Is it just me- or is anyone else starting to feel 'had'?
Covering up and not prosecuting the torture scandal?
Going back on one of the most ringing campaign promises regarding transparency? And I get weekly requests to donate more money from the Obama campaign? Maybe I was just a dumb wide-eyed child.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31373407/ns/politics-white_house/
Today I read that President Obama's administration will not ask for caps for top executive pay for those corporations that did not receive a bail out from the American taxpayers. This alarms me since this lack of prudence on capping top executive pay helped greatly to provoke the financial calamity this country has suffered.
Corporations that received taxpayer bail-out money do have restrictions on them. This is good.
If there is to be no capping of top executive pay, then checks and balances must be set in place so that (1) corporate executives cannot write their own bonuses, perks, or pay; (2) complete transparency of corporate pay is instated; and (3) immediate accountability and penalties for the infraction of items (1) and (2) stated here are implemented.
Big corporations and big financial institutions must not be allowed to jeopardize the financial well being of this country or the American people ever again.
We often hear today that our government is doing too much too fast. Really?
We have an economic melt down that is costing hundreds of thousands of jobs every month putting us in an economic and financial crisis. We continue to debate the financial and climatic impact of an unsustainable energy policy that requires a transition to alternative, renewable energy. We have the year-to-year cost of health care crippling individuals, businesses and our governement (Medicare & Medicaid). We seem to lack a commitment to the fundamental requirement of an educational system that produces competent, world class citizens on a scale with other countries.
We need to know what our representation in Washington is doing about these critical issues. We need to let Washington know how we would like them to legislate on our behalf. We need to make every elected representative accountable for the actions they either have or have not taken on our behalf.
Become engaged - let Washington know where we stand.
Greetings fellow Obama Supporters!
I trust that you are all doing well, and that you continue to support PRESIDENT OBAMA in his efforts to deliver on the promises he made during the 2008 Campaign. For the latest examples, have a look at an outstanding example of transparency just released today: Data.gov. This and other resources are always available on the the White House website.
On this topic of transparency in our government, I'm sure you've heard about the new legislation passed by Congress to improve fairness for consumers with respect to Credit Card providers. I hope you are also aware that the NRA and their political bloc managed to insert an addendum to this bill that has absolutely NOTHING to do with consumer lending practices. The addendum was to reverse a previous legal statute that prohibits carrying concealed weapons within our National Parks.
THIS is an outrageous example of the same OLD political process, concealing the work of special interests and hijacking the legislative process to achieve a goal that would not be achievable in an "open" process. Our democratic process will only survive if we take an active role in OUR government. WE must hold our legislators accountable to be sure that our representative government is truly representing US!
Hi everybody,
This is the first time ever, I decided to start my own blog, and politics is the reason.
As a political scientist who has been following political developments in North America very closely in the past, I would like to forward the following statement:
Mr. President, please reconsider your decision not to publish evidence of torture committed by US troops. As transparency has been a major issue in your campaign, you have raised high expectations which you are about to disappoint badly. Why not set up a committee which has (truly) independent experts assess the material before maybe publishing at least parts of it. Anything else, I am afraid, would make your role in this appear like some cover-up activity.
Thank you for listening, and feel free to contact me anytime.
Best wishes,
Rikki
May 11, 2009President Barack H. ObamaThe White House1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.Washington, D.C. 20500
Dear President Obama:
Like millions of Americans we, the undersigned national security whistleblowers, are inspired by the bold and creative measures you have taken to put people back to work while at the same time re-engineering government to make it more responsive to people’s needs and more accountable to voters and taxpayers.
We are particularly heartened by your special relationship with America’s young people and by your call on them to make a significant contribution to their country through public service.
For those reasons and more, we write you today to ask that you take concrete steps in favor of national security whistleblowers that will help to restore time-honored values of openness, honesty and transparency to the federal service – and help those entrusted with the nation’s secrets to do their jobs in a manner consistent with the public interest.
