This is Sunshine Week, national initiative to promote a dialogue about the importance of open government and freedom of information. Justice Louis Brandeis wrote," sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants.” And now more than ever we need to shine a bright light on the germs that have taken over Washington and are infecting our government.
President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Freedom of Information Act, Title 5, United States Code, Section 552, into law on July 4, 1966. It operates under the premise that the public has a right to know what government is doing, how it is being done, and what information is being collected.
An individual can file a request with one of the 100 federal agencies subject to the law and ask for documents. That agency then has 20 working days to reply either with the information, or to provide a time frame in which they will comply. If the request is denied, the agency has to explain why. At this point, the individual who requested the information can file an appeal and then move forward with a lawsuit, if necessary.
As public servants, agencies are expected to comply with these requests more often than not, and they can claim a national security exemption if they believe it is not in the country’s best interests to disclose whatever was requested.
The Obama administration is failing miserably at compliance, and we must continue to demand transparency.
Minutes after Barack Obama took office in 2009 he said his administration would be “the most open and transparent in history.” He signed orders pledging “an unprecedented level of openness” in the federal government.
He continued: “The Freedom of Information Act…is the most prominent expression of a profound national commitment to ensuring an open Government…All agencies should use modern technology to inform citizens about what is known and done by their Government. Disclosure should be timely.”
But oops, he didn’t think you would actually take him at his word.
Although Obama specifically told his agencies not to use the “deliberative process” exemption when refusing FOIA requests, the use of that exemption has rapidly increased. FOIA lawsuits have jumped 28 percent, and a Bloomberg investigation found that only one out of twenty cabinet-level agencies fully obeyed the law.
Not only is the administration being lazy about granting FOIA requests, they are actively working against those requesting information, sometimes fighting them in court. Agencies are also putting up roadblocks and regulations, such as fees, to deter those who are seeking transparency.
And the White House admits they don’t agree with decades of Supreme Court rulings saying exceptions to FOIA requests should be “narrowly construed.” Justice Department Assistant Solicitor General Anthony Yang said in front of the Court, “We do not embrace that principle.”
David Sobel, senior counsel at the Electronic Frontier Foundation says, “It’s just incredible for an administration that says it’s committed to an unprecedented level of transparency to be telling the Supreme Court, ‘Hey, we don’t accept long-established Supreme Court precedent favoring disclosure.’ It’s just jaw-dropping.”
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Katherine Meyer is a Washington lawyer who has been filing FOIA cases since 1978. She told Politico, “Obama is the sixth administration that’s been in office since I’ve been doing Freedom of Information Act work. … Of the six, this administration is the worst on FOIA issues. The worst. There’s just no question about it.”
Yet, our Denier-In-Chief insists that his is the most transparent administration of the modern era. He says this with a straight face, and he expects you to buy it.
We all know if you get caught having said one thing but doing another, your next move as a member of the Liberal Elite is to change the words around and pretend you didn’t mean anything you said. (You know… it depends on what your definition of “is” is).
“In retrospect, ‘open government’ was a bad choice,” former Deputy Chief Technology Officer Beth Noveck told the Huffington Post. “It has generated too much confusion. Many people, even in the White House, still assume that open government means transparency about government.”
But one has to wonder, if “open” government doesn’t mean transparency, what does it mean?
Because members of the Obama administration seem to be “confused” about the law that says they must comply with FOIA requests, they are experimenting with different ways to pretend they aren’t. Obama used to pledge “open” government. Then he changed it to “good” government. Now, it’s been re-branded as “21st Century” government.
What it amounts to is stonewalling and secrecy.
A bipartisan effort to fix the culture is underway by Reps. Darrell Issa (R-CA) and Elijah Cummings (D-MD). They sent a six-page letter to the Justice Department’s Office of Information Policy asking about backlogs, regulation updates, and compliance failures—in total, 23 points relating to the government’s refusal to share information with the public.
We need to keep fighting for transparency in government. We cannot hold our government accountable if we do not know what it is up to. (Are you connecting the dots here?)
As always, you must watch Barack Obama’s actions, not his words. He likes to give big speeches with “big” ideas…but he has a terrible habit of hypocrisy.
Does he believe we are a nation of idiots, or does he honestly believe the lies that he sells? Either way, it is our duty as citizens to continue the fight for transparency and accountability in government. Let every Member of Congress know that we will not tolerate our government violating the rule of law.
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Sincerely,
Conservative Daily
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