DOJ Drops FOIA Rule To Permit Lying 151
schwit1 writes "The Department of Justice has canceled a controversial revision to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) rules that opponents said would have allowed federal agencies to lie about the existence of records. In a letter to Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley on Thursday, the DOJ wrote that the proposed rule 'falls short' of its commitment to transparency, and it 'will not include that provision when the Department issues final regulations.' The concern now is that the DOJ has been lying for some time and this rule was an attempt to provide cover for past denials concerning the existence of documents."
What if they are lying about not lying? (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:What if they are lying about not lying? (Score:4, Insightful)
reminds me of a scene in Labyrinth [imdb.com]. I don't have the exact quote to hand, but it basically goes:
There are two doors. Each guarded by one guard. Both will tell you which door goes where (one to where you want to go, the other to certain doom), but there's a catch. You can only ask one of them, and one always tells the truth while the other always lies. So you ask one of them "If I had asked the other guard which door was the correct door, which door would he have pointed to?", and whichever door he points to, you take the other one. It's a twisted logic, but there you go.
Re:Except (Score:2, Insightful)
Because nobody EVER went broke selling weapons. Not individuals, not STATES.
The U.S. Government's biggest income not counting income tax is sales tax and export duty on weapons sales.
Re:5 Step Program (Score:3, Insightful)
Between his enthusiastic expansion of illegal spying, his desire to expand the most spectacularly and massively failed policy of all time (the drug prohibition) and his otherwise lukewarm-at-best support for socially liberal policies, there's plenty shit he actually does wrong to whine about. There's no need to make shit up, sonny.
Re:5 Step Program (Score:5, Insightful)
The War Powers Act is the lame requirement devised to cover the unconstitutionality of all our recent wars, and it requires that the President come asking for permission, after the fact, from Congress within 60 days of warring. Obama completely ignored that law with Libya.
So, while Libya didn't attain the scale of Iraq, it moves us one step closer to a Napoleonic Presidency and is in its own way, a signifier that Obama is just Bush III.
Didn't seem to stop with Bush, did it... (Score:0, Insightful)
Because the ratio of people blaming Obama cf those saying previous presidents did it too is much higher now than the ratio of people blaming bush and people saying previous presidents did it too.
This is rather his own fault, since he's bending over backwards to wooo the right who just see an uppy nigger at worst, or a democrat at best, so he's going to get slammed by them. But, by his attempts to woo these intransigents, he's losing the center who are now not all that pleased with him and he actively slags off the little left you in america have left, so they're not going to be happy with him either.
Re:The secret to a good FOIA enquiry... (Score:5, Insightful)
Since such enquiries are covered under a Statutory Instrument
Public officials already take an oath of office. We should amend this oath to make any lies whatsoever perjury.