Transparency in Government, Promises Versus Reality

By Gilbert Mercier, NEWS JUNKIE POST

During his campaign last year, and even at the time of his inauguration, President Obama made promises of “unprecedented transparency in government.” But the reality of government seems to have change the President views on the topic of transparency, at least to some extend.

Last week, the non-profit and non-partisan, organization Citizens For Responsibility & Ethics in Washington (CREW) filed a civil lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security under the Freedom of Information Act.

CREW is seeking the release of information contained in the White House Secret Service log. The log in question provides a list of every visitors coming to the White House. CREW is suspecting that prior to the vote on the climate change bill last week, President Obama received the visit of some coal industry executives.

This is a snippet of CREW’s release:

“News reports indicate that senior administration officials, including Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and NEC Director Lawrence Summers, held numerous meetings in the months before the reforms were proposed with financial industry lobbyists and executives, and representatives of financial industry trade associations, consumer groups, and labor unions. CREW seeks records related to those meetings, documents provided to government officials, and documents produced by the government related to the reforms.” For the rest of the release, click here.

In a previous case, against the Bush administration’s DHS, CREW succeeded in getting the Secret Service log released. It could set a precedent in the current legal action. This morning, the executive director of CREW Melanie Sloan gave NPR an exclusive interview on the topic.