Love says:
This is very disappointing for those had "hope" for "change" in the way the USTR does business.The texts are available to the Japanese government. They are available to the 27 member states of the European Union. They are available to the governments of Canada, Mexico, New Zealand, Australia. They are available to Morocco, and many other countries. They are available to "cleared" advisers (mostly well connected lobbyists) for the pharmaceutical, software, entertainment and publishing industries. But they are a secret from you, the public.
Today we received this letter from the White House, Office of the United States Trade Representative. Our FOIA request was denied on the grounds that the documents are "information that is properly classified in the interest of national security pursuant to Executive Order 12958."
Here is a link to a PDF of the denial of the FOIA request.
HK
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Transparency is a process. Just because the captain has been changed doesn't mean all players are using the new playbook yet.
ReplyDeleteI'm not surprised they haven't really understood the idea of transparent government yet. The European Parliament appeared to start to get it right earlier this month. Vivek Kundra's appointment in the Obama administration has the potential to be a game-changer.