{"id":734,"date":"2008-01-02T14:52:44","date_gmt":"2008-01-02T22:52:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=734"},"modified":"2008-01-27T23:19:50","modified_gmt":"2008-01-28T07:19:50","slug":"open-government-act-signed-in-near-secret-by-bush","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=734","title":{"rendered":"OPEN Government Act Signed In Near Secret By Bush"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In an unpublicized, media-free, non-ceremony, President Bush <a href=\"http:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/news\/releases\/2007\/12\/20071231-4.html\" target=\"_blank\">secretly signed<\/a> a bill intended to bring an end to much of the secrecy that has surrounded this administration. The <a href=\"http:\/\/www.govtrack.us\/congress\/billtext.xpd?bill=s110-2488\" target=\"_blank\">OPEN Government Act<\/a> was passed by Congress with overwhelming majorities. But that was only after it had been <a href=\"http:\/\/www.citizen.org\/pressroom\/release.cfm?ID=2492\" target=\"_blank\">blocked for months<\/a> by a secret <em>&#8220;hold&#8221;<\/em> that was placed on it by Senator Jon Kyl (R-AZ), who was acting on behalf of Bush and former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.<\/p>\n<p>The OPEN Government Act is a positive step forward, enhancing the 41 year old Freedom of Information Act. Among other things, the Act will&#8230;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li> require the release of requested documents unless their disclosure would do actual harm<\/li>\n<li> bring government contractors under FOIA<\/li>\n<li> compel the government to respond to FOIA requests within 20 days of their receipt<\/li>\n<li> create a system by which citizens may track the progress of their requests<\/li>\n<li> establish a hot-line service for all federal agencies to cope with problems<\/li>\n<li> establish an ombudsman to help resolve disputes about non-disclosure<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>In addition it codifies the definition of a <em>&#8220;representative of the news media&#8221;<\/em> as&#8230;<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span style=\"color:#0d00d0;\">&#8220;&#8230;any person or entity that gathers information of potential interest to a segment of the public, uses its editorial skills to turn the raw materials into a distinct work, and distributes that work to an audience. In this clause, the term `news&#8217; means information that is about current events or that would be of current interest to the public.&#8221;<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>That is an admirably broad definition that would include much of the blogging and alternative media communities. With these changes the public has a much better chance of gaining access to documents that were produced in their name, and with their tax dollars. And there is a much higher likelihood that government agencies will be foiled in their attempts to keep vital information from being made public.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Update:<\/strong> Well, it only took 3 weeks for BushCo to pervert the intent of Congress and the just passed OPEN Government Act. The administration is attempting to <a href=\"http:\/\/thegate.nationaljournal.com\/2008\/01\/senators_wh_plans_to_eliminate.php\" target=\"_blank\">shift the funding<\/a> for the Act to the Department of Justice which has no facility to perform the duties enumerated by the Act, thus killing it. The matter is not, however, concluded as the bill&#8217;s authors will oppose this subterfuge and insist that the National Archives retain jurisdiction. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In an unpublicized, media-free, non-ceremony, President Bush secretly signed a bill intended to bring an end to much of the secrecy that has surrounded this administration. The OPEN Government Act was passed by Congress with overwhelming majorities. But that was only after it had been blocked for months by a secret &#8220;hold&#8221; that was placed [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[14,1],"tags":[169,167,168],"class_list":["post-734","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-free-press","category-general","tag-foia","tag-george-w-bush","tag-jon-kyl"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4Ijg-bQ","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":504,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=504","url_meta":{"origin":734,"position":0},"title":"Happy Birthday: Freedom of Information Act Is 41 Today","author":"Mark NC","date":"7\/4\/2007","format":false,"excerpt":"July 4, 1966, President Lyndon Johnson signed into law the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Its purpose was to ensure the public's right to access information from the federal government. For the first time, the government would bear the burden for certifying why requested information should not be released, and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Free Press&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Free Press","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=14"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":187,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=187","url_meta":{"origin":734,"position":1},"title":"Happy Birthday: Freedom of Information Act Is 40 Today","author":"Mark NC","date":"7\/4\/2006","format":false,"excerpt":"July 4, 1966, President Lyndon Johnson signed into law the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Its purpose was to ensure the public's right to access information from the federal government. For the first time, the government would bear the burden for certifying why requested information should not be released, and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Free Press&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Free Press","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=14"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":379,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=379","url_meta":{"origin":734,"position":2},"title":"Let The Sunshine In","author":"Mark NC","date":"3\/15\/2007","format":false,"excerpt":"For those who may have missed it, this is Sunshine Week. What is Sunshine Week? \"A national initiative to open a dialogue about the importance of open government and freedom of information. Participants include print, broadcast and online news media, civic groups, libraries, non-profits, schools and others interested in the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Free Press&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Free Press","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=14"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":105,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=105","url_meta":{"origin":734,"position":3},"title":"The Memory Hole Gets Deeper","author":"Mark NC","date":"2\/21\/2006","format":false,"excerpt":"The legacy of the Bush administration may turn out to be that its greatest contribution to American productivity is its unparalleled production of secrets. It has long been readily observed that BushCo wants nothing more than to keep its own affairs private while, ironically, digging more into the affairs of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Free Press&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Free Press","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=14"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1307,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=1307","url_meta":{"origin":734,"position":4},"title":"The Daily Show Defense","author":"Mark NC","date":"6\/21\/2009","format":false,"excerpt":"A new legal precedent has been introduced by the Obama Justice Department. If permitted by the court, defendants nationwide may have a powerful new tool to assert in pursuit of legal vindication. Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington filed a Freedom of Information Act request for documents containing statements\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;General&quot;","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=1"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1210,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=1210","url_meta":{"origin":734,"position":5},"title":"Fox Business Network Is On The Case","author":"Mark NC","date":"2\/26\/2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Last year the Fox Business Network filed a Freedom of Information Act request for Treasury Department documents related to the Toxic Assets Relief Program. After filing the request, FBN launched an advertising campaign promoting their tireless efforts on behalf of the American people. I have no problem with the FOIA\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Free Press&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Free Press","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=14"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/734","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=734"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/734\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=734"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=734"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=734"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}