President Obama's administration is under fire for its lack of openness.
Both sides of the aisle in Congress are demanding to know why the Justice Department has slowed the release of information under the Freedom of Information Act.
Before Barack Obama won his first presidential election, he criticized his predecessor and promised a transparent government.
“It's no coincidence that one of the most secretive administrations in our history has focused on special interests and public policies that could not stand up to the sunlight, as president I'm
Going to change that," the President said.
Not only has Obama fallen short, critics say his administration is far, far worse than George W. Bush's policy was on open records.
Thomas Fitton is President of ‘Judicial Watch,' a watchdog group.
“When the Obama people come in and say they are the most transparent, we found that not to be the case,” Fitton stated. “We have over 900 Freedom of Information requests, trying to get basic information."
Watchdogs are not the only ones complaining, Representatives Darrell Issa and Elijah Cummings, the top Republican and Democrat on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee want to know why the justice department has a huge backlog of freedom of information requests.
The Washington Guardian added up the number of open record requests denied in just one year.
"In 2011, the U.S. Government denied 200,000 petitions," commented the Washington Guardian’s Phillip Swartz.
Some of the claims were for information such as compensation claims, very basic and by law we all have a right to see and understand.
So what happened to all those new rules for transparency?
You can read about it by going to our website and clicking on Find It and then following the link to the Washington Guardian.
Both sides of the aisle in Congress are demanding to know why the Justice Department has slowed the release of information under the Freedom of Information Act.
Before Barack Obama won his first presidential election, he criticized his predecessor and promised a transparent government.
“It's no coincidence that one of the most secretive administrations in our history has focused on special interests and public policies that could not stand up to the sunlight, as president I'm
Going to change that," the President said.
Not only has Obama fallen short, critics say his administration is far, far worse than George W. Bush's policy was on open records.
Thomas Fitton is President of ‘Judicial Watch,' a watchdog group.
“When the Obama people come in and say they are the most transparent, we found that not to be the case,” Fitton stated. “We have over 900 Freedom of Information requests, trying to get basic information."
Watchdogs are not the only ones complaining, Representatives Darrell Issa and Elijah Cummings, the top Republican and Democrat on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee want to know why the justice department has a huge backlog of freedom of information requests.
The Washington Guardian added up the number of open record requests denied in just one year.
"In 2011, the U.S. Government denied 200,000 petitions," commented the Washington Guardian’s Phillip Swartz.
Some of the claims were for information such as compensation claims, very basic and by law we all have a right to see and understand.
So what happened to all those new rules for transparency?
You can read about it by going to our website and clicking on Find It and then following the link to the Washington Guardian.