January 3, 2003 6:27 AM

Obviously, the meaning of sunshine is lost on these folks

Government Openness at Issue as Bush Holds Onto Records

I have repeatedly seen an erosion of the powers and the ability of the president of the United States to do his job. We saw it in the War Powers Act, we saw it in the Anti-Impoundment Act. We've seen it in cases like this before, where it's demanded that the presidents cough up and compromise on important principles. One of the things that I feel an obligation on, and I know the president does, too, because we talked about it, is to pass on our offices in better shape than we found them to our successors.

- Vice President Dick Cheney

The Shrub Administration keeping a tight lid on information? Really? If any of y'all are surprised by this news, it's time to go back to the "Richie Rich" marathon on the Cartoon Network. It's becoming clear that the Administration sees the Freedom of Information Act as a violation of it's right to conduct itself without accountability. The bottom line here is that it doesn't want you to find out what government is up to. Since the effect is incremental, most Americans aren't even aware of what is happening. That, frankly, is exactly what Shrub and his minions are hoping for.

While secercy is difficult to quantify, it's becoming increasingly evident that the Shrub Adminstration is making a concerted effort to violate the spirit of FOIA, if not the letter of the law. The precedent this effort sets is disturbing. In the long run it will become much more difficult to hold government officials accountable for their actions. Or perhaps that is exactly what the Adminstration is hoping for.

If there is a legitimate national security concern raised by the release of specific information, then, yes, the government should be able to block it's release. What happens, though, when the government begins with the presumption that an FOIA request is a risk? The end result is that a legally enforceable FOIA request will never see the light of day.

WASHINGTON, Jan. 2 — The Bush administration has put a much tighter lid than recent presidents on government proceedings and the public release of information, exhibiting a penchant for secrecy that has been striking to historians, legal experts and lawmakers of both parties.

Some of the Bush policies, like closing previously public court proceedings, were prompted by the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and are part of the administration's drive for greater domestic security. Others, like Vice President Dick Cheney's battle to keep records of his energy task force secret, reflect an administration that arrived in Washington determined to strengthen the authority of the executive branch, senior administration officials say.

Apparently, Shrub and his minions are worried about what MIGHT be disclosed in releases requested under FOIA. Because of this, government employees are treating even the most innocent of FOIA requests as if it's a potential risk to national security. (There's a war on, remember??)

A telling example came in late 2001 when Attorney General John Ashcroft announced the new policy on the Freedom of Information Act, a move that attracted relatively little public attention.

Although the new policy for dealing with the 1966 statute that has opened millions of pages of government records to scholars, reporters and the public was announced after Sept. 11, it had been planned well before the attacks.

The Ashcroft directive encouraged federal agencies to reject requests for documents if there was any legal basis to do so, promising that the Justice Department would defend them in court. It was a stark reversal of the policy set eight years earlier, when the Clinton administration told agencies to make records available whenever they could, even if the law provided a reason not to, so long as there was no "foreseeable harm" from the release.

Generally speaking, said Alan Brinkley, a Columbia University historian, while secrecy has been increasingly attractive to recent administrations, "this administration has taken it to a new level."

Its "instinct is to release nothing," Professor Brinkley said, adding that this was not necessarily because there were particular embarrassing secrets to hide, but "they are just worried about what's in there that they don't know about."

The Bush administration contends that it is not trying to make government less open. Ari Fleischer, the president's press secretary, said, "The bottom line remains the president is dedicated to an open government, a responsive government, while he fully exercises the authority of the executive branch."

Government is either open or it's not. While every Administration has an interest in controlling the flow of information that could prove damaging, Shrub and his minions have taken information control to a disturbing new low. At this point, it seems clear that this Adminstration is more concerned about how to foil FOIA than to comply with it- never mind the fact that it is the law of the land.

The United States is still a democracy, which means that the people have the right to know what government is up to. If government officials are not violating any laws, then what is the harm is being accountable to the people you represent? The sad truth here is that the Shrub Administration is using the War against Terror as a pretext to control the release of any information that might reflect poorly on the Admininstration and it's actions and policies. What is truly sad is this is happening right under our noses.

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This page contains a single entry by Jack Cluth published on January 3, 2003 6:27 AM.

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