New openness in government

[mook]

Regardless of your political persuasion, I think you have to applaud Obama's memo about opening back up the FOIA:

http://www.boingboing.net/2009/01/21/obama-adminstration.html

Here's the actual memo I found via Digg:

MEMORANDUM FOR THE HEADS OF EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES

SUBJECT: Freedom of Information Act


A democracy requires accountability, and accountability requires
transparency. As Justice Louis Brandeis wrote, "sunlight is said
to be the best of disinfectants." In our democracy, the Freedom
of Information Act (FOIA), which encourages accountability through
transparency, is the most prominent expression of a profound
national commitment to ensuring an open Government. At the
heart of that commitment is the idea that accountability is in
the interest of the Government and the citizenry alike.

The Freedom of Information Act should be administered with a
clear presumption: In the face of doubt, openness prevails.
The Government should not keep information confidential merely
because public officials might be embarrassed by disclosure,
because errors and failures might be revealed, or because
of speculative or abstract fears. Nondisclosure should never
be based on an effort to protect the personal interests of
Government officials at the expense of those they are supposed
to serve. In responding to requests under the FOIA, executive
branch agencies (agencies) should act promptly and in a spirit
of cooperation, recognizing that such agencies are servants of
the public.

All agencies should adopt a presumption in favor of disclosure,
in order to renew their commitment to the principles embodied
in FOIA, and to usher in a new era of open Government. The
presumption of disclosure should be applied to all decisions
involving FOIA.

The presumption of disclosure also means that agencies should
take affirmative steps to make information public. They should
not wait for specific requests from the public. All agencies
should use modern technology to inform citizens about what is
known and done by their Government. Disclosure should be timely.

I direct the Attorney General to issue new guidelines
governing the FOIA to the heads of executive departments and
agencies, reaffirming the commitment to accountability and
transparency, and to publish such guidelines in the Federal
Register. In doing so, the Attorney General should review FOIA
reports produced by the agencies under Executive Order 13392
of December 14, 2005. I also direct the Director of the Office
of Management and Budget to update guidance to the agencies to
increase and improve information dissemination to the public,
including through the use of new technologies, and to publish
such guidance in the Federal Register.

This memorandum does not create any right or benefit,
substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by
any party against the United States, its departments, agencies,
or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other
person.

The Director of the Office of Management and Budget is hereby
authorized and directed to publish this memorandum in the
Federal Register.

Of course, that second to last paragraph is a pretty wopping caveat IMO. And I'm not great at reading legalese, but it doesn't seem to have anything binding in it. But hopefully his willingness to submit this directive so soon into his administration is a great sign of things to come.

 

[PapaG]

A new, shiny political weapon, overseen by the AG, who decides what can or can't be accessed.

 

[mook]

Good opinion piece on the subject:

http://www.mercurynews.com/centralcoast/ci_11533991

Regarding the FOIA requests, Obama's order would seem to return the policy to one adopted during the Clinton administration, when then-Attorney General Janet Reno issued guidelines urging information and records be released in requests, unless "foreseeable harm" would result.
After 9/11, however, Bush's attorney general, John Ashcroft, reversed the sequence -- telling government officials they should search for FOIA exemptions before granting requests. The upshot of this was that freedom of information requests were often long delayed or deep-sixed on technicalities.
It's also worth noting that both the Clinton and Bush administration policies were issued by attorney general memos -- not by a presidential executive order, which carries more legal and political heft than a memo from a Cabinet official. Reversing an executive order should prove much more difficult.
By restoring the spirit and intent of the Freedom of Information Act, Obama has struck a strong blow for government openness -- early proof he meant it when he vowed more transparency.

 

[mook]

A new, shiny political weapon, overseen by the AG, who decides what can or can't be accessed.

Huh? He already had that weapon (as did Bush).

As I read the memo and the commentaries on it, he's basically ceding the power to withhold information that is politically damaging but not a matter of national security. How can that be seen as nefarious? You liked it better the old way?

 

[PapaG]

The Obama administration has no comment in today's presser about last night's US missile strikes in Pakistan.

Open and transparent...

 

[PapaG]

More openess and transparency:

Representatives from Obama's press office held a conference call with photo editors, who are concerned that the administration prefers distributing photos taken by a White House photographer in cases where photojournalists have been permitted access in the past. It was unclear whether the two sides had reached any accommodation.

The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse refused to distribute photos taken by the White House of the new president on his first day in the Oval Office because of the dispute. Still photographers were also not given access to Obama's do-over oath of office administered Wednesday night by Chief Justice John Roberts and an economics meeting on Thursday.

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20090123/D95SR0K80.html

 

[blue32]

More openess and transparency:



http://apnews.myway.com/article/20090123/D95SR0K80.html

You're unreal... Keep hiding under the desk man, the terrorists in the desert are coming...

 

[maxiep]

You're unreal... Keep hiding under the desk man, the terrorists in the desert are coming...

That's right. The First Comandment is that I Am The Lord Your Obama. The Second Commandment is You Shall Have No Other Obamas Before Me.

 

[blue32]

That's right. The First Comandment is that I Am The Lord Your Obama. The Second Commandment is You Shall Have No Other Obamas Before Me.

Where's that trolling boat again?

 

[mook]

Sheesh. I really thought this would be an issue everybody would appreciate, particularly those of a libertarian bent. Surely, we can all acknowledge that things had to change.

Here's what people were saying days before the inauguration:

...More than sixty non-profit groups--including progressives, libertarians, and conservatives--have proposed that the incoming Attorney General issue during his first days in office a new "A.G.'s memo" that by overturning the Ashcroft memo "reinstitutes the presumption of openness under FOIA."

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20090126/kisseloff?rel=hp_picks

Obama goes one better and issues the memo himself. Is it really so wrong to acknowledge when a president you generally dislike does the right thing?

I mean, I freely acknowledge that Bush's policies in Africa have been nothing short of outstanding. It really didn't kill me to write that.

 

[mook]

Hmmm. Maybe the government was just making fewer documents over the last 9 years.....and yes, the trend started under Clinton.