All Americans know that on Jan. 20th, the 44th President was sworn into office.
One of Obama's first acts was to reaffirm the Freedom of Information Act, undoing the previous administration's Justice Department tactics.
In signing these two Executive Orders, the President stated: ""The Government should not keep information confidential merely because public officials might be embarrassed by disclosure, because errors and failures might be revealed, or because of speculative or abstract fears," and that a "presumption in favor" of FOIA requests is to be honored.
Of course, we agree -- transparency is crucial to establishing and maintaining public trust. Citizens may not always agree with which way a vote goes or how money is spent, but the right to know who, what, how and why is required.
If anything is left of a "trickle down" theory, hopefully this is it and the intent of FOIA will be followed at all levels and branches of goverment. As stated in the Washington Post, "democracy requires accountability, and accountability requires transparency."