The loud left used to call the Bush administration, “The most secretive administration” in, well, forever. But Obama’s administration is, despite promising openness, is being very secretive.
The Office of U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), part of President Barack Obama’s office, has denied a company’s request for information about a secretive anticounterfeiting trade agreement being negotiated, citing national security concerns.
The USTR this week denied a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request from Knowledge Ecology International, an intellectual-property research and advocacy group, even though Obama, in one of his first presidential memos, directed that agencies be more forthcoming with information requested by the public.
The USTR under Obama seems to be taking the same position about the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) as it did under former President George Bush, that the treaty documents are not open to the public. One of Obama’s campaign promises was to make government more open and responsive to the public.
So, where exactly is that much promised change? Too much to hope for, one presumes.
It’s not just that all Obama’s promises have expiration dates, as Jim Geraghty put it, they are nothing but air.
everyone go home now.nothing to see here.