Thanks to President Obama, strong whistleblower protections are in place

[ProSense]

President Signs Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act (WPEA)

by Hannah Johnson

After 13 Year Campaign, Federal Workers Get Long-Overdue Upgrades

(Washington, DC) – The Government Accountability Project (GAP) is praising President Obama's signing of S. 743, the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act (WPEA), into law earlier today. The legislation provides millions of federal workers with the rights they need to report government corruption and wrongdoing safely. The bill reflects an unequivocal bipartisan consensus, having received the vote of every member in the 112th Congress, passing both the Senate and House of Representatives by unanimous consent over the past couple of months. The text of the bill can be read here.

GAP Legal Director Tom Devine commented:

"This reform took 13 years to pass because it can make so much difference against fraud, waste and abuse. Government managers at all levels made pleas and repeatedly blocked the bill through procedural sabotage. But once there were no more secret 'holds,' the WPEA passed unanimously, because no politician in a free society can openly oppose freedom of speech. Over the years, earlier versions of this law had been called the Taxpayer Protection Act. Nothing could set a better context for fiscal cliff negotiations than a unanimous, bipartisan consensus to protect those who risk their careers to protect the taxpayers. This victory reflects a consensus ranging from President Obama to Representative Darrell Issa. The mandate for this law is that the truth is the public's business."

Among other key reforms, federal employees now are protected (in addition to already-existing scenarios) from reprisal if they: are not the first person to disclose misconduct; disclose misconduct to coworkers or supervisors; disclose the consequences of a policy decision; or blow the whistle while carrying out their job duties.

<...>

Devine continued, stating

"The victory reflects strong bipartisan teamwork, as well as advocacy within the party, as Republicans often had to work harder at convincing wary colleagues. And it reflects relentless pressure from conservative stakeholders – like the National Taxpayers Union – throughout the last 13 years. Crucial support came from President Obama, who was committed from day one of his term to signing this bill into law. Most Presidents have offered lip service for whistleblower rights, but President Obama fought to give them more teeth."

- more -

http://www.whistleblower.org/blog/42-2012/2380-president-signs-whistleblower-protection-enhancement-act-wpea-

This will work as long as the President isn't evil.

[dkf]

1. OMG. you have crossed the credulity line here.

I don't know how you stay so devoted...that's not sarcasm btw I'm honestly impressed.

[ProSense]

3. WTF are you talking about?

He signed the law. I didn't write that press release. You can find it here:

http://www.whistleblower.org/blog/42-2012/2380-president-signs-whistleblower-protection-enhancement-act-wpea-

[treestar]

16. How do you?

OMG how hypocritical.

[dkf]

19. I pick my own views. I am a natural born skeptic.

I follow no one including no religion, no individual, no ideology. I also don't follow any party in lockstep. I make my own judgments.

I may lean a certain way, but I don't swallow the whole program.

[treestar]

21. Disagreeing with one person on everything in lockstep

Is the same thing. Plenty of posters here are just as devoted as Prosense for the opposite conclusion.

Reminds me of how in third grade I went to the girls' room at the same time each day, and a girl who was always in there when I went in would go to her friend: "She's always here! Every day!" The same could be said of her, too, of course. But she said it like there was something wrong with me doing it!

[ProSense]

26. I enjoy it.

People who are afraid of anything that effectively counters the negative narrative. The first response is always a personal attack.

I mean, some have responded with information about whistleblowing prosecutions under this administration, and I can debate that.

[Monkie]

67. well it is kind of sick when a site like GAP posts a detailed defense of snowden

and the only thing a certain poster takes on board from that is how great obama´s protection of whistleblowers is, and then rushes to post that information in a new thread.
i try to remain polite, even if i am sometimes quite strident in my opinion, but this is farce. its beyond a farce.

