Quote:
Originally Posted by mcgeedo
So shredding documents is a clear and present trend away from transparency and accountability, is it? Paranoid much? Ever read anything about the massive increase in privacy laws? HIPPA? Would you make an equally paranoid conclusion from the vast increase in documents that the government keeps?
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The fact is, we dont know, because of new and excessive Bush restrictions on FOIA (recently overturned, but still backlogged) and PRA, among other laws.
And yes, I am familiar with HIPPA and its requirement re: record keeping of
electronic health datafiles. Do you have any evidence that the 600 percent increase in shredding is due, in any measurable way, to HIPAA compliance?
And how about those millions of WH e-mails "accidentally" lost from the time leading up to the invasion of Iraq, the leak of Plame, the firing of the US attorneys, etc. in violation of WH administrative procedures? Or the excessive use of "state secret" designations to withhold "sensitive", but
unclassified information from the public.
As to ace's core argument....we have more access to federal government data than 50 years ago...100 years ago...200 years ago? That is irrelevant. What is relevant is that by any objective measure, the federal government is less open and transparent than it was eight years ago!