Blog Posts and Analysis / Open, Accountable Government

Secrecy Report Card Gives Modest Grades to Bush and Obama

On Sept. 8, OpenTheGovernment.org, a coalition of 70 open government advocates, released its sixth annual Secrecy Report Card. Focusing on 2008, the report card serves primarily as a final assessment of the Bush administration but also addresses early actions of the Obama administration. Overall, the report notes a decrease in secrecy at the end of the Bush years but concludes that greater efforts are needed to increase federal transparency.

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EPA Pushing Data Out to the Public

The Obama administration has made government transparency a high priority in its early months, and of all the federal agencies, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) appears to be making the quickest progress in turning rhetoric into action. Across a range of issues, the EPA is taking proactive steps to improve transparency, collecting and releasing to the public important environmental data needed to protect the environment and public health.


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October Surprise: Looming Recovery Act Data Quality Issues

At the end of October, the first round of recipient reporting for the Recovery Act will be released on Recovery.gov. This reporting is a crucial step in Recovery Act oversight and transparency, but there is no guarantee that the reporting process will proceed smoothly. Come October, the diffusion of responsibility for Recovery Act data quality could result in a great deal of confusion, as a flood of bad data could stymie the administration’s efforts at Recovery Act transparency.

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CDC Attempts to Track Health and Pollution Connections

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently launched a website to allow the public to track environmental and public health information. The new National Environmental Public Health Tracking Network is intended to be a dynamic Web-based tool for tracking and reporting environmental hazards and the health problems that may be related to them. The tracking network offers information on several environmental hazards and health conditions, such as asthma, cancer, and certain air and water contaminants.

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The Rise of Gov 2.0

At the close of President Obama’s first 200 days in office, the administration has demonstrated a willingness to experiment with new technologies and their potential role in making government more participatory and accountable. New e-government tools have been deployed to keep track of government spending, gather public input on policymaking, and convey the status of government projects. These tools may hold the potential to give Main Street the same voice in government traditionally reserved for K Street.

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Court Rules that CIA Committed Fraud in State Secrets Case

On July 20, a federal district court judge ruled that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) committed fraud while attempting to get a fifteen-year-old case dismissed on state secrets grounds.






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TARP IG Reports Underscore Need for Better Transparency in Financial Bailout

Two recent reports by the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (SIGTARP), Neil Barofsky, provide useful information and stand in sharp contrast to the Treasury Department's attempt to provide comparable transparency for the program, also known as TARP. One report clearly presents existing TARP information, while the other supplies new data that Treasury should be providing. In both cases, the reports highlight changes Treasury should make to how it conducts and presents TARP data.

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