Filed under: Capitalism, Democrat Corruption, Domestic Policy, Economy, Education, Energy, Environment, Health Care, Progressivism | Tags: FOIA Requests, Government Watchdogs, Sunshine Week
This is Sunshine Week, And this is a post (revised) I published at this time last year. Has anything changed? “Open government is good government.” Celebrating Your Right to Know. Yoo Hoo, Hillary…
The government watchdog group Cause of Action released a Freedom of Information Act report card for 15 federal agencies that receive the bulk of all FOIA requests. Six of the 15 agencies received failing grades. Three agencies—the Departments of Education, Homeland Security and Treasury—earned “F” grades for failing to comply with the law’s annual reporting requirements. Whether their grades included agencies that are part of, for example, the IRS which is part of Treasury is not clear.
The Center for Effective Government also rated 15 government agencies, not quite the same list, but even worse grades.
“Transparency and the Rule of Law
will be the touchstone of this presidency.”
Barack Obama, January 31, 2009
Nice public statement spin, but Obama has been trying to figure out ways around it ever since, and Congress has been trying to figure out how to make it stick. I have 55 articles in my “transparency” file.
You may be unaware that President Obama rewrote the Freedom of Information Act, without telling the rest of America.
The rewrite came in a memo from then-White House Counsel Greg Craig on April 15, 2009, instructing the executive branch to let White House officials review any documents sought by FOIA requestors that involved “White House equities.” That word is not to be found in the law, but the Obama White House effectively amended the law to justify keeping public documents locked away from the public. Cause of Action, is a Washington-based nonprofit watchdog group that monitors government transparency and accountability.
The exception “applies to all documents and records, whether in oral, paper, or electronic form, that relate to communications to and from the White House, including preparations for such communications.”
Oh, ho, ho. Open government indeed. The FOIA requires federal agencies to respond within 20 days of receiving a request, but the White House equities exception can make it impossible for an agency to meet that deadline.
Cause of Action is still waiting for documents from 16 federal agencies, with the Department of Treasury having the longest pending request of 202 business days. (Would you care to wager that this has to do with the IRS?) The Department of Energy comes in second at 169 business days. 20 days indeed. Can’t have the great unwashed viewing politically sensitive documents.
That’s the promised “most transparent administration in history.” As usual, there is the big public announcement which the peasants might hear, followed by the actions that the administration prefers, which people probably won’t hear. Not transparent at all, except where it doesn’t make any difference.
—”Obama Just Officially Decided White House Emails Aren’t Subject to the Freedom of Information Act” Mother Jones 3/17/2015
—”Obama administration stonewalls FOIA request on IRS targeting scandal” Hot Air, 2/10/2015
—’Serious limitations‘: Gov’t watchdogs unite in letter slamming Obama administration transparency,”Fox News, 8/06/2014
—“Transparency Groups Seek White House Position on FOIS Reforms” Washington Free Beacon, 10/27/2014
—“FOIA request revealed Obama family vacation to Hawaii cost taxpayers over $3.6 million in flight costs alone”
Political Insider, 3/13/2015
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