The Opposite of Transparency (FBI, healthcare, suspect, Whitehouse)

[LauraC]

Who said this on his first day as President? "The Freedom of Information Act should be administered with a clear presumption: In the face of doubt, openness prevails."

In true matters of national security, I'm okay with classified documents not being obtained by the public but when it's stuff like this, jeez Louise:

"Yet on some important issues, his administration produced information only after government watchdogs and reporters spent weeks or months pressing, in some cases suing.Those include what cars people were buying using the $3 billion Cash for Clunkers program (it turned out the most frequent trades involved pickups for pickups with only slightly better gas mileage); how many times airplanes have collided with birds (a lot); whether lobbyists and donors meet with the Obama White House (they do); rules about the interrogation of terror suspects (the FBI and CIA disagreed over what was permitted); and who was speaking in private with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner (he has close relationships with a cadre of Wall Street executives whose multibillion-dollar companies survived the economic crisis with his help)."

The Associated Press: PROMISES, PROMISES: A closed meeting on openness

Either this administration is hiding stuff or the federal government is extremely ineffective and inefficient when it comes to processing Freedom of Information Act requests. And if you think it's the latter and not the former, do you really want them in charge of your healthcare or anything else?

This is on the White House webpage:

"My Administration is committed to creating an unprecedented level of openness in Government. We will work together to ensure the public trust and establish a system of transparency, public participation, and collaboration. Openness will strengthen our democracy and promote efficiency and effectiveness in Government."

Transparency and Open Government | The White House

[slick828]

lack of transparency...who are we talking about China? The USA is one of the most transparent governments in the world with very low levels of corruption (yes even under Bush).

[oldyeller]

Here is a good example of Obama's transparency...............

"WASHINGTON -- The Obama administration conducted a workshop on government openness for federal employees behind closed doors Monday, a private training session for freedom-of-information officials to learn about a new U.S. office that settle disputes between the bureaucracy and the public.

The decision to preclude the public and the media from attending Monday's workshop left open government advocates scratching their heads, given President Barack Obama's campaign promise to make his administration the most transparent ever. A reporter for The Associated Press was turned away from the door Monday.

"If they're getting marching orders, why shouldn't the public be there?" said Jeff Stachewicz, founder of Washington-based FOIA Group Inc., which files hundreds of requests every month across the government on behalf of companies, law firms and news organizations. "

washingtonpost.com (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/07/AR2009120701352.html - broken link)

[AeroGuyDC]

Originally Posted by slick828

lack of transparency...who are we talking about China? The USA is one of the most transparent governments in the world with very low levels of corruption (yes even under Bush).

Ask Nancy or Obama. Apparently they disagree with you.