Yes, Ben it's an elephant and you can handle it.Turns out that it is Senator Ben Nelson of Nebraska who got impressed at the last minute by WH Council Fred Fielding. (I can only imagine what kind of wow-job they did on him).
We really do need more democracy in America. Who isn't tired of getting outvoted in the Senate by the likes of Nebraska turncoats?
In the Senate Appropriations Committee, the panel approved an amendment by Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., to strike language in the Financial Services Appropriations bill that would have barred funding for Cheney's office until he complies with an executive order Democrats argue compels him to provide information on classified data.
The vote was 15-14 after Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., switched his position from earlier in the week and backed Brownback after a letter from White House Counsel Fred Fielding Thursday clarified the administration's position.
One can expect Nebraska to be a little behind, but maybe someone on the Senator's good staff can take a moment to read ThinkProgess, who show this:
In a new report released today, OpenTheGovernment.org concludes that the increase in government secrecy during the Bush administration has been “unprecedented”
The Administration has issued executive orders placing limits on the Freedom of Information Act and Presidential Records Act, expanded the power to classify information for national security reasons, and created a whole range of new categories of “sensitive” information. Classification of information has nearly doubled while efforts toward declassification have largely been stopped and many records were secretly reclassified.
and this
Bush intelligence oversight board silent for 5 1/2 yrs.
Bush intelligence oversight board silent for 5 1/2 yrs. “An independent oversight board created to identify intelligence abuses after the CIA scandals of the 1970s did not send any reports to the attorney general of legal violations during the first 5 1/2 years of the Bush administration’s counterterrorism effort,” and was vacant for the first two years of the administration.
Update: Nelson shows up on Colbert Report peddling "transparency in government". Gulp! Colbert didn't call him on it - they just talked about OIF.
