Change.Gov - The "Opposite of Transparency"?

Monday, November 10, 2008 5:57 PM

Last week, we told you to check out Change.Gov, the President-elect's transition website, and to submit your thoughts on what you think they should do to jumpstart the economy.

Today, Americans for Tax Reform noticed that the content from their "Agenda" section disappeared. Here's the text of the press release ATR sent out:

Today Americans for Tax Reform (ATR) noted that the policy details for President-elect Barack Obama’s agenda are now missing from the Change.gov website.  Last week, Obama’s policy proposals were available to the public on an assortment of issues but as of 4:00 p.m. today they have gone missing from the “Agenda” portion of the website.

ATR requests Obama’s transition team again post his agenda for public review.  In the meantime, ATR invites all Americans to view the “Economy” portion of the original change.gov website, which was printed and scanned prior to being pulled by Obama:  http://www.atr.org/content/pdf/2008/nov/111008ot-Obama_website_missing_agenda.pdf

“This is the opposite of transparency and we would ask that Obama restore the deleted portion of the site,” said Grover Norquist, president of ATR.

Among the material deleted from http://change.gov/agenda/:

• “Enact a Windfall Profits Tax to Provide a $1,000 Emergency Energy Rebate to American Families” – This would increase the price of gasoline for every American.
  
• “Create a National Infrastructure Reinvestment Bank” – This would create Obama’s personal bailout piggy bank.
  
• “Ensure Freedom to Unionize” – This “Card Check” proposal would strip workers their right to a secret ballot when deciding to join a union or not.

(The above topics in quotation marks are from the printed out portion of www.change.gov/agenda/economy/  as of 1:23pm on 11/7/2008)
The “Agenda” tab on the Change.gov website now features only this nebulous passage:

 “President-Elect Obama and Vice President-Elect Biden have developed innovative approaches to challenge the status quo in Washington and to bring about the kind of change America needs.

The Obama Administration has a comprehensive and detailed agenda to carry out its policies. The principal priorities of the Obama Administration include: a plan to revive the economy, to fix our health care, education, and social security systems, to define a clear path to energyindependence, to end the war in Iraq responsibly and finish our mission in Afghanistan, and to work with our allies to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon, among many other domestic and foreign policy objectives.”

Stay tuned.

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