National Freedom of Information Coalition
Protecting Your Right to Open Government

Tag: obama transparency

Looking towards next week’s open data executive order deadline

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From Sunlight Foundation: November 30th marks the first major deadline for agency compliance with President Obama’s Open Data Executive Order and accompanying Memorandum M-13-13. In addition to representing an important step in the march towards open government and proper data management, this is an opportunity to evaluate agencies, identify best practices, and advocate for change. The Executive Order will continue to be implemented over the coming months and years, but agencies should, and will, be judged on how much effort they put into this first deadline. […]

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Obama transparency edict gets lost in the fog

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From The Washington Post: In his first inaugural address, President Obama said that “those of us who manage the public’s dollars” will “do our business in the light of day, because only then can we restore the vital trust between a people and their government.”

And he issued a memo to all department and agency heads instructing them that “my administration is committed to creating an unprecedented level of openness in government.”

But maybe the message hasn’t quite sunk in everywhere.

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FOIA and the most transparent administration in history

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From The Rocky Mountain Collegian:

Last Wednesday, Kentucky Senator Rand Paul took to the Senate floor for almost 13 hours in a classic Mr. Smith Goes to Washington-type talking filibuster, holding up the confirmation of the new CIA head, John Brennan, over the Obama administration’s inability to answer a few simple questions about the targeted killings of American citizens with drones.

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Obama drones memo disclosure could change FOIA cases

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From Huffingtonpost:

Until last week, the Obama administration's official position was that it had never technically acknowledged the existence of a memo from the Office of Legal Counsel laying out the legal framework for the targeted killing of an American citizen.

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Group wants cost info on Obama’s daughter’s spring break trip

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From LegalNewsline.com:

WASHINGTON (Legal Newsline) – A government watchdog group has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Secret Service to determine how much taxpayer money was spent on security for President Barack Obama’s daughter’s spring break trip to Mexico.

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Obama’s Secretive Keystone XL Decision

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From Huffington Post:

The oppressive monster known as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is not just killing jobs these days — it is intentionally avoiding transparency that may shed light on the political motivations behind the agency's actions.

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FOIA ombudsman’s letter irks senators, advocates

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From Politico:

A letter from the federal government's Freedom of Information Act ombudsman has irritated key senators and openess advocates by failing to recommend any changes Congress could make to improve the law guaranteeing public access to federal records.

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