In a guest column on salemnews.com today, Bloomberg News editor-in-chief Matthew Winkler reminds us of the promises of the early days of the Obama administration:
“Openness will strengthen our democracy and promote efficiency and effectiveness in government,” Barack Obama wrote in a letter to all agency and department heads on his second day as president. “Transparency promotes accountability” because “information maintained by the federal government is a national asset,’’ he said. “My administration is committed to creating an unprecedented level of openness in government.”
Well, it wasn’t until Bloomberg went to court that the Federal Reserve was told it needed to hand over details of the taxpayer-funded $2 trillion bank rescue plan. That deserves repeating: Taxpayer-funded, $2 trillion.
Winkler writes:
Since its creation in 1913, the Fed has been the watchdog over our money. Instead of informing us as it should, the Fed is running interference for the banks that borrowed our money and insists to a federal judge that the public shouldn’t worry about what the Fed does with our billions of dollars. The Fed is saying we can’t handle the truth.
The law doesn’t allow the government to get away with secrecy based on a mere claim that some sort of damage would result. Trust in the official line isn’t enough. This we learned during the Watergate scandal, which prompted sunshine laws.
The Fed, of course, is considering an appeal, which would involve Solicitor General Elena Kagan, who reports to the president through U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder. We agree with Winkler that it’s time for the Obama administration to live up to its promise of a new era of openness in government.
