Obama Promises Open Government

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September 22, 2008




excerpt from speech by Barack Obama today in Green Bay, Wisconsin: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/22/AR2008092201500_pf.html


"I'll make it absolutely clear that working in an Obama Administration is not about serving your former employer, your future employer, or your bank account - it's about serving your country. When you walk into my administration, you will not be able to work on regulations or contracts directly related to your former employer for two years. And when you leave, you will not be able to lobby my Administration - ever. I will also institute an absolute gift ban so that no registered lobbyist can curry favor with members of my administration based on how much they can spend on a fancy dinner.

I'll make our government open and transparent so that anyone can ensure that our business is the people's business. As Justice Louis Brandeis once said, sunlight is the greatest disinfectant. As President, I will make it impossible for Congressmen or lobbyists to slip pork-barrel projects or corporate welfare into laws when no one is looking because when I am president, meetings where laws are written will be more open to the public. No more secrecy.

When there is a bill that ends up on my desk as President, you will have five days to look online and find out what's in it before I sign it. When there are meetings between lobbyists and a government agency, we will put as many as possible online for every American to watch. When there is a tax bill being debated in Congress, you will know the names of the corporations that would benefit and how much money they would get. And we will put every corporate tax break and every pork-barrel project online for every American to see. You will know who asked for them and you can cast your vote accordingly."

[grannie4peace]

1. i just heard him talking about it-- wow i'm in :):):)

[Marie26]

2. That's not new

What's his plan for dealing w/the possible meltdown of our financial system? Why isn't he pointing fingers at the Wall Street greed, free-market run wild & lack of gov. regulation that set this in motion? Is it because his economic gurus are free-market fans themselves?

[Winterblues]

3. Not new? Is that the way Government was run under Bush*?

It sounds quite new to me and very desirable. And if you don't know what he has said about the bail out then you have not been paying attention..

[Marie26]

10. Not new for Obama

He's talked about open government, etc. throughout the primaries. And I know he's addressed the bailout specifically as a bad idea. But he's going to be our next President & I wish he had some sort of bold vision to offer here. And I REALLY wish Obama would speak more forefully about the Wall Street greed, lack of regulation & radical free-market policies that created this crisis. And I can't help thinking that he's being less forceful because Obama himself was funded by many Wall Street firms & has free-market gurus on his economic team. This is the time for some old-fashioned populism, not warmed-over centrism. Just IMO.

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11. I'll bet that he's considering his supporters in Congress as he moderates his rhetoric

. . . more than he's worried about upsetting whoever he's hired for his campaign.

I like his measured tone.

[Marie26]

12. It's so moderate, it's indistinguishable

from McCain. Honestly, I don't see much difference between the speeches both candidates have given on this bailout. AFAIK, there was nothing in that speech blaming Wall Street or calling for regulation; even McCain cited corruption more forcefully than Obama. And he's doing the FISA thing of opposing some parts while supporting the eventual plan. This plan is massively unpopular in Congress & w/the public, so IMO the lack of teeth here does have a lot to do w/Wall Street advisors & backers. It wouldn't surprise me if Obama didn't vote on the bill at all.

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5. It will be a welcome change

. . . and, if he sets it up as he's described it will be new.

I isolated the excerpt to focus on this specific promise . . . there are endless threads on the rest.

[Ashy Larry]

6. He talked about that also.

You can watch the whole speech here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HmTgpZ8X51I

He talks about Wall Street reform about 15 minutes in.

[MadrasT]

4. All I can say is

THAT is how government is supposed to work. :patriot:

[Trillo]

7. Until Bush got in office, the Internet was

making government more transparent, then WHAM, greater secrecy, terrorism!, shut down those information feeds. Put a official looking home page up stating what the department does, and PR news feed to message-force multiply the administration's talking points, and scrub the rest like mad.

Obama is such a good speaker. Quite inspiring.

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9. It was set up as a propaganda tool for the right wing

their communications team that set that up for the Bush White House, by the way, is now McCain's . . .

[Trillo]

8. Self-delete.

Double post not intended.