A call to public service without needed whistleblower protection can only - at some future date - put at risk those most inspired by your leadership. We the undersigned feel we have a special bond with you and your Administration, given your long-standing support for federal employee free speech and against acts of bureaucratic retaliation against those who dare to “commit the truth.” We have been thrilled by your strong statement of support for whistleblowers, both during your presidential campaign and the transition:
Often the best source of information about waste, fraud, and abuse in government is an existing government employee committed to public integrity and willing to speak out. Such acts of courage and patriotism, which can sometimes save lives and often save taxpayer dollars, should be encouraged rather than stifled as they have been during the Bush administration. We need to empower federal employees as watchdogs of wrongdoing and partners in performance. Barack Obama will strengthen whistleblower laws to protect federal workers who expose waste, fraud, and abuse of authority in government. Obama will ensure that federal agencies expedite the process for reviewing whistleblower claims and whistleblowers have full access to courts and due process.
In the years before your presidency, each one of us undertook a largely solitary battle in favor of the values we share with you and against the kind of wrongdoing that resulted in many of the American people flocking to your standard last year. And in doing so, each one of us, together with our families, and sometimes our friends and colleagues, have paid a heavy price for our ethical dissent.
The steps we are asking that you take are a necessary remediation for past wrongs and would be a clear signal to those now heeding your call for service that by adhering to the standards you have so clearly embraced, they will not become – as we did not so long ago – victims of bureaucratic wrongdoers, who may still feel that they can get away with continued misdeeds.
As the federal government of necessity grows in response to the many crises that you have inherited from your predecessor, the lack of protection currently afforded to whistleblowers means that federal workers – the front line in the fight against fraud and waste, and best guarantee that taxpayer dollars are spent wisely and government works effectively – must either sit on the sidelines or, still forced to look over their shoulders for signs of reprisal, risk their careers.
Not only did the U.S. Office of Special Counsel fall into ridicule under the stewardship of George W. Bush appointee Scott Bloch. In the last nine years, the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB), charged with adjudicating federal worker claims, has found only one case of illegal retaliation in 56 decisions on the merits. And only three whistleblowers out of 212 prevailed in decisions on the merits in the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals since October 1994, when the current whistleblower “protection” law last was modified.
We the undersigned, national security whistleblowers from agencies across the federal government, know the special vulnerability people like us have in trying to do right by our principles and by the country we love. And we still do not have any real safeguards against retaliation. Instead, for protecting this nation, we and others face having our security clearances yanked, as well as a rosary of humiliation, demotions, threats, punitive polygraphs and myriad other intimidatory measures. To be sure, these are meant not only to destroy our careers – and in the process our physical and mental well being, our marriages and the tranquility necessary for nurturing our families in a wholesome environment. They also serve as a warning to others – that the price is high, too high, and the possibility for real vindication remote. Even if Inspectors General, Congressional committees, the reputable news media, or other outside groups are fully able to corroborate our complaints, wrongdoers are mostly allowed to retain their posts - and many even receive promotions.
For all that you have accomplished in little more than 100 days in office, we are sure you would agree that ensuring true transparency and accountability means the enforcement of a zero-tolerance policy for repression and retaliation, and the guaranteeing of the legal rights of every federal employee.
We urgently need a law to protect national security whistleblowers from retaliation, including those in agencies where even paper protections do not exist. We ask you to make one of your highest priorities support for whistleblower protection legislation that would end our second-class status compared to that of all other federal employees, contractors, and private sector workers who report threats to public health and safety, violations of laws or regulations, or waste, fraud and mismanagement. We also ask that you seek the criminalization of bureaucratic retaliation against whistleblowers, whose only “crime” is the exercise of their employee free speech rights for the common good.
