Monday, February 23, 2009

Transparency lost: White House demands DOD budget secrecy


I've lost count of the number of tall tales (a lesser man would call them "lies") candidate Obama told during his multi-year campaign for the presidency. Now the Department of Defense budget will be opaque to taxpayers, presumably just another step towards "transparency" and "openness" in the enlightened Obama administration. Defense News reports:

The Obama administration has directed defense officials to sign a pledge stating they will not share 2010 budget data with individuals outside the federal government... In an undated non-disclosure agreement obtained by Defense News, the administration tells defense officials that "strict confidentiality" must be practiced to ensure a "successful" and "proper" 2010 defense budget process.

...The Pentagon and Office of Management and Budget have agreed on a fiscal 2010 defense budget top line figure of $537 billion. That level is nearly $50 billion lower than the $585 billion defense plan created during the final months of the Bush administration...

The pledge covers any data about the 2010 budget, including: "planning, programming and budgeting system documents and databases, and any other information" that concerns the administration's internal discussions about "the nature and amounts of the president's budget for fiscal year 2010, and any supplemental budget request during the current fiscal year..."

I don't know about you, but I've about reached my four-year quota of hope and change.


Hat tips: Atlas and Gary.

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