Watchdogs say Obama has not done enough on government transparency

Government reform groups say President Barack Obama has fallen short on several of his promises to make the White House more ethical and transparent. Overall, the groups gave President Obama a decent record on improving transparency, particularly compared to past administrations. Still, given the promises in 2008, there’s disappointment President Obama has not done more.

“This is the first administration that has made a very concerted effort to enhance transparency of most aspects of the governmental process,” said Craig Holman, a government affairs lobbyist for Public Citizen. “We’ve seen a great deal accomplished under the Obama administration, but there has been somewhat of a letdown for those of us in the reform community because we want more.” Holman lauded the website the administration created to track how taxpayer dollars are spent under the bailout of banks and other financial institutions. He also praised the decision to disclose the names of most visitors to the White House, as well as the ban on gifts to executive branch employees. But on issues of campaign finance transparency and the promise of creating a centralized and searchable public database for all government data, watchdog groups say they’ve been starkly disappointed. “I have to give them the benefit of the doubt a little bit,” said Meredith McGehee, the Campaign Legal Center’s policy director. “There was just so many things on their plate, so many competing priorities, and it’s hard to make it all happen. That’s why I’d give them a B- on transparency. They got a good start, but it’s kind of a mile wide and an inch deep,” McGehee said. Some experts on ethics say the steps Obama has taken have been watered down in implementation. (Dec 25)