Bush Regime Expands Totalitarian Secrecy At Increased Cost To Taxpayers
Bush's regime has expanded secrecy at taxpayers' expense.
This paranoiac, afraid of the people, defying accountability administration rules as a totalitarian, secretive government in the manner of the former Soviet Union.
As William Fisher reports at IPS News: "The administration of President George W. Bush continues to expand government secrecy across a broad array of agencies and actions -- and at greatly increased cost to taxpayers, according to a coalition of groups that promote greater transparency.
"Dr. Patrice McDermott, director of Open the Government, a watchdog group, told IPS, "The federal government under the Bush administration has shown its commitment to secrecy by where it has put its money -- more no-bid contracts, fewer government employees processing FOIA [Freedom of Information Act] requests, less on training on classification issues, and almost 200 dollars spent on keeping secrets to every dollar allocated to open them."
" 'Given our growing deficit, the next administration faces difficult choices in restoring accountable government,' he added.
"In its "Secrecy Report Card 2008," released Sep. 9, the group concluded that the Bush administration "exercised unprecedented levels not only of restriction of access to information about federal government's policies and decisions, but also of suppression of discussion of those policies and their underpinnings and sources."
"Open the Government is a Washington-based coalition of consumer and good government groups, librarians, environmentalists, labour, journalists, and others.
"Dr. Patrice McDermott, director of Open the Government, a watchdog group, told IPS, "The federal government under the Bush administration has shown its commitment to secrecy by where it has put its money -- more no-bid contracts, fewer government employees processing FOIA [Freedom of Information Act] requests, less on training on classification issues, and almost 200 dollars spent on keeping secrets to every dollar allocated to open them."
" 'Given our growing deficit, the next administration faces difficult choices in restoring accountable government,' he added.
"In its "Secrecy Report Card 2008," released Sep. 9, the group concluded that the Bush administration "exercised unprecedented levels not only of restriction of access to information about federal government's policies and decisions, but also of suppression of discussion of those policies and their underpinnings and sources."
"Open the Government is a Washington-based coalition of consumer and good government groups, librarians, environmentalists, labour, journalists, and others.
"The government spent 195 dollars maintaining the secrets already on the books for every one dollar it spent declassifying documents in 2007, a five percent increase in one year.
"At the same time, fewer pages were declassified than in 2006. The nation's 16 intelligence agencies, which account for a large segment of the declassification numbers, are excluded from the total
"At the same time, fewer pages were declassified than in 2006. The nation's 16 intelligence agencies, which account for a large segment of the declassification numbers, are excluded from the total
reported figures.
"The so-called "state secrets privilege" -- invoked only six times between 1953 and 1976 -- has been used by the Bush administration a reported 45 times, an average of 6.4 times per year in seven years. This is more than double the average (2.46) in the previous 24 years
"While the secretive Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court does not reveal much about its activities, the Department of Justice reported that, in 2007, the court approved 2,371 orders -- rejecting only three and approving two left over from the previous year. Since 2000, federal surveillance activity under the jurisdiction of the court has risen for the ninth year in a row -- more than doubling during the Bush administration."
Tell us again, Democrats who voted for the terrible FISA bill, why you trampled the Constitution and caved to the criminal Bush regime, given the above FISA court statistics.
And the article points out: "In addition, more than 25 percent (worth 114.2 billion dollars) of all contracts awarded by the federal government last year were not subject to open competition -- a proportion that has remained largely unchanged for the last eight years.
"Investigations by Congress and independent government agencies of the war in Iraq have revealed billions of dollars in no-bid contracts, covering everything from delivering food and water to U.S. troops to providing armed security for U.S. officials and visiting dignitaries. There have been widespread allegations of waste, fraud and abuse by contractors. Several have been convicted and prosecutions of others are pending.
"During 2007, government-wide, 64 percent of meetings of the Federal Advisory Committee were closed to the public. Excluding groups advising three agencies that historically have accounted for the majority of closed meetings, 15 percent of the remainder were closed -- a 24 percent increase over the number closed in 2006. These numbers do not reflect closed meetings of subcommittees and taskforces.
"The Federal Advisory Committee Act was passed in 1972 to ensure that advice by the various advisory committees formed over the years is objective and accessible to the public."
"Investigations by Congress and independent government agencies of the war in Iraq have revealed billions of dollars in no-bid contracts, covering everything from delivering food and water to U.S. troops to providing armed security for U.S. officials and visiting dignitaries. There have been widespread allegations of waste, fraud and abuse by contractors. Several have been convicted and prosecutions of others are pending.
"During 2007, government-wide, 64 percent of meetings of the Federal Advisory Committee were closed to the public. Excluding groups advising three agencies that historically have accounted for the majority of closed meetings, 15 percent of the remainder were closed -- a 24 percent increase over the number closed in 2006. These numbers do not reflect closed meetings of subcommittees and taskforces.
"The Federal Advisory Committee Act was passed in 1972 to ensure that advice by the various advisory committees formed over the years is objective and accessible to the public."
Under the Bush totalitarian regime, it's an Orwellian Alice in Wonderland world.
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