Republican Congressman Proposes Tracking Freedom of Information Act Requests

[kas125]

Republican Congressman Proposes Tracking Freedom of Information Act Requests
By ERIC LIPTON
Published: January 28, 2011

WASHINGTON — Representative Darrell Issa calls it a way to promote transparency: a request for the names of hundreds of thousands of ordinary citizens, business executives, journalists and others who have requested copies of federal government documents in recent years.

Mr. Issa, a California Republican and the new chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, says he wants to make sure agencies respond in a timely fashion to Freedom of Information Act requests and do not delay them out of political considerations.

But his extraordinary request worries some civil libertarians. It “just seems sort of creepy that one person in the government could track who is looking into what and what kinds of questions they are asking,” said David Cuillier, a University of Arizona journalism professor and chairman of the Freedom of Information Committee at the Society of Professional Journalists. “It is an easy way to target people who he might think are up to no good.”

Mr. Issa sent a letter on Tuesday asking 180 federal agencies, from the Department of Defense to the Social Security Administration, for electronic files containing the names of people who requested the documents, the date of their requests and a description of information they sought. For those still pending after more than 45 days, he also asked for any communication between the requestor and the federal agency. The request covers the final three years of Bush administration and the first two years of President Obama’s.
more at - http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/29/us/politics/29issa.html?_r=1

[MrModerate]

1. Appropriate reply from federal agency: "Get a subpoena, dickwad, or shut the fuck up." n/t

[gateley]

2. How ironic. And unsurprising. nt

[kas125]

3. Yeah, not surprising al all. You'd think that even

Republicans would be upset about him wasting time on this nonsense instead of doing something productive, but sadly, they'll probably support him no matter what he does.

[old mark]

6. Nonsense is what the republicans do best,and that is about all they have to offer...

This is only the beginning, too...


mark

[silverweb]

4. Shrink that bureaucracy! Right, Darrell?

And who's going to do all this tracking and at what cost? Never mind that there's no valid reason to begin with -- unless you want more data for your "enemies" list.

It's the government that needs to be more transparent.

Right, Darrell? Right??

[opihimoimoi]

5. Shades of BIG BROTHER......Issa is a Pissa Shit.....

[lanlady]

7. shameless AND illegal

This request may violate the Privacy Act of 1974.

Let's hope this gets swatted down, and FAST. Issa is evil.

[southernyankeebelle]

8. Right, Like all these dept's don't have enough to worry about. I bet he is worried about himself

[Joanne98]

9. Darrell the Dick-tator!