Saturday, February 12, 2011

Obama's Supposed "Open" Govenment

Obama projects an image that his administration is "open" to the suggestions of anyone willing to contribute.  As an example of the process, TechDirt reported that: "The White House Wants Advice On What's Blocking American Innovation".  Back in February 2010, Obama appointed a Deficit Reduction Commission to assist him with making the "tough" financial decisions that a President would have to make.  

What leads to this post, is the TechDirt post: "Why Is President Obama Setting Up IP Enforcement Committees Rather Than IP Effectiveness Committees?" In that post, Mike Masnick writes: "Of course, if President Obama were serious about improving American innovation and creative output (and living up to the Constitution), he would have put together intellectual property effectiveness committees, rather than enforcement committees." (emphasis added).

Since Obama was elected there seems to be, at least for me, a growing disjunct between what Obama says and his actual actions.  Mike, for example noted, that instead of questioning the necessity of laws related to so-called "intellectual property" that Obama is moving directly towards enforcement.  This is an overt display that Obama is taking direct action to support favored special interests at the expense of the American people.

Even though Obama appointed a Deficit Reduction Commission, it seems that this was really hollow public relations theater to make it appear that his administration was listening to the American people.  In my post: "Obama - The State of the Union - Deficit Reduction Commission" I noted that Obama essentially dismissed the recommendations of the the Deficit Reduction Commission. Instead of making the tough decisions to balance the budget  as promised, Obama is pursuing so-called "investments" to camouflage from the public his continued direct overt action of continued deficit spending.

It would appear that Obama's assertion of an open government willing to listen and act on the recommendations of others is nothing more than "hot-air".

No comments: