Senators say White House plans to eliminate special FOIA office

[slipslidingaway]

http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/?q=node/30511

"Less than a month after President Bush signed legislation overhauling the Freedom of Information Act, the measure's main Senate backers are accusing the White House of planning to scuttle a special FOIA office in violation of the law.

An aide to Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., said Office of Management and Budget officials have told committee staff that they plan in the president's fiscal 2009 budget to park within the Justice Department all the funding authorized by the new law for a Government Information Services Office within the National Archives and Records Administration...

In a floor speech Wednesday, Leahy called the White House's prospective plans illegal. "Such a move is not only contrary to the express intent of the Congress, but it is also contrary to the very purpose of this legislation, to ensure the timely and fair resolution of Americans' FOIA requests," he said. Though creation of the office is one of a series of steps mandated by the legislation, Leahy indicated it is a key component of the bill...

An OMB spokesman said Thursday he could not comment on whether the administration has the authority to move the money to Justice, because doing so would require speculating about the budget before its Feb. 4 unveiling. "This will be answered when the budget is released," he said..."

[Lint Head]

1. This is another act of a fascist state.

:dem:

[slipslidingaway]

3. Maybe they just want to protect people from too much

information.

:sarcasm:

[Eric J in MN]

2. Another year of this sliminess and illegality...

...unless the Republican candidate wins, in which case we'll have at least 5 more years of this sliminess and illegality.

[slipslidingaway]

4. Who knows what these people will do in the next year and what

information will be kept from the American people.

I'm reminded of this event and the role our country played.

:(

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=2777007&mesg_id=2778733

"We now know, actually, that a Congressman from Minnesota, Donald Fraser, had actually attempted to declassify the memo, the so-called Smoking Gun Memo, the transcript of General Suharto’s conversation with Gerald Ford, in December of 1975. Congressman Fraser actually tried to declassify this in document in 1978 during the Suharto adm--"