Finally, we respectfully request that for those of us who have lost jobs, reputations and significant professional opportunities because we stood fast in favor of the principles you maintained even before you announced your presidential candidacy, consideration be given to “making us whole” once again. In giving us the opportunity to restore our often shattered lives, others will know that better times are in store for people who tell truth to power on behalf of the American people.
With warmest best wishes to your and to your family, we remain,
Martin Edwin Andersen, Former senior advisor for policy planning at the Department of Justice’s Criminal Division; Winner of the U.S. Office of Special Counsel’s 2001 “Public Servant Award”
Mark Danielson, Department of Energy SRT whistleblower
Michael DeKort, Former Lockheed Martin program manager/systems engineer; exposed waste, fraud and abuse on Coast Guard Deepwater program and major security/safety issues
Bogdan Dzakovic, Aviation Security whistleblower regarding the 9-11 attacks, as well as current issues within the Transportation Security Administration
Richard E. Hoskins II, Formerly of the Federal Air Marshal Service; Only Non-Air Marshal to report corrupt behavior and violations of veterans rights to the Office of Special Counsel and Congress
Robert J. MacLean, Former Federal Air Marshal, U.S. Department of Homeland Security/National whistleblower liaison, Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association (FLEOA)
Spencer A. Pickard, Federal Air Marshal, U.S. Department of Homeland Security
Coleen Rowley, Retired FBI Agent (retired 2004) and former Minneapolis FBI Division Legal Counsel
Craig R. Sawyer, Former Tier-1 level U.S. Navy SEAL Operator, decorated for "Heroic Service" in combat; "Original 33" Air Marshal and whistleblower, as an ATSAIC (manager) in the Federal Air Marshal Service, against gross mismanagement and retaliation.
Lt. Eric N. Shine, Graduate of the United States Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point [1991]; Federal maritime engineering watch officer
George R. Taylor, U.S. Department of Homeland Security/Federal Air Marshal Service
Frank Terreri, Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association director of labor relations; FLEOA Federal Air Marshal Agency President
Russell D. Tice, Former intelligence analyst and capabilities operations officer for Special Access Programs (SAP) Information Warfare, National Security Agency (NSA)
(Non-National Security Whistleblower Category)
Peter D. Nesbitt, FAA Whistleblower Alliance
I hope that people latch on to this blog, for it will convey through my own eyes the ebb and flow of news and impact as it happens.
And I hope that the same sort of casuallness can be expected from a reader of this blog as anyone browsing the headlines -- but I try to put it all together.
THE WHITE HOUSEOffice of the Press Secretary_____________________________________January 21, 2009MEMORANDUM FOR THE HEADS OF EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIESSUBJECT: Transparency and Open GovernmentMy Administration is committed to creating an unprecedented level of openness in Government. We will work together to ensure the public trust and establish a system of transparency, public participation, and collaboration. Openness will strengthen our democracy and promote efficiency and effectiveness in Government.Government should be transparent. Transparency promotes accountability and provides information for citizens about what their Government is doing. Information maintained by the Federal Government is a national asset. My Administration will take appropriate action, consistent with law and policy, to disclose information rapidly in forms that the public can readily find and use. Executive departments and agencies should harness new technologies to put information about their operations and decisions online and readily available to the public. Executive departments and agencies should also solicit public feedback to identify information of greatest use to the public.Government should be participatory. Pubic engagement enhances the Government's effectiveness and improves the quality of its decisions. Knowledge is widely dispersed in society, and public officials benefit from having access to that dispersed knowledge. Executive departments and agencies should offer Americans increased opportunities to participate in policymaking and to provide their Government with the benefits of their collective expertise and information. Executive departments and agencies should also solicit public input on how we can increase and improve opportunities for public participation in Government.Government should be collaborative. Collaboration actively engages Americans in the work of their Government. Executive departments and agencies should use innovative tools, methods, and systems to cooperate among themselves, across all levels of Government, and with nonprofit organizations, businesses, and individuals in the private sector. Executive departments and agencies should solicit public feedback to assess and improve their level of collaboration and to identify new opportunities for cooperation.I direct the Chief Technology Officer, in coordination with the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the Administrator of General Services, to coordinate the development by appropriate executive departments and agencies, within 120 days, of recommendations for an Open Government Directive, to be issued by the Director of OMB, that instructs executive departments and agencies to take specific actions implementing the pinciples set forth in this memorandum. The independent agencies should comply with the Open Government Directive.This memorandum is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by a party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.This memorandum shall be published in the Federal Register.BARACK OBAMA# # #
source: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1460623847
also see THE WHITE HOUSEhttp://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/TransparencyandOpenGovernment/
New PIC Internet Tool Underscores Unmatched Commitment to TransparencyCommittee Website Features a Searchable, Virtually Real-Time Database of Donors and Bundlers
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, in keeping with President-elect Obama's commitment to changing the way business is done in Washington, the Presidential Inaugural Committee (PIC) announced unprecedented standards of transparency in the public reporting of donors to a presidential inaugural committee.
