So much for transparency.
Under a little-noticed provision of the recently passed financial-reform legislation, the [COLOR=blue! important][COLOR=blue! important]Securities [COLOR=blue! important]and [/color][COLOR=blue! important]Exchange [/color][COLOR=blue! important]Commission[/color][/color][/color] no longer has to comply with virtually all requests for information releases from the public, including those filed under the Freedom of Information Act.
The law, signed last week by President Obama, exempts the SEC from disclosing records or information derived from "surveillance, risk assessments, or other regulatory and oversight activities." Given that the SEC is a regulatory body, the provision covers almost every action by the agency, lawyers say. Congress and federal agencies can request information, but the public cannot.
That argument comes despite the President saying that one of the cornerstones of the sweeping new legislation was more transparent financial markets. Indeed, in touting the new law, Obama specifically said it would “increase transparency in financial dealings."
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John Adams “The moment the idea is admitted into society that property is not as sacred as the laws of God, and that there is not a force of law and public justice to protect it, anarchy and tyranny commence.”
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"I never said I was worth it. I only said I wouldn't do it for less " William F. Buckley Jr.