Thread: Dead wrong on this issue

By PETE YOST, Associated Press Writer 2 hours, 24 minutes ago


WASHINGTON - A newly disclosed effort to keep Vice President Dick Cheney's visitor records secret is the latest White House push to make sure the public doesn't learn who has been meeting with top officials in the Bush administration.

Over the past year, lawyers for President Bush and Cheney have directed the Secret Service to maintain the confidentiality of visitor entry and exit logs, declaring them to be presidential records, exempt from a law requiring their disclosure to whoever asks to see them.
The drive to keep the logs secret, the administration says, is essential to assuring that the president and vice president receive candid advice to carry out their duties.

Cabinet officers often don't want to give up their meeting calendars to journalists. They have no choice under the Freedom of Information Act, which provides public access to some records kept by federal agencies.
But the FOIA disclosure law, which doesn't apply to Congress, also doesn't apply to presidential records.

The Bush administration has exploited that difference, triggering a battle in the courts. The administration is seeking dismissal of two lawsuits by a private group, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, demanding Secret Service visitor logs.

In trying to get the cases thrown out, the Justice Department has filed documents in court outlining a behind-the-scenes debate over whether Secret Service records are subject to public disclosure. The discussions date back at least to the administration of President Bush's father and involve the Justice Department and the National Archives as well as the White House and the Secret Service.

White House follows new path to secrecy - Yahoo! News

Sorry, but the administration is wrong again- and is pursuing a policy of keeping the public from knowing whom is visiting the public officials of this administration. They are public employees and have no reasonable expectation of privacy. More to the point- if you're doing nothing wrong, why do you need to keep these logs from disclosure? This administration has been more secretive than any preceeding administration, other than the Nixon administration. They have also been more, consistently, wrong on just about every issue than any other administration in recent history. That being the case it should be obvious that the records should be disclosed.

This only goes one way- the Dems will keep it when they're in power and the Republicans won't be able to criticize it.

They have made damn well sure that we know as little about what they do as possible and that they know as much about what we do as possible.

I believe that is ass backwards.

I suspect that the founding fathers would agree.

Oh come on...

Did anyone expect anything else from the criminals in the White House?

It begs the question: Why do they need to keep this type of thing from their bosses (the American Public). If there's nothing wrong going on, why not release the logs? Are they afraid that the public will see that big oil and big pharm have big access? We already have a pretty good indication that policy is set for their benefit- so it wouldn't exactly be a surprise...

If they aren't doing anything wrong than an invasion of privacy shouldn't bother them. Isn't that what they keep trying to tell us with regard to the Patriot Act?

Oh shoot you all, aren't you making much todo about nothing? I mean it's not like anyone cared about the visitors during Clinton's terms. errrrmmm or did they?

The Lincoln Bedroom Guest List
WASHINGTON (AllPolitics, Feb. 25) -- Here's the full list of most of those who have stayed in the Lincoln Bedroom since President Bill Clinton took office, courtesy of The Associated Press. Not included are the president's relatives and their guests -- 35 in all -- and First Daughter Chelsea Clinton's guests -- 72 total. AllPolitics - Guest List - Feb. 25, 1997

Originally Posted by Vortex

Oh shoot you all, aren't you making much todo about nothing? I mean it's not like anyone cared about the visitors during Clinton's terms. errrrmmm or did they?

The thing that gets me is that they are public employees conducting business in a public building (yes, their residences are OWNED by the government) and they think we have no right to know. In fact, they have no reasonable expectation of privacy.

Originally Posted by johnlocke

The thing that gets me is that they are public employees conducting business in a public building (yes, their residences are OWNED by the government) and they think we have no right to know. In fact, they have no reasonable expectation of privacy.

Oh, I agree with you 100%. The Clinton's guest list in the residence was made public, why not the guest list to our public offices which they inhabit during their term?