The Glade 4.0

Except there were fewer requests.

47,395 in 12 months for Bush (That Secretive Liar!)
70,779 in 9 months for Obama (The Champion of Transparency!)

Now that I think about it, I guess there's really no surprises here.

FOIA in 2009: Waiting for Freedom of Information Less, Getting More

The 29 largest agencies responsible for handling 97 percent of all federal FOIA requests reported more releases, faster responses overall, but longer waits for agencies to resolve disputes. Appeals resulted in more disclosures. Among dozens of smaller agencies we also analyzed, public interest in information about banking and oversight of the financial sector drove up requests to the FDIC and Federal Reserve; neither could keep up.

This analysis by the Sunshine in Government Initiative compares what 29 agencies reported in 2009 and 2008 and shows slow but significant improvements in the way agencies handle implement the country's main open government law and paints a unique portrait of the federal government's responses to FOIA requests.

Washington, DC, March 15, 2010 - Despite President Barack Obama's and Attorney General Eric Holder's 2009 memoranda calling for reform in government agencies' administration of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), the latest government-wide FOIA Audit released today by the National Security Archive at George Washington University found:

Ancient requests--as old as 18 years--still persist in the FOIA system.
A minority of agencies have responded to the Obama and Holder Memos with concrete changes in their FOIA practices.
Only four out of 28 agencies reporting--including Holder's own Justice Department--show releases up and denials down under the FOIA.
The Audit, which is based on data obtained from government agencies through FOIA requests filed by the Archive in September 2009, found that federal agencies had a wide range of responses to the Obama and Holder Memos. Some agencies (13 out of 90) implemented concrete changes in practice as a result of the memos; some (14 out of 90) have made changes in staff training; and still others (11 out of 90) have merely circulated and discussed the memos. The remaining agencies (52) either told the Archive that they have no records that demonstrate how they implemented the Obama and Holder Memos or did not respond at all to the FOIA request.

The report also shows several agencies have severe backlogs in processing FOIA requests, with some requests as old as 18 years. Presidential Libraries are facing some of the greatest challenges processing old requests--the libraries for Presidents Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, and Bill Clinton all have requests pending from the first year they began accepting records requests from the public.

National Security Archive Director Tom Blanton said the Audit makes it clear that too many government agencies are falling short of the goals set out by President Obama. "It is time for a 'No FOIA Request Left Behind' initiative," Blanton said.

Meredith Fuchs, the Archive's General Counsel, said the Audit shows the Obama Administration and federal agencies have their work cut out for them on the transparency front. "One year is too early to render a final judgment on how far President Obama can move the government toward openness, but this Audit finds that much more pressure and leadership will be necessary, both inside and outside the government," Fuchs said.

he really does not understand how.

Lack of experience isn't the same as lack of intent. I think he really wanted to make a difference, but just didn't know the turning radius of this particular aircraft carrier.

That's what I was saying.

Not all were agreeing...

You liked the picture though, didn't you.

I don't know. I only got the red x.

Oh, man, you gotta see it! Military pron! It'll get a bulge in the ol' forecastle, let me tell you!

http://forums.howwhatwhy.com/download.php?Number=249513

Oh, man, you gotta see it! Military pron! It'll get a bulge in the ol' forecastle, let me tell you!

http://forums.howwhatwhy.com/download.php?Number=249513

Access Forbidden Error.

I had more in mind empty campaign promises than malfeasance, myself... though DE's bureaucracy idea is the boring, more likely alternative. :p

I simply imagine a scenario wherein he makes these promises from behind a campaign podium in Illinois, then sees things a bit differently when he's behind the desk in the Oval Office. It's easy to make promises, and I'll even go so far as to say I believe he meant them at the time. But he could not have really known then what he does now, and I'm inclined to believe that is at least part of the reason for his falling through on that promise.

Maybe it's just that he had no idea of the degree of bureaucracy involved in actually effecting a very transparent government? I don't know if that is to his credit (one well-meaning man unable to stop the machine) or not (he's the friggin' head of the Executive Office -- make it happen!)

19 Yet she became more and more promiscuous as she recalled the days of her youth, when she was a prostitute in Egypt. 20 There she lusted after her lovers, whose genitals were like those of donkeys and whose emission was like that of horses.

Monty has never run a business, or invested himself in anything. Except maybe sword fighting, but for some reason he can't make the connection.

19 Yet she became more and more promiscuous as she recalled the days of her youth, when she was a prostitute in Egypt. 20 There she lusted after her lovers, whose genitals were like those of donkeys and whose emission was like that of horses.