posted on February 3rd, 2009
So I’m a bit late writing about how happy I am with the Obama administration. But here are the most notable accomplishments of Mr. Obama’s first 4 days in office, or thereabouts:
- Lobbying Reform: President Obama issued an executive order severely restricting the role lobbyists will play in his administration.
- Pay Freeze: I don’t know what effect freezing the pay of senior staffers will have, but the symbolic gesture has meaning.
- Freedom of Information Act: Mr. Obama reversed the Bush policy of resisting any FOIA request that could be resisted, favoring instead a policy of cooperating with every request: “In the face of doubt, openness prevails.” Also from in this memorandum: “The presumption of disclosure also means that agencies should take affirmative steps to make information public. They should not wait for specific requests from the public.” Dear God.
- Gitmo to be closed within one year.
- EPA: President Obama told the EPA that they were allowed to grant California’s waiver request (which would increase fuel economy standards in California, and therefore essentially for the entire nation) if they wanted to.
I have now officially forgiven Mr. Obama for telecom immunity, which is the main issue on which we disagreed until now. He was obviously correct; immunity (and wiretapping in general) was simply not an issue the American people understood well or cared about. I’m not convinced that taking a stand against unchecked government intrusion would have in fact jeopardized his ability to gain the White House, but I am definitely convinced that the era of Executive Supremacy is over, and the era of Open Government has begun. Hallelujah.
This rant filed under: Political
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