Access to public information is a check on the government's power. An informed citizenry is one of the cornerstones, of our democracy. Without information about what our government is doing, we can't make assessments about the decisions our government is making.
Sometimes policies created with the best of intentions end up creating a very difficult situation.
After Sept. 11, the administration began drastic changes in the access to public information.
The danger is that we can access less information to decisions government is making, and we can't monitor if these decisions are made in our best interest.
I think that's my biggest frustration. The most important people are the people at the front desk and those people are not being properly trained or educated about the law.
The Bush administration came in with the agenda of recovering some of the executive privileges and exemptions to the access to public information from the more recent changes in public information laws.
