Thursday, February 14, 2013

The Obama Administration is the Most Transparent in American History?





The Anointed One proclaimed that his administration is the most transparent in American history.  Is this Bizarro World?  Can anyone say Benghazi or Fast and Furious?  The Washington Free Beacon posted the following:
An August 2012 Washington Post analysis found that early freedom of information progress by the Obama administration “stalled and, in the case of most departments, reversed in direction.”

The number of FOIA requests denied in full due to exemptions rose more than 10 percent last year, to 25,636 from 22,834 the previous year, according to the Post’s analysis.

FOIA lawsuits have also risen under the Obama administration.

Outgoing Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson used a secret email address to conduct official business, a possible violation of FOIA laws.

The Obama administration has also prosecuted a record number of government whistleblowers and argued against journalistic privilege in court.

It has also jealously guarded the details of its targeted drone strikes, refusing to even acknowledge the existence of the program until recently. It repeatedly denied FOIA requests from the ACLU and the New York Times seeking information on the program.

“Obama is the sixth administration that’s been in office since I’ve been doing Freedom of Information Act work. … It’s kind of shocking to me to say this, but of the six, this administration is the worst on FOIA issues. The worst. There’s just no question about it,” Katherine Meyer, a Washington lawyer who’s been filing FOIA cases since 1978, told Politico in March. “This administration is raising one barrier after another. … It’s gotten to the point where I’m stunned—I’m really stunned.”

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