OK, Joe first. Stuff covered in Lieberman's statement on the
Bush Wall of Secrecy include:
1. Ashcroft Encouraged Agencies to Deny FOIA Requests
2. Bush Restricted Access to Presidential Documents
3. Bush Terminated or Altered Government Reports Not Favorable to the Administration
4. Bush Stopped Publishing Key Report Detailing Cuts in Federal Funding to States
5. Bush Discontinued a Labor Department Program that Tracked Mass Layoffs
6. White House Misled Public on Health Effects of September 11th Attacks in Manhattan
7. White House Altered Report on the State of the EnvironmentLord, it just goes on and on... You can read this nice article about it, too, from the
San Francisco Gate.
Lieberman said he would install a systematic review of the new powers under the Patriot Act to determine their impact on civil liberties before supporting their extension.
Lieberman would direct the Justice and Homeland Security departments to disclose as much information as possible about how they are using the Patriot Act and about those arrested and detained in the war on terrorism.
He said he would reverse Bush's executive order on presidential records, which blocked the release of non-classified records from past presidential administrations.
Now for my boy Wesley. Clark's policy (delivered with
a much better speech) was laid outwith the usual Clark punch:
...This was just the beginning. In November 2001, President Bush signed an Executive Order making it harder to obtain information under the Freedom of Information Act - a thirty year-old law that protects the public's right to know. Now, let's be clear. What he was trying to hide are not classified military records. They are not top secret national security documents. They are reports and memoranda on topics ranging from public health to environmental hazards.
That same month, to keep former President Bush's papers sealed, President Bush reversed the long-held practice of opening records of former presidents twelve years after the end of their term. And President Bush has extended the length of time that all classified documents are withheld from the American public.
Most recently, President Bush has refused to turn over all relevant White House, State Department, CIA, and National Security Council records to the September 11th Investigative Commission - keeping the Commission and the American people from getting to the truth about what happened that day.
Yet, within 24 hours after former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill criticized the President's leadership, the Bush Administration was calling for an investigation.