"The disclosure guidelines we've released today set a new standard for openness for a Presidential Inaugural Committee," said John W. Rogers, Jr., Co-Chair of the 2009 Presidential Inaugural Committee. "This tool demonstrates the new administration's commitment to changing business-as-usual in Washington, DC."
Co-Chair Penny Pritzker added that, "From the beginning, we've said we're going to plan the most open and accessible inauguration in history and that includes using 21st century technology to give the American people access to information about donors to our committee."For the first time, an inaugural committee's donor disclosure efforts will include a searchable, sortable, virtually real-time database of donors, available on the PIC website. Any citizen will be able to search for and sort donors who give more than $200 by name, employer, or hometown (city, state and zip code). Information on donors and donations will be updated regularly, with information on each new donation over $200 appearing online within 48 hours of its receipt. The PIC website also includes, for the first time, information on donors who bundle contributions for the inaugural committee, including the amount they have bundled, which will be capped at $300,000 for individual bundlers.The measures announced today are more stringent than federal law or the Federal Election Commission require. Under current law, an inaugural committee is not required to report donors until 90 days after the Inauguration, nor are donors to an inaugural committee required to disclose their employer when making a donation. These new guidelines arrive on top of previously announced and unprecedented limitations on the PIC's fundraising policies. Unlike previous inaugural committees, the 2009 PIC will not accept contributions from corporations, political action committees, labor unions, current federally-registered lobbyists, non-U.S. citizens and registered foreign agents and will not accept individual contributions in excess of $50,000. Current law does not restrict the size of donations, which in past inaugurations have reached as high as $250,000.The new database is available to the general public at pic2009.org/donors.For the latest information on the 2009 Presidential Inauguration, please visit pic2009.org.
Contact: PIC Communications Office202.203.1700
Source: barackobama.com
Dear Obamanation, Everyday, we meet with organizations that present ideas for the Transition and the incoming Obama-Biden Administration. In past transitions, meetings like this have been held behind closed doors. Not anymore. Today, every Obama-Biden Transition staff member received a MEMO outlining the "Seat at the Table" Transparency Policy.The policy is pretty simple: the people and groups we're meeting with, the subjects of the meetings, and any documents shared in the meetings will now be made available on CHANGE.GOV. Most importantly, the American public can weigh in with comments or their own materials. WATCH YOUR 'SEAT AT THE TABLE' VIDEO
This is our latest step toward a more transparent and accessible Transition. We look forward to benefitting from the many more voices that will now be a part of the decision-making process.Thank you, John D Podesta, Co-chairThe Obama-Biden Transition Project
TRANSPARENT ADMINISTRATION - EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY
delivery method: my.barackobama.com
Most agencies struggle with getting through the IT Acquisition Process and fail over 80% of the time, costing the tax payer over $15Billion per year. These failures can be attributed to multiple root causes including;
- Antiguated Architecture & Acquisition Processes designed prior to the E-Commerce revolution, which disenfranchise both the user and the small innovative companies
- Organizational Conflicts of Interest within the support contractors supporting the architecture and acquisition process.
