The Transparency President

Posted on the Obama/Biden website during the campaign they said they would:

Bring Americans Back into their Government

Hold 21st Century Fireside Chats: Obama will bring democracy and policy directly to the people by requiring his Cabinet officials to have periodic national broadband town hall meetings to discuss issues before their agencies.

Make White House Communications Public: Obama will amend executive orders to ensure that communications about regulatory policy making between persons outside government and all White House staff are disclosed to the public.

Conduct Regulatory Agency Business in Public: Obama will require his appointees who lead the executive branch departments and rule making agencies to conduct the significant business of the agency in public, so that any citizen can see in person or watch on the Internet these debates.
 
At the start of the Obama administration, Attorney General Eric Holder released a memorandum (PDF) directing government agencies to consider FOIA requests with a “clear presumption of openness.” Since then, the results have been decidedly mixed.

An audit from the National Security Archive at George Washington University (PDF) showed that less than half of the 90 agencies audited took some kind of step toward better FOIA compliance while most failed to demonstrate any action. On top of that, a review by the Associated Press showed that the use of FOIA exemptions by major government agencies increased in 2009 – the first year of the Obama administration.

And on Jan 21, 2009 we read this:

THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release January 21, 2009

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.

Now we learn that the new Financial Regulation Bill Exempts the SEC from complying with FOIA's:

From FOX Business
- July 28, 2010

SEC Says New Financial Regulation Law Exempts it From Public Disclosure

So much for transparency!

Under a little-noticed provision of the recently passed financial-reform legislation, the Securities and Exchange Commission no longer has to comply with virtually all requests for information releases from the public, including those filed under the Freedom of Information Act.

The law, signed last week by President Obama, exempts the SEC from disclosing records or information derived from "surveillance, risk assessments, or other regulatory and oversight activities." Given that the SEC is a regulatory body, the provision covers almost every action by the agency, lawyers say. Congress and federal agencies can request information, but the public cannot.

That argument comes despite the President saying that one of the cornerstones of the sweeping new legislation was more transparent financial markets. Indeed, in touting the new law, Obama specifically said it would “increase transparency in financial dealings."

The SEC cited the new law Tuesday in a FOIA action brought by FOX Business Network. Steven Mintz, founding partner of law firm Mintz & Gold LLC in New York, lamented what he described as “the backroom deal that was cut between Congress and the SEC to keep the SEC’s failures secret. The only losers here are the American public.”

It appears that the only "Change we can believe in", is that we can't believe anything this Administration says!