Sorry for the short diary but since the number of Obama broken promises posts pop up, and this was a charge previously leveled, I was suprised I didn't see it.
http://news.yahoo.com/...
President Obama came out to say today that he will indeed be the first president in history to release all of the White House visitors logs for his administration, reversing the Bush era of lawsuits to keep this information private. This is an important declaration for those of us who like to know who visits the house that we pay for, and are for more open access to how our government works. I would like to commend Obama for taking his time to enact this, as there must have been reasons other presidents did not release these documents. It sounds like (my speculation) after a full review, he decided it was prudent for them to be made public.
Please note this will be a key tool in knowing which Health Care executives are being hosted, or any corporate interests for the matter, better knowing who has the presidents ear so we can fight for our ideals when necessary. This is how government should operate. It starts Sept. 15th, but records prior to that will be released retroactively.
Sorry again for the sorry excuse for a diary, but this was at one time a key battle for us on the left.
UPDATE 1:
The presidents quote:
"For the first time in history, records of White House visitors will be made available to the public on an ongoing basis," Obama said in a statement. "We will achieve our goal of making this administration the most open and transparent administration in history not only by opening the doors of the White House to more Americans, but by shining a light on the business conducted inside. Americans have a right to know whose voices are being heard in the policymaking process."
also, the previous lawsuits regarding this issue have been resolved according to the White House Blog:
The Administration has also agreed with Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics (CREW) to settle four pending cases requesting specific White House visitor access records, including those dating from the Bush administration (read the transmittal letter here). We have provided CREW with the records relating to their requests, which are here:
Also would like to mention that confidential visits (appointments and national security) will be exempt.