Domain: propublica.org
Stories and comments across the archive that link to propublica.org.
Comments · 202
-
links to the memos and order
I don't think the linked article provides links directly to the memos, but propublica did, so here they are:
Memo on Transparency and Open Government
Memo on the Freedom of Information Act
And here's the Executive Order on Presidential Records, which makes clear that claims of secrecy by the former president and his subordinates will be evaluated, and accepted or rejected, by the current president.
-
Re:Cultural Differences
I was thinking more of articles like this one: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A24468-2005Feb14.html I read a great article on the subject a few weeks ago, that detailed how much of the several trillion dollars have been sunk into Iraq have been scammed by big military contractors, but alas I can't find it again. If I recall correctly it was estimated at around 20% of those trillions - so billions of dollars. I could easily be wrong though as I don't have the article to hand and one tends to inflate values in memory. Heres another article as well: http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20050930/news_lz1e30cray.html And another: http://www.propublica.org/scandal/military-contractor-abuse/ Companies like Haliburton and Blackwater (and dozens more) are making money hand over fist, screwing the US public out of those dollars, and they have a strong lobby support and friends in government (who will no doubt retire as members of the BOD for these companies by way of thanks). Its a *huge* scam, and the US public are the victims in this. That's why you are at war in Iraq currently. Its also why i expect that if you pull out of Iraq, you will end up somewhere else, because the money has to keep rolling into the hands of these companies. You may think your Medicare system and other social programs are eating up tons of cash, and undoubtedly they are - but at least they improve the lives of American citizens. Contracts to Haliburton and other similar companies merely line the pockets of their corporate owners. The money currently being doled out in plastic wrapped bundles of $100k each could be spent to decrease the cost of the medical system, create jobs for those who are unemployed, start new companies that produce useful services for US citizens at home etc, rather than being spent on wasteful contract services (like paying a company 15m a month to guard flights for a month where no such flights landed etc).