Spending web sites make politicos take transparency seriously

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Tags: Barack Obama, Government, House committee, quotes, transparency, United States, United States Congressional committee, United States Senate

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Published on: February 25, 2009

WASHINGTON – SEPTEMBER 28: (L-R) Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D-MA), Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), and Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd (D-CT) hold a news conference at the U.S. Captiol September 28, 2008 in Washington, DC. The Congressional Democrats talked about the compromise legislation between Congress and the Bush Administration for the $700 billion bailout plan for the Wall Street financial crisis.Image by Getty Images via Daylife

Spending web sites make politicos take transparency seriously

By Lise Bang-Jensen
Manhattan Moment Columnist | 2/24/09 6:10 PM

Did $165 billion in taxpayer dollars disappear into the ether? Probably not, but eight top financial executives, appearing before a House committee last week, were unable to account for how they spent federal bailout money.

The episode speaks poorly for the banking industry. (Let’s hope banks are more prudent with our personal checking accounts.) It also makes government look terrible—and increases demands that the federal government track every dollar of the $789 billion stimulus plan.

Transparency has emerged as a political buzzword, but it’s not a new concept. Thomas Jefferson observed, “Information is the currency of democracy”. Two centuries later, another president, Barack Obama, has promised “an unprecedented level of openness in government”.

Democrats and Republicans, liberals and conservatives embrace the transparency movement. As a U.S. senator, Obama joined with Republicans Tom Coburn of Oklahoma and John McCain of Arizona in co-sponsoring the Federal Funding and Accountability Act of 2006. It posts federal contracts and grants on a website, www.usaspending.gov

Government transparency is about more than tracking federal contracts or stimulus funds. Citizens have a right to know how every tax dollar is spent.

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Obama Memo on the Freedom of Information Act

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Tags: Barack Obama, Federal Register, Freedom of Information Act, Government, Louis Brandeis, Office of Management, Office of Management and Budget, United States

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Published on: January 29, 2009

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MEMORANDUM FOR THE HEADS OF EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES

SUBJECT: Freedom of Information Act

A democracy requires accountability, and accountability requires transparency. As Justice Louis Brandeis wrote, “sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants.” In our democracy, the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), which encourages accountability through transparency, is the most prominent expression of a profound national commitment to ensuring an open Government. At the heart of that commitment is the idea that accountability is in the interest of the Government and the citizenry alike.

The Freedom of Information Act should be administered with a clear presumption: In the face of doubt, openness prevails. The Government should not keep information confidential merely because public officials might be embarrassed by disclosure, because errors and failures might be revealed, or because of speculative or abstract fears. Nondisclosure should never be based on an effort to protect the personal interests of Government officials at the expense of those they are supposed to serve. In responding to requests under the FOIA, executive branch agencies (agencies) should act promptly and in a spirit of cooperation, recognizing that such agencies are servants of the public.

All agencies should adopt a presumption in favor of disclosure, in order to renew their commitment to the principles embodied in FOIA, and to usher in a new era of open Government. The presumption of disclosure should be applied to all decisions involving FOIA.

The presumption of disclosure also means that agencies should take affirmative steps to make information public. They should not wait for specific requests from the public. All agencies should use modern technology to inform citizens about what is known and done by their Government. Disclosure should be timely.

I direct the Attorney General to issue new guidelines governing the FOIA to the heads of executive departments and agencies, reaffirming the commitment to accountability and transparency, and to publish such guidelines in the Federal Register. In doing so, the Attorney General should review FOIA reports produced by the agencies under Executive Order 13392 of December 14, 2005. I also direct the Director of the Office of Management and Budget to update guidance to the agencies to increase and improve information dissemination to the public, including through the use of new technologies, and to publish such guidance in the Federal Register.

This memorandum does not create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.

The Director of the Office of Management and Budget is hereby authorized and directed to publish this memorandum in the Federal Register.

BARACK OBAMA

Obama Memorandum on Transparency and Open Government

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Tags: Barack Obama, Executive Branch, Federal government of the United States, Federal Register, Government, Office of Management and Budget, United States, United States federal executive departments

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Published on: January 22, 2009

Image via WikipediaTHE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release January 21, 2009

MEMORANDUM FOR THE HEADS OF EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES

SUBJECT: Transparency and Open Government

My 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 cooperate among themselves, across all levels of more 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) Image by dbking via Flickrand 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

# # #

Canadian PM urged to loosen info secrecy

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Tags: Barack Obama, Canada, Ottawa, Prime minister, Stephen Harper

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Published on: January 22, 2009

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Canadian PM urged to loosen info secrecy

Published: Jan. 22, 2009 at 7:38 AM

OTTAWA, Jan. 22 (UPI) — Canada‘s federal information commissioner is urging the prime minister to allow more transparency as ordered by new U.S. President Barack Obama.

