When President Obama took office, he immediately promised to have the most transparent administration in history. In many important ways, he has betrayed that promise. But in one area — spending — the stimulus bill he pushed through could have a long-term effect of vastly increased transparency and accountability. Ryan Holywell explains why:

On the very first day of his administration, President Obama promised the country that he would be the most transparent administration ever and issued an executive order telling all federal agencies to be more responsive to Freedom of Information Act requests and to treat maximum transparency as the default answer. All of that has turned …

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This is absolutely bizarre. The Department of Homeland Security says it is an invasion of privacy to publish the office phone numbers of their public information officers — you know, the people they designate to answer questions for the public and the press.