Obama’s Transition Team Not So Great On Transparency
Obama’s not as hope ‘n changey as some had hoped.
WASHINGTON—The Obama team, pledging the ‘‘most open and transparent transition in history,’’ gets an ‘‘A’’ for disclosing donors to the Jan. 20 inauguration and a ‘‘F’’ when it comes to revealing transition meetings with groups. Contrary to its own ‘‘seat at the table transparency policy,’’ meetings are not posted on a Web site.
I’m giving a ‘‘B’’ to the Obama transition report on staff contacts with Gov. Blagojevich. The report was a summary narrative released last week of an internal inquiry into Gov. Blagojevich’s selling-of-a-Senate seat scandal. While the Obama team deserves credit for disclosure—including that President-elect Barack Obama and incoming White House staffers Valerie Jarrett and Rahm Emanuel met with federal prosecutors—offering some notes or transcripts to support the conclusions would have been helpful.
I’m not willing to give Obama an “A” on fund raising until he and his Democrats allow the FEC to go over his general election fund raising numbers. There were countless indications of fraud and illegal contributions made to Obama’s campaign, but because he broke his promise and didn’t take public financing there is no automatic audit of his fund raising from the FEC. And with the Democrats in control of both houses of Congress and the White House, no FEC audit will be forthcoming either.
I’d also give Obama a much lower grade than a “B” on his Blago disclosure. I’m not nearly as impressed as some apparently are with a self-serving “summary narrative” issued by one of Obama’s staff lawyers which, naturally, exonerates Obama and all of his people.
Overall, Obama is proving to be nothing like a “change” candidate at all. His shady dealings and CYA approach to transparency are politics as usual, at best.
