From ProPublica:
After eight years of tightened access to government records under the Bush administration, open-government advocates were hopeful when Barack Obama promised greater transparency.
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Tag: Obama administration
DOJ memo reveals legal case for drone strikes on Americans
From NBC:
A confidential Justice Department memo concludes that the U.S. government can order the killing of American citizens if they are believed to be “senior operational leaders” of al-Qaida or “an associated force” — even if there is no intelligence indicating they are engaged in an active plot to attack the U.S.
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Read More… from DOJ memo reveals legal case for drone strikes on Americans
Second term open government agenda: Achieving greater transparency
The National Freedom of Information Coalition and a host of open government groups offered their support of a message to President Obama in an op-ed written by OpenTheGovernment.org’s executive director Patrice McDermott and published January 31 in The Hill.
"The administration has made progress toward proactively releasing more information online, including on such sites as data.gov, recovery.gov and USAspending.gov," the op-ed states. "But more yet can be done toward achieving transparency."
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Read More… from Second term open government agenda: Achieving greater transparency
NFOIC’s State FOIA Friday for September 28, 2012
A few state FOIA and local open government news items selected from many of interest that we might or might not have drawn attention to earlier in the week:
Obama cabinet flunks disclosure test with 19 in 20 ignoring law
Not just a state story, obviously, but interesting and important.
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Read More… from NFOIC’s State FOIA Friday for September 28, 2012
FOIA ombudsman’s letter irks senators, advocates
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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Read More… from FOIA ombudsman’s letter irks senators, advocates
White House to petitioners: We ARE listening
From NextGov
The Obama administration takes petitions posted to its We the People website seriously and during weekly meetings discusses responses to those that cross the 25,000-signature threshold, officials said in a response and video posted Thursday.
The White House launched We the People in September, touting it as a one-stop shop for citizens to petition the federal government and as part of the Obama administration's larger commitment to open government.
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Read More… from White House to petitioners: We ARE listening
Striking the Balance Between Secrecy and Sunshine
White House launches Ethics.gov
From Sunlight Foundation:
After a long wait, the White House is today launching Ethics.gov (at Explore.data.gov/ethics ), fulfilling the President's campaign promise to create a single website for searches related to executive branch ethics and influence data.
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Obama’s Muddy Transparency Record
From Politico:
President Barack Obama set a high bar for open government, and he set it quickly. A minute after he took office, the White House website declared his administration would become “the most open and transparent in history.” By the end of his first full day on the job, Obama had issued high-profile orders pledging “a new era” and “an unprecedented level of openness” across the massive federal government.
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NFOIC’s FOI Friday for March 2, 2012
A few open government and FOIA news items selected from many of interest that we might or might not have drawn attention to earlier:
NFOIC debuts #OpenGovVideos with interviews featuring Ken Bunting and Emily Ramshaw
The National Freedom of Information Coalition (NFOIC) announced it has introduced #OpenGovVideos, an online video project that will help tell the story of why open government is important to all citizens.
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