[Arctic Dave]

2. Here is a link for you. I think it will help with the job.

http://www.cartoonstock.com/directory/s/suck_up.asp

[ProSense]

5. Here's one

for you:

http://www.whistleblower.org/blog/42-2012/2380-president-signs-whistleblower-protection-enhancement-act-wpea-

Hope it helps with the denial.

[B2G]

10. One more law he evidently doensn't give a shit about. n/t

[B2G]

4. Well that explains why they're opening a criminal investigation

Are you high?

[ProSense]

7. "Are you high?"

Are you stupid?

President Obama might be evil, but he signed the law. Do you deny that he signed the law? Do you dispute the release?

[msongs]

8. one does not have to be high to worship false idols lol nt

[kentuck]

6. The proof of the pudding is in the eating...

We'll see how much he tries to restrict the information that is about to come out in the next week or two? He cannot say, "Let's have an open discussion about it" and then say, "We need to stop these leaks and prosecute the guilty parties." It needs to be one or the other.

[kenny blankenship]

9. Yeah, "safeguards" - they call them PRISON WALLS elsewhere. Ask John Kiriakou

if you can arrange a jailhouse interview.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

11. Which is why he's pursuing the whistle blower who exposed Prism?

[leftstreet]

61. Maybe it's just a test? To see how strong the protections are?

Or not

[Marr]

12. lmfao, getting some overtime this weekend. /nt

[99Forever]

13. You forgot this:

[ProSense]

14. Why? You think the people who wrote the release are idiots? n/t

[99Forever]

15. I know they are propagandists..

.. of the Orwellian variety.

[ProSense]

18. "propaganists.."? LOL! n/t

[99Forever]

24. Good to know ..

... the Spelling Police are on the job.

[ProSense]

27. Oh, I wasn't laughing

"the Spelling Police are on the job. "

...at the spelling. I was laughing at calling that organization propagandists.

http://www.whistleblower.org/about/gap-staff/86-jesselyn-radack

[99Forever]

29. Oh noes!

A deadly bluE linK!

It MUST be important. (or more likely, bullshit)

[Sheepshank]

37. blue link to facts, trumps slimey sarcasm any day. Just saying

[99Forever]

41. Yay!

The posse has arrived!

[Sheepshank]

42. still with the sarcasm?

time to grow up and get over dealing with opposition without some actual, you know, data.

what are you, 12?

[99Forever]

43. Ah, ya cut me to the bone.

You're so awesome.

[backwoodsbob]

17. morew whistleblowers have been arrested under President Obama

than every other administration before him COMBINED

[ProSense]

23. Facts

"morew whistleblowers have been arrested under President Obama than every other administration before him COMBINED"

<...>

Here’s the official excuse, from the Justice Department’s letter to AP today and from the daily White House press briefing: “The president feels strongly that we need the press to be able to be unfettered in its pursuit of investigative journalism,” press secretary Jay Carney said. “He is also mindful of the need for secret and classified information to remain secret and classified in order to protect our national security interests.” That sounds like a perfectly reasonable balancing, but in practice, it’s not. Between 1917 and 1985, there was one successful federal leak prosecution. The Obama White House, by contrast, has pursued leaks “with a surprising relentlessness,” as Jane Mayer wrote in her masterful New Yorker piece about the prosecution of Thomas Drake. Of Holder and Obama’s six unlucky targets, Drake is the guy who best fits the whistle-blower profile: He gave information to a Baltimore Sun reporter who wrote “a prize-winning series of articles for the Sun about financial waste, bureaucratic dysfunction, and dubious legal practices” in the National Security Agency. After years of hounding, the case against Drake fell apart, and he wound up pleading guilty to one misdemeanor. No jail time.

