Obama Promises Tougher Ethics Rules, Greater Transparency
Barack Obama just publicly announced a far-reaching set of ethics rules and other changes from prior practices for his White House staff:
• Over a hundred senior staffers making over $100,000 per year will have their pay frozen at current levels.
• There will be a two-year waiting period for any former lobbyists to work on issues for which they had previously done lobbying work.
• Extra openness will be practiced with any information that the Administration might want to keep secret.
This was perhaps the most striking quote: "Information will not be withheld just because I say so. It will be withheld because a separate authority believes my request is well grounded in the Constitution. Let me say it as simply as I can, transparency and the rule of law will be the touchstones of this presidency."
Josh
Elana
Matt
Eric
Sigh. I remember when transparency and the rule of law were assumed.
January 21, 2009 2:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
You must be OLD ;-)
January 21, 2009 2:10 PM | Reply | Permalink
LOL! Yeah, I can't remember a time when transparency was the norm--even Bill Clinton's regime was as transparent as a stained-glass window!
January 21, 2009 2:11 PM | Reply | Permalink
I can't express how good this makes me feel. This is what we were working for when we supported Obama (full disclosure--I did support Hillary first, but anyway this is great!)
January 21, 2009 2:10 PM | Reply | Permalink
This was one of two jaw-dropping moments for me as well. But what this snippet leaves out is that he made clear that it wasn't just his administration that this applies to. He specifically included "former" presidents as well. This sounds like it's overturning Bush's order that allowed former presidents to withhold information at their discretion.
The other jaw-dropper for me was the fact that members of his staff will not be allowed to lobby his administration EVER once they leave goverment service.
January 21, 2009 2:23 PM | Reply | Permalink
... and THAT'S change I can believe in.
January 21, 2009 2:24 PM | Reply | Permalink
You can? When?
January 21, 2009 2:10 PM | Reply | Permalink
I watched the report with tears in my eyes at this first clear, explicit implementation of the changes to Washington that were promised during the campaign.
Yes he will!
January 21, 2009 2:26 PM | Reply | Permalink
This is excellent news -- for ALL OF US.
Now all he has to do is roll back some of the more egregious "unitary executive" crap and we'll be cooking with gas.
And here's a gratuitious hope that Biden believes the OVP is part of the executive branch...
January 21, 2009 2:40 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'd like to see President Obama, working with Congress, create a court along the lines of the FISA court -- call it the Official National Security Secrets Court -- whose job it is to decide what information the government should be allowed to keep from the electorate. Either before or immediately after deciding that they'd like something kept secret -- for national security reasons only! -- the administration, possibly after hearings with the relevant congressional committees, would have to submit the information to the court, which would decide on behalf of the people, whether knowledge of the information would threaten national security. Something like this, that could outlive Obama's presidency and at least make it more difficult -- if sadly not impossible -- for future administrations to keep secrets for political reasons having nothing to do with the national security.
January 21, 2009 3:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
We have FOIA, we shouldn't need a special court.
A special court assumes there's possibly a valid argument that needs a further hearing about an otherwise valid and legal FOIA request.
January 21, 2009 3:44 PM | Reply | Permalink
^C^V
Concur!
January 21, 2009 4:25 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yabbut -- I'm talking about not needing to make requests under FOIA to get access to information. I'm talking about it being made public from the get-go, UNLESS it is ruled to be absolutely in the interest of national security that it be kept secret. Why should we have to go with our hat in hand to ask if maybe please, with their gracious permission, we might know what the hell they're up to? FOIA is great, don't get me wrong, but it still weights on the side of government -- look how BushCo slowed down requests and denied them out of hand!
January 21, 2009 9:59 PM | Reply | Permalink
My point, the DEFAULT for gov't records should be that they're public.
January 22, 2009 1:11 PM | Reply | Permalink
WOW.
It seems Obama intends to keep his promises.
WOW.
Also, a not-so-subtle dig at the former occupant.
January 21, 2009 3:32 PM | Reply | Permalink
Not subtle at all.
Just wonderful.
January 21, 2009 3:42 PM | Reply | Permalink
And on the first day Obama said, "let there be light." Fresh air.
January 21, 2009 3:54 PM | Reply | Permalink
Not that I'm worried or anything, but....
....what do calls for transparency and a free flow of information from the team who had the tightest message discipline of any campaign in the last two (or more) election cycles really mean? True, it'll be virtually impossible to manage the message and bung up the leaks the way they did during the campaign (or do we really believe that the transistion team actually leaked anything at all?) with such a large team running the many government machines. However, if I were a reporter with a White House beat, I wonder if I wouldn't be a bit cynical about the new sunshine policy espoused by team Obama.
January 21, 2009 4:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
"a far-reaching set of ethics rules..."
Sing it with me, brothers and sisters:
Bush and Cheney -- Never Again.
If this country can't make a high standards of ethics and transparency be absolutely required qualifications for all future presidents, we deserve more like George Bush and Dick Cheney.
January 21, 2009 4:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
This is actually much bullcrap and lofty WORDS. If Obama dicks around with closing Gitmo then he will own it as the Gitmo president.
Doesn't anyone realize what a year more of force feeding will do to these human beings? You can't try them anyway because we tortured them. You're just delaying the inevitable and causing more suffering, Barry. Maybe Barry needs to experience the tube to know what it is like.
Get some balls and step up to the plate. Of COURSE they should be released in this country. WE kidnapped them, imprisoned them unlawfully and tortured them. We destroyed their lives. THIS IS NOT ROCKET SCIENCE. RELEASE THEM, PERIOD.
January 21, 2009 6:13 PM | Reply | Permalink
I've heard these words in one form or another since I began voting.. during the Johnson years. I really believed the rhetoric back then. After all these years, I have discovered that most of it is true and used only at the discretion of the person making the statements.
One action which will make me more trusting of Obama's promise to reinstall the rule of law is when the indictments against Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, and other folks signing on to torure.
If this does not occur, it will once again support the fact that our rule of law only applies to the unimportant commoners below the level of the important people who are above that same law... IMHO
I sure hope I am wrong...
January 21, 2009 6:27 PM | Reply | Permalink
What's that? The light of Day?
Now the real question is, will the Obama Administration release information the Bush/Cheney Regime sought to hide? There is a precedent, of course, when the Bush DOJ was investigating the Mark Rich pardon, the Bush Administration released transcripts of private phone calls made by President Clinton.
January 21, 2009 9:13 PM | Reply | Permalink
What Would Obama Do?
Leave a comment about what you think our new President would do.
www.w-w-o-d.com
January 21, 2009 10:39 PM | Reply | Permalink