Comments across the political spectrum highlight Obama's promise of the most transparent administration in history.
From ProPublica - Journalism in the Public Interest:
http://www.propublica.org/article/obama-details-promises-for-transparency-1107"Yesterday, we looked at President-elect Obama’s stance on transparency. As we noted, Obama’s record on the issue isn’t spotless, but he did make promises during the campaign to run a far more transparent presidency. This morning, Obama’s transition Web site, change.gov, offered some details on “using cutting-edge technologies” to create “a new level of transparency, accountability and participation for America’s citizens.”
Among the ideas listed on the site:
Sunlight Before Signing: Too often bills are rushed through Congress and to the president before the public has the opportunity to review them. As president, Obama will not sign any non-emergency bill without giving the American public an opportunity to review and comment on the White House Web site for five days.
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From CBS News
January 7, 2010 12:05 PM
Obama Reneges on Health Care Transparency
By Chip Reid
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/01/06/eveningnews/main6064298.shtml"During the campaign, though, candidate Obama regularly promised something different - to broadcast all such negotiations on C-SPAN, putting the entire process of pounding out health care reform out in the open. (That promise applied to the now-completed processing of forging House and Senate bills, too.)
"Back when Republicans controlled Congress and George W. Bush was in the White House, it was Democrats who angrily complained about secret backroom deals.
"Now the roles are reversed.
"The negotiations are obviously being done in secret and the American people really just want to know what they are trying to hide," said Rep. Tom Price, R-Ga.
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Next a link to Youtube: Obama in his own words:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5t8GdxFYBUBarack Obama "Public Will Have 5 Days To Look At Every Bill That Lands On My Desk"
And YES, Obama cheerleaders - that does not refer to the proposed legislation of Obama's that lands on the GOP's desks, but it does promise 5 days before signing, the public will get to read the exact language of a bill. If he felt he had put together a decent piece of proposed legislation, he should have made it public to put pressure on the Congress to specifically address it. If he wanted public support for it, he should have put it on line. I for one am not going to press my congressmen/senators to agree to legislation the details of which I am not familiar with.
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From Judicial Watch: Mon, 12/29/2008 -
Another of Barack Obama’s famous “change” campaign promises has been broken, this time involving a level of transparency he assured had not existed in any administration.
Pledging the “most open and transparent transition in history,” Team Obama vowed to reveal details of transition meetings with groups on its heavily promoted change web site. Dates and organizations represented at official meetings in the transition headquarters or agency offices were supposed to be posted on the web site for easy public access.
In fact, Obama’s transition co-chair (John Podesta) specifically issued a transparency policy never before seen in a presidential transition team. It promised to create an easy-to-navigate section that allows the public to track meetings and view documents. However, there is no list of meetings on the site even though many have been held with power brokers and probably special interest groups.
The Chicago newspaper columnist that discovered this latest Team Obama violation, points out that secrecy has always been par for the course throughout the president elect’s political career. She reveals that Obama’s Senate staff had been very selective about what Obama Senate-related meetings they disclosed and seemed to be guided by a “less is best” policy.
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From the conservative think tank/Cato Institute
"President Obama promised on the campaign trail that he would have the most transparent administration in history. As part of this commitment, he said that the public would have five days to look online and find out what was in the bills that came to his desk before he signed them. It was his first broken promise, and it's the promise that keeps on breaking. He has now signed 11 bills into law and gone, at best, 1 for 11 on his five-day posting promise. The Obama administration should deliver on the Web-enabled transparency he promised and post bills for five days before signing.
"To the thrill of technology and transparency advocates, candidate Obama promised sunlight before signing: "As president," his campaign website said, "Obama will not sign any non-emergency bill without giving the American public an opportunity to review and comment on the White House website for five days."
"But nine days after taking office, he signed a bill into law without posting it on Whitehouse.gov for five days. Since then, 10 more bills have become law over the president's signature, and only one has been posted online for five days - and that was for five days after it cleared Congress, not after formal presentment. Two bills have been held by the White House for five days before signing - but they weren't posted online!
"Members of Congress are highly skilled political risk balancers, and the president's firm insistence on leaving bills sitting out there, unsigned, after they pass Congress would have a significant effect on congressional behavior. It would threaten to reveal excesses in parochial amendments and earmarks, which could bring down otherwise good bills. Recognizing the negative attention they could draw to themselves, representatives and senators would act with more circumspection, and last-minute add-ons to big bills would recede. A firm five-day rule at the White House would also inspire the House and Senate to implement more transparent and careful processes themselves.
http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=11449____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
From the Christian Science Monitor
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/The-Vote/2010/0109/What-happened-to-Obama-s-government-transparency-pledgeWhat happened to Obama’s ‘government transparency’ pledge?(Headline)
As a presidential candidate, Barack Obama promised “transparency” in government & said healthcare reform negotiations should be televised on C-span. The impression was left that we’d all be able to pull up a chair and watch administration officials and lawmakers hash out their philosophical and policy differences as they make laws that affect our lives.
Specifically, Obama said, “we’ll have
negotiations televised on C-SPAN, so the people can see who is making arguments on behalf of their constituents and who is making arguments on behalf of the drug companies or the insurance companies.”
(But) House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, backed by the White House, has said the House and Senate – each of which have passed versions of healthcare reform – were putting the final bill together “behind closed doors according to an agreement by top Democrats.”
In a recent letter to congressional leaders, C-SPAN chief executive Brian Lamb asked lawmakers to televise their healthcare discussions. The American people pay for all this that goes on in this town," Mr. Lamb said on the Bill Press Show. "It's always been my contention – and it's not a sophisticated, intelligent position, it's just a gut reaction – that if we pay for something, and it's the public's business, we ought to be able to see how it's done. It's just that simple."
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