- Lack of congressional support for those few honest brokers who are overwelmed by the FFRDCs and Federal System Integrators special interests.
- Lack of incentives or performance metrics that would help motivate govt Program Managers to change their focus from compliance to capability delivery. When a program fails in todays world, the PM gets more funds and the program is re-baselined.
Worse, the integrators are experiencing record profits while the govt experience record program failures. The good news is that some of our most patriotic leaders who have challenged the status quo are making progress, including efforts within the OSD BTA, AF CIO, and DIA. As the US Govt Info Technology Budget approaches $100Billion per year, we have a great opporunity to restart the US innovation engine if the barriers to entry can be overcome.
I hear a lot of talk about citizen participation and public engagement, such as enabling citizens to track government decision-making and comment on it.
I'd like to offer some useful distinctions between
I'm glad Allison Fine is critiquing Change.gov, (on techpresident) and I think she makes some good points. I know that some activists are frustrated that the Obama team hasn't shown the ground game leadership that was the power behind the campaign. I think it's way too early to criticize Team Obama, but not way too early to be floating and discussing ideas.
But here's my meta take on one of the most vocalized complaints I've been hearing: post-election Team Obama (they're not even in the White House yet, he hasn't even been inaugurated yet) has not built the 2-way bridge to everywhere and everyone is stranded on the shores of post-election chaos and confusion.
I don't see this and I think it's a myth being created for good press and/or to push one's own agenda. Activists & organizations exist by the hundreds, maybe the thousands, and they aren't waiting around for instructions from Change.gov. They're doing what activists do. I'm one of them. I'm very busy right now getting back to my regular feminist agenda after having put it on hold for 9 months while I was All Obama All the time. As a result of having joined the Obama community, I am more skilled, more connected, and more activist.
In my opinion, it will take some time before the Obama administration figures out how to build bridges with its grassroots base, but, folks, this is and will continue to be a bottom-up movement, and so should it always be. We, the people, must agitate for what we need, and we, the people, will continue to build our visibility, our agendas, and our collective voice. And we will then invite the O-administration to visit our table...or our tables.
Do I hope that the O-administration will get the bridge thing right? I certainly do, but I'm not holding my breath. We're in an economic crisis. We're involved in two wars. Terrorists sent the world a new message yesterday in India. The unemployment rolls are swelling...in my view, Obama and team will be on ER duty for quite a while. In the meantime, my fellow feminists and I continue to expand the base, to network wildly, to get our agenda seen as a universally applicable set of needs as opposed to being marginalized as "women's issues."
The feminist movement never ended even though the mainstream press reported otherwise. We are not post-feminism. We are not post-patriarchy. There are staunch and stalwart feminists still at work, there are younger feminists emerging as leaders, and there are even younger feminists who are energizing the movement.
We're here, we've been here all along, and we're not waiting for the phone to ring.
Okay, so this is my first post. I'm just going to say a little bit about my background.
After college, I worked for 25 years in Washington D.C., most of that time as a government employee at five federal agencies. The last one was as a Management Auditor for a multi-billion dollar program at the U.S. Dept. of Energy.
During the Clinton-Gore administration, I was involved in the "reinventing government" reform effort. I created and moderated a listserv (i.e., email-group) that was the primary online source of information for over 1,000 subscribers (which was a lot in those pre-Website days).
I've read enough to know that Mr. Obama want to resurrect/continue that effort to reform government to "work better and cost less". So I am particularly interested in connecting with people who share that same interest.
Take a look at this: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aatlky_cH.tY&refer=worldwide
I think WE ARE ENTITLED TO KNOW ABOUT $2 TRILLION!!
EMK
