In 2009, after getting into office Obama gave a pledge of an "era of new Open Government"
Transparency and Open Government
Memorandum for the Heads of Executive Departments and Agencies
SUBJECT: Transparency and Open GovernmentMy Administration is committed to creating an unprecedented level of openness in Government. We will work together to ensure the public trust and establish a system of transparency, public participation, and collaboration. Openness will strengthen our democracy and promote efficiency and effectiveness in Government.
Government should be transparent. Transparency promotes accountability and provides information for citizens about what their Government is doing. Information maintained by the Federal Government is a national asset. My Administration will take appropriate action, consistent with law and policy, to disclose information rapidly in forms that the public can readily find and use. Executive departments and agencies should harness new technologies to put information about their operations and decisions online and readily available to the public. Executive departments and agencies should also solicit public feedback to identify information of greatest use to the public.
Government should be participatory. Public engagement enhances the Government's effectiveness and improves the quality of its decisions. Knowledge is widely dispersed in society, and public officials benefit from having access to that dispersed knowledge. Executive departments and agencies should offer Americans increased opportunities to participate in policymaking and to provide their Government with the benefits of their collective expertise and information. Executive departments and agencies should also solicit public input on how we can increase and improve opportunities for public participation in Government.
Government should be collaborative. Collaboration actively engages Americans in the work of their Government. Executive departments and agencies should use innovative tools, methods, and systems to cooperateamong themselves, across all levels of Government, and with nonprofit organizations, businesses, and individuals in the private sector. Executive departments and agencies should solicit public feedback to assess and improve their level of collaboration and to identify new opportunities for cooperation.
I direct the Chief Technology Officer, in coordination with the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the Administrator of General Services, to coordinate the development by appropriate executive departments and agencies, within 120 days, of recommendations for an Open Government Directive, to be issued by the Director of OMB, that instructs executive departments and agencies to take specific actions implementing the principles set forth in this memorandum. The independent agencies should comply with the Open Government Directive.
This memorandum is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by a party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.
This memorandum shall be published in the Federal Register.
BARACK OBAMA
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/TransparencyandOpenGovernment
But in reality Obama was setting new laws and regulations in motion that are now making it even harder to investigate the Obama administration.
The Obama administration keeps holding so called town hall Meetings spouting forth that they preach openness and transparency. But in reality those Town Hall Meetings are loaded scams in their own right. They load them with people that are Obama Friendly and think the way Obama wants them to think and even proof read the questions before they go in.
Obama is nothing more than a liar and a crook and deserves to be impeached. Although he probably never will.
I am asking for anyone to come on here and defend Obama. Please tell me where I am wrong and how Obama is really a stand up guy??????????????????????
I am getting tired of all of the scams and the scandals and the like, that involve the Obama admin and how many Obama apologists there are out there trying to throw blame everyone but on the man that deserves it.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/06/20/white-house-irs-slowed-down-document-requests-memos-show/
Even as the freshly minted Obama administration was pledging a
"new era of open government" in 2009, officials were quietly adding new
rules that had the potential to slow down public requests for
documents.
Those rules, detailed in memos reviewed by FoxNews.com, could even trip up present-day efforts to dig into the IRS' practice of targeting conservative groups. The rules detailed in the memos largely emanated from the Treasury Department and, specifically, the IRS.
"It would seem to repudiate this notion that this is going to be the most transparent government in history," said Dan Epstein, executive director of Cause of Action, the group that first obtained the memos.
The memos follow reports about the administration's use of private
email accounts, and coincide with ongoing debate about government
transparency -- particularly with recent disclosures about widespread
surveillance programs.
Epstein said the document request procedures are "troubling" since the media are "really concerned about the limits of government power."
According to the documents, the Treasury Department in 2009 set up an additional review for requests involving "sensitive information," which covered a broad range of items. The White House sometimes got involved, slowing down the process. The IRS also acknowledged having another review process for requests from "major media," but not for requests from private individuals.
Members of the media often try to obtain documents not readily available by citing a law known as the Freedom of Information Act. The Treasury Department, though, in late 2009 erected speed bumps for some so-called FOIA requests.
The rules were detailed in a November 2010 memo and report sent from the Treasury inspector general to Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa.
The documents showed the Treasury Department set up an additional "formal level of review" for requests for "sensitive information." This category would cover everything from emails to memos to calendars to travel logs for top department officials, legal advisers, senior advisers and others.
Once a request was deemed "sensitive," it would then go before a "review committee," made up of officials from several Treasury offices.