In an interview with the Globe and Mail, Information Commissioner Robert Marleau praised Obama’s declaration of more openness on his first day in office.

“I am thrilled to see that Mr. Obama is taking such a forceful position in the context of transparency,” Marleau said. “I’m jealous, yes. Given that the president will meet Mr. Harper in the near future, I hope that they will talk about it and that the president of the United States can be an example for our own political leader.”

While Obama said “transparency and the rule of law will be the touchstones of this presidency,” Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper is known in Ottawa to keep a tight rein on what his ministers and members say in public.

Marleau told the Globe Canada is moving in the opposite direction of Obama as far as transparency.

“The fog is thickening,” Marleau said. “Things are clearly going backwards in the amount of information that is being released, and there is a clear increase in the use of time extensions and exemptions.”

Opening government on Day One

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Tags: Barack Obama, Freedom of Information Act, Freedom of information legislation, Open Government, transparency, White House, Whitehouse.gov

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Published on: January 22, 2009

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Opening government on Day One

Keywords: Barack Obama; FOIA; FOIA enforcement; FOIA reform; open meetings; Open Records

President Barack Obama, on his first full day in office, sent a strong message of his intention to run a transparent government, directing agencies to release information to the public when possible and rolling out a new White House Web site geared toward communication and transparency.

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Obama issued two presidential memos — one on Transparency and Open Government and another specifically on the Freedom of Information Act — instructing federal government agencies to operate under principles of openness and transparency.

In this announcement at his first White House press conference, Obama committed to changing the course of the previous White House policy that asked federal government agencies to find ways under the law to keep information from getting out to the public. He instructed the attorney general to provide official guidance to agencies on implementing this policy change within 120 days.

The new WhiteHouse.gov also discusses Obama’s commitment to making his administration “the most open and transparent in history,” and various means of communicating information to the public.

That this message was issued on Day One is a huge step toward opening access to the federal government. And it is crucial that this message came from the very top. However, the public will need to be no less diligent in utilizing the laws to request information and continuing to hold this new administration accountable just as any other.

— Corinna Zarek, 3:36 pm

Obama issues orders and memoranda on ethics, transparency

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Tags: Barack Obama, Executive order, Freedom of Information Act, Freedom of information legislation, United States, White House, White House Counsel

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Published on: January 22, 2009

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Obama issues orders and memoranda on ethics, transparency

By Ben Bain, Mary Mosquera
Jan 21, 2009

President Barack Obama today issued executive orders and memorandums designed to improve government ethics and make the government more open.

Obama signed an executive order designed to change presidential record-keeping along with another order that sets new ethics restrictions for political appointees and lobbyists.

“I will also hold myself as President to a new standard of openness,” Obama said during a meeting with senior administration staff. “Let me say it as simply as I can: Transparency and the rule of law will be the touchstones of this presidency.”

The order on presidential records “ends the practice of having others besides the president assert executive privilege for records after an administration ends,” the White House officials said in a statement. Now, only the president will have that power, limiting its potential for abuse.” The also order requires the attorney general and the White House counsel to review claims of executive privilege related to covered records.

Obama also ordered all of his political appointees to sign a pledge restricting their interactions with lobbyists and their ability to rotate employment between goverment and industry.

According to a press statement, Obama instructed officials to draft an open government directive within 120 days that will be used to implement specific principles of the memo. He also instructed the attorney general to issue new guidelines related to the Freedom of Information Act.

Obama also said he will freeze the pay of his White House senior staff members at current levels, signing a memorandum to keep his senior staff from receiving pay raises to the extent allowed by law, according to the statement.

“The president and his staff recognize that in these austere times, everyone must do more with less, and the White House is no exception,” the statement said, adding that the action would let the White House stretch its budget to get more done.

The freeze applies to staff members making $100,000 and above, according to a senior aide quoted by a published pool report.

bout the Authors

Ben Bain is a reporter for Federal Computer Week.

Mary Mosquera is a reporter for Federal Computer Week.

Obama on Restoring Public Trust

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Tags: Barack Obama, United States, Washington DC

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Published on: January 22, 2009

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