Obama 2008.......
- Thread starter Max E.
- Start date
"My Administration is committed to creating an unprecedented level of openness in Government." - President Barack Obama, January 2008
Two years later⦠March 2010.
"The Democratic administration of Barack Obama, who denounced his predecessor, George W. Bush, as the most secretive in history, is now denying more Freedom of Information Act requests than the Republican did."
http://articles.latimes.com/2010/mar/21/nation/la-na-ticket21-2010mar21
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OBAMA'S SECRETS: The Obama administration should rethink its outrageous proposal that would allow the government to lie to citizens about whether documents exist.
http://articles.latimes.com/2011/oct/31/opinion/la-ed-secrets-20111031
One of the most disappointing attributes of the Obama administration has been its proclivity for secrecy. The president who committed himself to "an unprecedented level of openness in government" has followed the example of his predecessor by invoking the "state secrets" privilege to derail litigation about government misdeeds in the war on terror. He has refused to release the administration's secret interpretation of the Patriot Act, which two senators have described as alarming. He has blocked the dissemination of photographs documenting the abuse of prisoners by U.S. service members. And now his Justice Department has proposed to allow government agencies to lie about the existence of documents being sought under the Freedom of Information Act, or FOIA.
At present, if the government doesn't want to admit the existence of a document it believes to be exempt from FOIA, it may advise the person making the request that it can neither confirm nor deny the document's existence. Under the proposed regulation, an agency that withholds a document "will respond to the request as if the excluded records did not exist."
This policy is outrageous. It provides a license for the government to lie to its own people and makes a mockery of FOIA. It also would mislead citizens who might file an appeal if they knew there was a possibility that the document they sought was in the possession of a government agency. Such an appeal would allow a court to determine whether the requested document was covered by an exemption in FOIA.
Two years later⦠March 2010.
"The Democratic administration of Barack Obama, who denounced his predecessor, George W. Bush, as the most secretive in history, is now denying more Freedom of Information Act requests than the Republican did."
http://articles.latimes.com/2010/mar/21/nation/la-na-ticket21-2010mar21
*************************************************
OBAMA'S SECRETS: The Obama administration should rethink its outrageous proposal that would allow the government to lie to citizens about whether documents exist.
http://articles.latimes.com/2011/oct/31/opinion/la-ed-secrets-20111031
One of the most disappointing attributes of the Obama administration has been its proclivity for secrecy. The president who committed himself to "an unprecedented level of openness in government" has followed the example of his predecessor by invoking the "state secrets" privilege to derail litigation about government misdeeds in the war on terror. He has refused to release the administration's secret interpretation of the Patriot Act, which two senators have described as alarming. He has blocked the dissemination of photographs documenting the abuse of prisoners by U.S. service members. And now his Justice Department has proposed to allow government agencies to lie about the existence of documents being sought under the Freedom of Information Act, or FOIA.
At present, if the government doesn't want to admit the existence of a document it believes to be exempt from FOIA, it may advise the person making the request that it can neither confirm nor deny the document's existence. Under the proposed regulation, an agency that withholds a document "will respond to the request as if the excluded records did not exist."
This policy is outrageous. It provides a license for the government to lie to its own people and makes a mockery of FOIA. It also would mislead citizens who might file an appeal if they knew there was a possibility that the document they sought was in the possession of a government agency. Such an appeal would allow a court to determine whether the requested document was covered by an exemption in FOIA.
I'm guessing that the NSA/CIA/fill in your three letters of choice, etc. have the Presidents over a barrel. The President's security clearance is about halfway up the ladder. When he takes office he can either fly blind or play along with the secrecy community. This one is playing along. Only a clueless leftist like Obama would promise all sorts of transparency, so much for a background as a community organizer being qualification for POTUS!
Obama is the type of person who would flynch, and duck if the "football" was thrown his way,(plausible deniablity is most likely engraved in his wedding ring) this has been proven ad nauseum by the way he runs things.
I really would love to pin the plethora of scandales that have exploded in the last couple days directly on obama, but the way i see it, he most likely didnt directly order everything, in my opinion, this is the end result of an incompetent leader who has zero control over anyone in his administration, shocking isnt it? The clown who had never even ran so much as an ice cream stand steps into the highest office in the world, and 4 years in it has been shown that he is either the most corrupt politician in history, or he has zero control over his own people, and he is hopelessly inept
Not a good position for obama to be in, he can either claim he is ignorant, or corrupt.