Just like you-know-who! MCM
<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/06/16/obama-blocks-visitor-list_n_216109.html>Obama Blocks Visitor List Access, Echoing Bush The Huffington Post First Posted: 06-16-09 09:29 AM | Updated: 06-16-09 12:25 PM http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/06/16/obama-blocks-visitor-list_n_216109.html The Obama administration has denied requests from both reporters and government watchdogs to reveal the names of White House guests, echoing Bush administration policy. MSNBC.com reports that their attempt to get visitor logs was denied: The Obama administration is arguing that the White House visitor logs are presidential records -- not Secret Service agency records, which would be subject to the Freedom of Information Act. The administration ought to be able to hold secret meetings in the White House, "such as an elected official interviewing for an administration position or an ambassador coming for a discussion on issues that would affect international negotiations," said Obama spokesman Ben LaBolt. These same arguments, made by the Bush administration, were rejected twice by a federal judge. The visitor logs are created by the Secret Service and maintained by the Secret Service, U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth ruled in 2007 and again this January. CREW had requested records of visits to the Bush White House, as well as the residence of Vice President Dick Cheney, by leaders of Religious Right organizations. Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a nonpartisan watchdog focused on special interests, <http://citizensforethics.org/node/40129>was also rebuffed. CREW sought records of visits by top coal executives in an effort to learn the extent to which these individuals may have influenced the administration's energy policy. Taking the exact same position as the Bush administration, the Obama administration claimed the records are presidential, not agency records, and otherwise exempt in their entirety because of the possibility in some instances they could reveal information protected by the presidential communications privilege. In prior litigation U.S. District Court Judge Royce Lamberth agreed with CREW that the records are agency records that must be disclosed under the FOIA. The group is filing a complaint against the Department of Homeland Security. We are deeply disappointed," CREW attorney Anne L. Weismann told MSNBC, "that the Obama administration is following the same anti-transparency policy as the Bush administration when it comes to White House visitor records. Refusing to let the public know who visits the White House is not the action of a pro-transparency, pro-accountability administration." President Bush fought for years to keep White House visitor logs private, arguing that they should fall under the presidential communications privilege. In January of this year a judge <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/09/AR2009010903412.html>rejected that argument. Kim "We are the leaders we've been looking for." Grace Lee Boggs The Greatest Enemy of Democracy is Apathy <http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1102507602140&e=001uvO-e9I0Wgr7mnkzpX3OiL5SSoQdEoeuiID3Mgh0uojH9wR-OAKkExuleLTikYOmz6FB68nlUUAlXxAUZtn1hsnAXgqkprhpuQs-A-F5jXt1CUZYstlNwdRIjozarZzT3IzBjSVNIbio37q7914ozA==> From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Mark Crispin Miller Sent: Tuesday, June 16, 2009 12:48 PM To: [email protected] Subject: [MCM] CALL THE WHITE HOUSE, DoJ, ABOUT DON SIEGELMAN From Marilyn Noyes: I've been having a meltdown today because Chris Hedges' piece about the US economy on <http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20090614_the_american_empire_is_bankrupt/?ln>truthdig [read with caution] scares the hell out of me. I called the White House, because Obama said to push him, SO I'M PUSHING!!! I told the volunteer on the phone that I had five points to make. I said: Re-regulate the corporations; Make corporations pay their fair share of taxes; Break up monopolies; Stop supplying banks & insurance companies with bailout funds, and give them to the common people who will help reinvigorate our economy by recirculating the money. Then I realized that I had made only four points and said, "One more thing. I want justice for Don Siegelman." This woman (they won't give out their names) THANKED ME for remembering Don Siegelman. SHE thanked ME. This woman in Washington D.C. was thrilled that I cared about what happens to Don Siegelman. And whatever points I went on to make about Governor Siegelman, she acknowledged and validated. We need to save our economy because we don't want to live through another Great Depression. I am terrified of what that would mean for me personally, for those I care about, and for all us people of modest means. So let's lobby the White House to stand up against the corrupt Federal Reserve and the greedy corporate titans. Push the President. But don't forget to ask for justice for Don Siegelman. He has spent his public life working for the common good. We owe it to him to make our voices heard on his behalf. White House 202-456-1111; toll free number: 800-833-6354; E-mail: <http://www.whitehouse.gov>www.whitehouse.gov Attorney General Eric Holder 202.514.2001; fax: (202) 307-6777; E-mail: <mailto:[email protected]>[email protected] --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to Mark Crispin Miller's "News From Underground" newsgroup. To unsubscribe, send a blank email to [email protected] OR go to http://groups.google.com/group/newsfromunderground and click on the "Unsubscribe or change membership" link in the yellow bar at the top of the page, then click the "Unsubscribe" button on the next page. 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