Imagine that.
You don't have to. It's true:
So much for transparency.
Under a little-noticed provision of the recently passed financial-reform legislation, the Securities and Exchange Commission no longer has to comply with virtually all requests for information releases from the public, including those filed under the Freedom of Information Act.
The law, signed last week by President Obama, exempts the SEC from disclosing records or information derived from "surveillance, risk assessments, or other regulatory and oversight activities." Given that the SEC is a regulatory body, the provision covers almost every action by the agency, lawyers say. Congress and federal agencies can request information, but the public cannot.
That argument comes despite the President saying that one of the cornerstones of the sweeping new legislation was more transparent financial markets. Indeed, in touting the new law, Obama specifically said it would “increase transparency in financial dealings."
Criticism of the provision has been swift. “It allows the SEC to block the public’s access to virtually all SEC records,” said Gary Aguirre, a former SEC staff attorney-turned-whistleblower who had accused the agency of thwarting an investigation into hedge fund Pequot Asset Management in 2005. “It permits the SEC to promulgate its own rules and regulations regarding the disclosure of records without getting the approval of the Office of Management and Budget, which typically applies to all federal agencies.”
1984-Orwell-
ReplyDeleteC-CS
I was sickened but not surprised. I wonder how long it will be before we find out the actual damage done by these thousands and thousands of pages of legislation we've under the current administration. It isn't just a matter of finding one line in thousands of pages (which almost everyone who voted on said bills never actually read), but then the interpretation of said line by a respective government agency. In many instances, we don't even see the actual rules, it just gives authority to individuals to make rules...
ReplyDeleteGah!
ReplyDeleteHow can legislation be exempt from the Freedom of Information Act?
Orwellian, indeed.
How can legislation be exempt? Cuz, Obama, Pelosi, and Reid say it can. That's why.
ReplyDeleteThis is an emergency, don't you know?
ReplyDeleteThis is an emergency, don't you know?
ReplyDeleteStraight out of Alinsky.