Group Seeks Web-Savvy, More Open Government

From 1998 up to when Ashcroft issued the memo, the federal government fully granted 51.3 percent of FOIA requests, according to the Coalition of Journalists for Open Government. Last year, the figure was 35.6 percent. Meanwhile, agencies are taking longer to respond to FOIA requests. From 1998 to 2002, 14.4 percent of FOIA requests were backlogged. By last year, the figure had jumped to 33 percent.

The report said the Obama administration should instruct all agencies not to wait for FOIA requests but to proactively publish records, searchable databases, policy information and performance data.

The report also recommended launching a searchable accountability database on the Internet that includes who gets money from the federal government, how it is spent, who is lobbying the executive branch and who is working in high-level government posts -- including their prior jobs and their employment after government service.

The group says it thinks Obama will be receptive to its recommendations, citing his advocacy of opening government to greater scrutiny and his co-sponsorship of a law that requires the Office of Management and Budget to put government contract information online. The site, http://www.usaspending.gov, was launched this year.

"That was a precedent, an example of the kind of change we need," Bass said. "With the click of a mouse, you can find out who is getting how much money and for what. We know what Obama is thinking. There's a clear sense that he believes in the Web 2.0 model of government. There's a clear sense he thinks there should be much more transparency."

Obama also ran a tech-savvy campaign, exploiting the Internet and new technologies in ways never before seen in national politics.

Among the group's other recommendations for Obama:

· Define public information as broadly as possible, including audio, photos and video.

· Rescind an executive order signed by President Bush that limits access to the records of former presidents.

· Make greater use of redaction to release partial records when the administration cannot provide full disclosure, as opposed to making entire documents unavailable.

· Make exemptions from disclosure as narrow and specific as possible.

To read the complete report, go to http://www.ombwatch.org.