Transparency? Eh...never mind

The Obama administration is continuing yet another Bush era policy of keeping secret the names of visitors to the White House, even when those visitors are meeting on matters of public policy such as health care reform.

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington sent a letter to the Secret Service asking about visits from 18 executives representing health insurers, drug makers, doctors and other players in the debate. The group wants the material in order to gauge the influence of those executives in crafting a new healthcare policy.

The Secret Service sent a reply stating that documents revealing the frequency of such visits were considered presidential records exempt from public disclosure laws. The agency also said it was advised by the Justice Department that the Secret Service was within its rights to withhold the information because of the "presidential communications privilege."

Yeah, I know. The left will say, "Well, Bush did it, too!", and they're right about that. Remember Cheney's meetings with energy company executives?

But guess what? When you just spent eight fucking years howling about every little thing Bush did while he was in office, you don't get to say "It's OK, 'cause Bush did it, too!", especially not when this president promised a new kind of politics and the most transparent administration ever.