<...>

The Drake prosecution started under President George W. Bush. So did the leak prosecution of Jeffrey Sterling, the former CIA officer charged with disclosing information about Iran to James Risen of the New York Times. But Obama’s Justice Department has also launched its own prosecutions, as the AP probe underscores. As Scott Shane and Charlie Savage pointed out last year in the New York Times, it was in 2009, the first year of Obama’s presidency, that DOJ and the director of national intelligence created a taskforce that “streamlined procedures to follow up on leaks.” At the same time, the increasing prevalence of electronic records made investigations easier. The result, as Shane and Savage write, is that while the Justice Department used to be “where leak complaints from the intelligence agencies went to die,” now they are being kept alive.

- more -

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/jurisprudence/2013/05/obama_s_justice_department_holder_s_leak_investigations_are_outrageous_and.html

Yeah, there was more than one, and many of them began under Bush. There was the Plame investigation, but somehow it missed indicting Rove.

Still, not everyone who leaks classified information is a whistleblower. The Fox hack certainly isn't one.

[usGovOwesUs3Trillion]

20. Hard to square that with his actions to date (LINKS)

04/16/2013
Obama Whistleblower Prosecutions Lead To Chilling Effect On Press
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/16/obama-whistleblower-prosecutions-press_n_3091137.html

05/14/2013
The Obama administration has aggressively prosecuted leaks and whistleblowers. Who are they?
https://knightcenter.utexas.edu/blog/00-13889-obama-administration-has-aggressively-prosecuted-leaks-and-whistleblowers-who-are-they

05/16/2013
Obama leaves room for whistle-blower prosecution
http://www.salon.com/2013/05/16/obama_leaves_room_for_whistle_blower_persecution/

04/22/2012
Obama has Prosecuted More Whistleblowers than All Other Presidents COMBINED
http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2012/04/obama-has-prosecuted-more-whistleblowers-than-all-other-presidents-combined.html

06/12/2012
Obama's War on Whistleblowers
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/06/obamas-whistleblowers-stuxnet-leaks-drones

[ProSense]

25. This

05/14/2013
The Obama administration has aggressively prosecuted leaks and whistleblowers. Who are they?
https://knightcenter.utexas.edu/blog/00-13889-obama-administration-has-aggressively-prosecuted-leaks-and-whistleblowers-who-are-they

...is really good information. Of the six, three were sentenced. Government employees who leaked classified information, including the names of CIA agents. Isn't whistleblowing supposed to involve government wrongdoing and not just the release of classified information for the hell of it?

Do you think anyone supports leaking the name of an undercover CIA agent?

[usGovOwesUs3Trillion]

28. Reality

This admin has more aggressively prosecuted whistle blowers than all other admins.

You appear to be arguing that this admin is whistle blower friendly (the spin) were their actual behavior tells a different story (the reality).

BTW: the one case were an agents name was in documents provided to the reporter, the reporter did not print the name, but they did point out that the name was already in the public domain...

"the Times pointed out that the agent’s identity appeared in a sealed legal filing and on an “obscure” website."

[ProSense]

30. The law isn't

"This admin has more aggressively prosecuted whistle blowers than all other admins. "

...an invitation leak classified information. I mean, leaking the name of an undercover CIA agent is still illegal.

[usGovOwesUs3Trillion]

32. stopping this admin from prosecuting whistle blowers

as we will see in the coming days with the most recent revelations.

Let's see what the admin will do with this whistle blower/patriot...
Edward Snowden is the NSA whistle-blower
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jun/09/edward-snowden-nsa-whistleblower-surveillance
discuss...
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=2977667

AGAIN: the leak wasn't intended to reveal a CIA agent's name, and the agents name wasn't published in the story written based on the leak (as i noted above, which doesn't not matter to you since you have a different agenda here).

[ProSense]

33. Actually,

"stopping this admin from prosecuting whistle blowers as we will see in the coming days with the most recent revelations."

...I smell a deliberate agenda, and that isn't it.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=2977765

[usGovOwesUs3Trillion]

36. The Fear Campaign is Not Working

Patriots are stepping up to the plate no matter what the state throws at them... in fact, I believe it will have the opposite effect then what is intended, since this is America, and Americans hate to be told what to do, and what to think, especially when it comes to our freedoms.