Further, the document said a special report would be prepared for IRS requests from "major media." This covers requests from traditional news media as well as bloggers, and according to the report covered information that "was likely to attract news media or congressional interest, involved large dollar amounts, or involved unique or novel issues."
This report would then be sent to a higher-up in the division who decided whether the material should be disclosed.
The report repeatedly said that, in most cases, political appointees were not involved in these decisions, and that the agencies have no procedures to allow that.
But Epstein said these rules could cause problems as Congress and the media dig deeper into the origin of the IRS practice of singling out conservative groups for additional scrutiny.
He pointed to another memo, dated April 15, 2009, from then-White House Counsel Greg Craig that urged "executive agencies" to consult with his office "on all document requests that may involve documents with White House equities." Craig said this pertains to everything from FOIA requests to congressional requests to subpoenas.
This practice apparently dates back to 1993. The Treasury IG memo cited this, and described the White House involvement as "minimal and limited." However, the report also said the White House involvement "was responsible in several cases for adding a significant processing delay," which in Treasury's case slowed them down.
"It actually is heavily ironic in the realm of transparency," Epstein said.
He pointed to edicts and memos early on in the first term of the administration stressing transparency. Obama issued a January 2009 directive calling for an "unprecedented level of openness."
Attorney General Eric Holder in March 2009 directed all Executive Branch departments to use a "presumption of openness" when dealing with FOIA requests.
To that end, the administration has instituted several other transparency initiatives. It has followed through on requiring Cabinet secretaries to hold Internet town hall discussions, set up a comprehensive website to track stimulus spending, and set up a national declassification center.
Those rules, detailed in memos reviewed by FoxNews.com, could even trip up present-day efforts to dig into the IRS' practice of targeting conservative groups. The rules detailed in the memos largely emanated from the Treasury Department and, specifically, the IRS.
"It would seem to repudiate this notion that this is going to be the most transparent government in history," said Dan Epstein, executive director of Cause of Action, the group that first obtained the memos.
"It would seem to repudiate this notion that this is going to be the most transparent government in history."- Dan Epstein, director of Cause of Action
Epstein said the document request procedures are "troubling" since the media are "really concerned about the limits of government power."
According to the documents, the Treasury Department in 2009 set up an additional review for requests involving "sensitive information," which covered a broad range of items. The White House sometimes got involved, slowing down the process. The IRS also acknowledged having another review process for requests from "major media," but not for requests from private individuals.
Members of the media often try to obtain documents not readily available by citing a law known as the Freedom of Information Act. The Treasury Department, though, in late 2009 erected speed bumps for some so-called FOIA requests.
The rules were detailed in a November 2010 memo and report sent from the Treasury inspector general to Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa.
The documents showed the Treasury Department set up an additional "formal level of review" for requests for "sensitive information." This category would cover everything from emails to memos to calendars to travel logs for top department officials, legal advisers, senior advisers and others.
Once a request was deemed "sensitive," it would then go before a "review committee," made up of officials from several Treasury offices.
Further, the document said a special report would be prepared for IRS requests from "major media." This covers requests from traditional news media as well as bloggers, and according to the report covered information that "was likely to attract news media or congressional interest, involved large dollar amounts, or involved unique or novel issues."
This report would then be sent to a higher-up in the division who decided whether the material should be disclosed.
The report repeatedly said that, in most cases, political appointees were not involved in these decisions, and that the agencies have no procedures to allow that.
But Epstein said these rules could cause problems as Congress and the media dig deeper into the origin of the IRS practice of singling out conservative groups for additional scrutiny.
He pointed to another memo, dated April 15, 2009, from then-White House Counsel Greg Craig that urged "executive agencies" to consult with his office "on all document requests that may involve documents with White House equities." Craig said this pertains to everything from FOIA requests to congressional requests to subpoenas.
This practice apparently dates back to 1993. The Treasury IG memo cited this, and described the White House involvement as "minimal and limited." However, the report also said the White House involvement "was responsible in several cases for adding a significant processing delay," which in Treasury's case slowed them down.
"It actually is heavily ironic in the realm of transparency," Epstein said.
He pointed to edicts and memos early on in the first term of the administration stressing transparency. Obama issued a January 2009 directive calling for an "unprecedented level of openness."
Attorney General Eric Holder in March 2009 directed all Executive Branch departments to use a "presumption of openness" when dealing with FOIA requests.
To that end, the administration has instituted several other transparency initiatives. It has followed through on requiring Cabinet secretaries to hold Internet town hall discussions, set up a comprehensive website to track stimulus spending, and set up a national declassification center.
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