skunk
06-21-2009, 06:41 PM
I know how much amkonians love bashing political figureheads. Here's some more ammo.
Obama Closes Doors on Openness (http://www.newsweek.com/id/202875)
The title of the thread is actually what the top of the web page says where I found this article.
What promises, if any, has he actually kept? I'm not suggesting McCain or any of the other mainstream candidates would have kept any of their promises either.
Enjoy.
As a senator, Barack Obama denounced the Bush administration for holding "secret energy meetings" with oil executives at the White House. But last week public-interest groups were dismayed when his own administration rejected a Freedom of Information Act request for Secret Service logs showing the identities of coal executives who had visited the White House to discuss Obama's "clean coal" policies. One reason: the disclosure of such records might impinge on privileged "presidential communications." The refusal, approved by White House counsel Greg Craig's office, is the latest in a series of cases in which Obama officials have opted against public disclosure. Since Obama pledged on his first day in office to usher in a "new era" of openness, "nothing has changed," says David -Sobel, a lawyer who litigates FOIA cases. "For a president who said he was going to bring unprecedented transparency to government, you would certainly expect more than the recycling of old Bush secrecy policies."
The hard line appears to be no accident. After Obama's much-publicized Jan. 21 "transparency" memo, administration lawyers crafted a key directive implementing the new policy that contained a major loophole, according to FOIA experts. The directive, signed by Attorney General Eric Holder, instructed federal agencies to adopt a "presumption" of disclosure for FOIA requests. This reversal of Bush policy was intended to restore a standard set by President Clinton's attorney general, Janet Reno. But in a little-noticed passage, the Holder memo also said the new standard applies "if practicable" for cases involving "pending litigation." Dan Metcalfe, the former longtime chief of FOIA policy at Justice, says the passage and other "lawyerly hedges" means the Holder memo is now "astonishingly weaker" than the Reno policy. (The visitor-log request falls in this category because of a pending Bush-era lawsuit for such records.)
Administration officials say the Holder memo was drafted by senior Justice lawyers in consultation with Craig's office. The separate standard for "pending" lawsuits was inserted because of the "burden" it would impose on officials to go "backward" and reprocess hundreds of old cases, says Melanie Ann Pustay, who now heads the FOIA office. White House spokesman Ben LaBolt says Obama "has backed up his promise" with actions including the broadcast of White House meetings on the Web. (Others cite the release of the so-called torture memos.) As for the visitor logs, LaBolt says the policy is now "under review."
Related reading:
Obama Administration Endorses Continued Spying on Americans; Justice Department Moves to Squash NSA Spying Suits (http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=13155)
Obama Administration Targets Environmental and Animal Rights Activists as Eco-Terrorists (http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=13857)
Obama's Cybersecurity Plan; Bring in the Contractors! (http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=13848)
Spying on Americans: "Business as Usual" under Obama; NSA "engaged in 'overcollection' of domestic communications" (http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=13249)
The Obama Financial Reforms: Road to Change or Perdition?; Stabilizing A Flawed System is Not The Same As Restructuring Or Remaking It (http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=14026)
"The Responsible Left:" Funding Obama's Expanding Wars $100 Billion a Vote (http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=14021)
And:
America's Nightmare: The Obama Dystopia; Manipulation, propaganda, imagery & PR wizardry (http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=13716)
Obama Closes Doors on Openness (http://www.newsweek.com/id/202875)
The title of the thread is actually what the top of the web page says where I found this article.
What promises, if any, has he actually kept? I'm not suggesting McCain or any of the other mainstream candidates would have kept any of their promises either.
Enjoy.
As a senator, Barack Obama denounced the Bush administration for holding "secret energy meetings" with oil executives at the White House. But last week public-interest groups were dismayed when his own administration rejected a Freedom of Information Act request for Secret Service logs showing the identities of coal executives who had visited the White House to discuss Obama's "clean coal" policies. One reason: the disclosure of such records might impinge on privileged "presidential communications." The refusal, approved by White House counsel Greg Craig's office, is the latest in a series of cases in which Obama officials have opted against public disclosure. Since Obama pledged on his first day in office to usher in a "new era" of openness, "nothing has changed," says David -Sobel, a lawyer who litigates FOIA cases. "For a president who said he was going to bring unprecedented transparency to government, you would certainly expect more than the recycling of old Bush secrecy policies."
The hard line appears to be no accident. After Obama's much-publicized Jan. 21 "transparency" memo, administration lawyers crafted a key directive implementing the new policy that contained a major loophole, according to FOIA experts. The directive, signed by Attorney General Eric Holder, instructed federal agencies to adopt a "presumption" of disclosure for FOIA requests. This reversal of Bush policy was intended to restore a standard set by President Clinton's attorney general, Janet Reno. But in a little-noticed passage, the Holder memo also said the new standard applies "if practicable" for cases involving "pending litigation." Dan Metcalfe, the former longtime chief of FOIA policy at Justice, says the passage and other "lawyerly hedges" means the Holder memo is now "astonishingly weaker" than the Reno policy. (The visitor-log request falls in this category because of a pending Bush-era lawsuit for such records.)
Administration officials say the Holder memo was drafted by senior Justice lawyers in consultation with Craig's office. The separate standard for "pending" lawsuits was inserted because of the "burden" it would impose on officials to go "backward" and reprocess hundreds of old cases, says Melanie Ann Pustay, who now heads the FOIA office. White House spokesman Ben LaBolt says Obama "has backed up his promise" with actions including the broadcast of White House meetings on the Web. (Others cite the release of the so-called torture memos.) As for the visitor logs, LaBolt says the policy is now "under review."
Related reading:
Obama Administration Endorses Continued Spying on Americans; Justice Department Moves to Squash NSA Spying Suits (http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=13155)
Obama Administration Targets Environmental and Animal Rights Activists as Eco-Terrorists (http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=13857)
Obama's Cybersecurity Plan; Bring in the Contractors! (http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=13848)
Spying on Americans: "Business as Usual" under Obama; NSA "engaged in 'overcollection' of domestic communications" (http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=13249)
The Obama Financial Reforms: Road to Change or Perdition?; Stabilizing A Flawed System is Not The Same As Restructuring Or Remaking It (http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=14026)
"The Responsible Left:" Funding Obama's Expanding Wars $100 Billion a Vote (http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=14021)
And:
America's Nightmare: The Obama Dystopia; Manipulation, propaganda, imagery & PR wizardry (http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=13716)