WTF Has Obama Done? - Issue No. 021 - Transparency & Accountability

Every day individual frustration grows as concerns for our, our children and our grand-children's futures lie with the decisions of our elected representatives. We have a responsibility to let Washington know how their actions, or lack thereof, affect us before legislation is passed. We must be assured the legislation that has passed is meeting its' intended purpose. My only cause is that the voices of the people be heard.  And President Obama has done so, more than any other President in our lifetime. Imagine if George W. Bush's administration had been more transparent and accountable for their actions.

President Obama has not only released presidential records when requested, he's instructed all federal agencies to promote openness and transparency as much as possible, imposed limits on lobbyists' access to the White House, the Department of Defense has opened access to social media sites (Air Force News) and the DOD will also film all interrogations.  There are countless of other achievements President Obama has achieved in the last 3 years in regard to transparency and accountability.  Today, I'm sharing three.

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Instructed all federal agencies to promote openness and transparency as much as possible.

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. 

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.

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 cooperateamong themselves, across all levels of Government, and with nonprofit organizations, businesses, and individuals in the private sector.  [Read More]

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Released presidential records.

During the campaign of 2008 President Obama said this... "I will nullify the Bush attempts to make the timely release of presidential records more difficult."

On his first day in office, Obama fulfilled a promise to roll back some Bush administration restrictions on presidential records. He signed an executive order that restored a 30-day time frame for former presidents to review records before they are released. It also eliminated the right for the vice president or family members of former presidents to do the reviews.

If this sounds familiar, it may be because we covered this issue during the Democratic primary. It became a controversy because restrictions put into place under Bush potentially delayed the release of records from Hillary Clinton's time as first lady. 

Here's how the release of presidential papers generally works: When a president leaves office, the records of his administration go to the National Archives. After five years, the records are subject to public records requests under the Freedom of Information Act. Professional archivists determine which records should be publicly available, and the current and former presidents have the right to review them as well. The former president is given seven years to claim exemptions for his entire White House archive under the Presidential Records Act of 1978.

There is federal legislation that has passed the House that would codify the changes Obama made through executive order, she said, and Obama said he would support it. As of this writing, it still needed to pass in the Senate. 

"The truth is, every government bureaucracy has the potential to become secretive and cover up what it"s doing," Fuchs said. "That could happen with this administration or any other administration." 

In the meantime, Obama signed the executive order as promised. Promise Kept. [Read More]

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Required new hires to sign a form affirming their hiring was not due to political affiliations or contributions.

In one of his first acts as president, Barack Obama kept a campaign promise to reduce political influence in his administration by signing an executive order on Jan. 21, 2009. 

The "Executive Order on Ethics Commitments by Executive Branch Personnel" requires that appointees sign forms saying that they were not hired because of political affiliations or contributions. 

Obama "requires that government hiring be based upon qualifications, competence and experience, not political connections," according to a statement issued by his press secretary. " He has ordered every one of his appointees to sign a pledge abiding by these tough new rules as a downpayment on the change he has promised to bring to Washington." 

We rate this promise as Promise Kept. [Read More-1, Read More-2]

I promise to come back to this topic in another issue, until then, please feel free to read my previous issues by clicking here.

Make sure to read the next issue
Issue No. 022 - Commerce, Trade & Technology

WTF Has Obama Done is an ongoing series posted daily or weekly on BLADE 7184 until Election Day, 2012!