They should expect massive blowback.

[jazzimov]

40. "Patriots"?

Methinks your agenda is showing......

[usGovOwesUs3Trillion]

48. that's right

my agenda is defending our constitution, as all Americans should.

What's yours, partisan politics?

[backwoodsbob]

44. you and yours arent going to stop us prosense

tell your betters we have had enough.

There are two solutions to this...and one is nasty

[ProSense]

45. Please,

"you and yours arent going to stop us prosense

tell your betters we have had enough.

There are two solutions to this...and one is nasty"

...get over yourself. Also, don't you think making threats on the Internet is cowardly and silly?

[backwoodsbob]

47. do you think posting propaganda is unseemly?

[ProSense]

53. Do you think idiotic opinions matter? n/t

[usGovOwesUs3Trillion]

58. Obviously, you do. n/t

[Phlem]

22. -

[giftedgirl77]

31. The Whistle Blower Act has nothing

to do with people who leak classified information which is a violation of the Non Disclosure Agreement & federal law. This is exactly like the Manning incident. There is a reason the US gov gives documents certain classifications & even have that security clearance doesn't automatically grant you access to those documents.

Once again there is a chain of command for issues such as these. Giving to a reporter is not an option.

[randome]

34. It's an option if your only goal is to gain 15 minutes of fame.

Both Snowden and Greenwald's motivations, IMO.

[hr]
[font color="blue"][center]Stop looking for heroes. BE one.[/center][/font]
[hr]

[usGovOwesUs3Trillion]

35. nonsense

There is a long tradition in the U.S. of whistle blowers providing classified information to reporters to expose wrong-doing in gov.

e.g. The Pentagon Papers

Do you honestly believe that things would change if the wrong doers are enabled to continue operating in secret? That would be terminally naive.

[giftedgirl77]

39. Believe what you want

He just leaked top secret information regarding how our country is gathering intelligence all of which is considered lawful (whether we like it or not). Go reread the whistle blowers act again. It doesn't protect him anymore than it protected Manning.

[FarCenter]

46. He gets no protection from several violations of Federal law -- he's not a whistleblower

He is also not a Federal employee.

And there are specific procedures for whistleblowing by Intelligence community employees, if he were one. They do not include publishing classified information.

[DesMoinesDem]

49. LOL

[Demo_Chris]

51. This about covers it. nt

[ProSense]

54. Looks just like you. n/t

[galileoreloaded]

50. You just jumped the shark. Right when you posted this. Sad. Nt.

[ProSense]

55. You have no point. n/t

[galileoreloaded]

63. Sure I do. It's over. Let it die. Nt.

[boston bean]

52. Is he going to thank Mr. Snowden for his whistleblowing? nt

[Rex]

57. .

[DisgustipatedinCA]

60. That's what I came to ask. Great question.

[Logical]

56. LOL, almost beyond belief at this point. n-t

[ProSense]

59. Hey,

"LOL, almost beyond belief at this point. "

...I just posted this:

Lawmakers Tear Into Obama’s Surveillance Program, Pledge To Challenge It At Supreme Court
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022977943

I look forward to the "OMGs," cries of "propaganda," the denials and disbelief.

After all, there are people refusing to believe that WaPo backtracked on its inaccurate claims.

LOL!

[Logical]

65. Just the title of your posts crack me up. Most non-biased posters would of used.....

"President Signs Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act (WPEA) "

Or maybe thanked Senator Daniel Akaka.

Wow, you really are a piece of work.

[Egalitarian Thug]

64. Nobody outside the little club has given this one any credence for years.

I've thought several times that it was a purposeful attempt at comedy.

[Logical]

66. It is funny you said that. At times I swear she is just messing with us. Still not 100% sure. n-t

[whatchamacallit]

62. Ludicrous Speed!