day fund, and project a modest 1.2% growth in tax revenue this year.

Among the reasons for Nebraska's economic strength is a long history of strong executive leadership and an independent legislature. But mainly these factors exist because we have an inquiring public that demands to know how tax dollars are spent. That's called accountability, and it was the inspiration behind my effort to create NebraskaSpending.com, a searchable, public database that discloses every aspect of state government spending. By allowing the public to examine how its money is spent, we are equipping Nebraskans with great tools to hold their government accountable.

Kentucky, Missouri and other states also have established, or are establishing, similar Web sites. These sites have cost states millions.

We did ours for $38,000.

There will be items uncovered that can't be explained or that some don't want made public. For example, while setting up NebraskaSpending.com we found a surprising amount of money spent on size 13 boots by the department of corrections. When officials realized their numbers were about to be put online, they updated their expenditures to reveal that the money had actually gone to guard uniforms. Once our site went live, we got calls from other agencies asking to update their numbers. They knew Nebraskans would pay attention. Over the past year, more than 400,000 visitors have dropped in on our site, spending an average of 20 minutes.

By recognizing the mistake of dramatically increasing spending in boom times, only to face a severe shortfall in down times, Nebraska has been able to avoid the cracks other states are falling into. Our governor, Dave Heineman, called for belt tightening before the markets headed south and prioritized state needs on the notion that budgeting conservatively is better than facing record deficits at a time of crisis.

The federal government has chosen a different path. In just two months, Congress has authorized more spending than the nation spent over the past eight years fighting wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and rebuilding from Hurricane Katrina. With the authorization of $787 billion in "stimulus" spending and $410 billion to fund the federal government until September, the national debt will surpass $12 trillion this year.

Spending continues to increase while nothing is done to address the looming budget crisis we will face if Medicare, Social Security and other entitlements aren't reformed soon.

Every election cycle seems to bring another example of someone falling victim to hubris, avarice and blind ambition. Republicans, and I am one, have long stood for accountability, fairness and transparency. We, as a party, need to stand for these things again.

Politicians will always pledge to do good things, to be open and transparent. They will even ask to be held to account. But too often they prove deft at avoiding blame. President Barack Obama has called for a searchable Web site to track stimulus spending. That's good. Let's take him up on that, and make sure that the information is complete and detailed enough for us all to give it close scrutiny. A full accounting is only possible through transparency.

In eras such as this one, we need to enact policies that reward innovators and encourage entrepreneurship -- our job creators. Now is not a time to recklessly spend. It is a time to proceed with caution and closely scrutinize every expenditure made on the public's behalf.

Above all, we must hold to account every office holder. Leadership isn't about telling people what they want to hear or giving them another round of government programs that promise the moon. It's about a willingness to stick one's head up and one's neck out. In Nebraska, what we're finding is that fiscally conservative leadership has allowed us to enter this economic storm well provisioned, and such leadership will put our nation on a straight course to calmer seas.

Mr. Osborn, a Republican, is the state treasurer of Nebraska.