But It’s Bi-Partisan!

During last year’s campaign, Barack Obama lashed out at the Bush administration’s secrecy and promised to clean things up. Here’s some language straight off the Obama Organizing for America website:

The Problem
Lobbyists Write National Policies: For example, Vice President Dick Cheney’s Energy Task Force of oil and gas lobbyists met secretly to develop national energy policy.

Secrecy Dominates Government Actions: The Bush administration has ignored public disclosure rules and has invoked a legal tool known as the “state secrets” privilege more than any other previous administration to get cases thrown out of civil court.

[...]

Make White House Communications Public: Obama will amend executive orders to ensure that communications about regulatory policymaking between persons outside government and all White House staff are disclosed to the public.

Conduct Regulatory Agency Business in Public: Obama will require his appointees who lead the executive branch departments and rulemaking agencies to conduct the significant business of the agency in public, so that any citizen can see in person or watch on the Internet these debates.

Just in case you doubted him, Obama adds this plea: “I’m asking you to believe. Not just in my ability to bring about real change in Washington…I’m asking you to believe in yours.”

So the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington took this to heart and requested information about visits to the White House from 18 executives representing health insurers, drug makers, doctors and other players. Obama’s response? Take a hike.

Not to be outdone, the LA Times reports that Joe Biden has also started ramping up his own private meetings (Joe says they’re not “private”; they’re just closed to the press). Is this the sort of change we’re being asked to believe in?