[Azure]

Originally Posted by Mike F

After 8 years of Bush trying to hide from direct press interaction, this is a welcome change.

Indeed.

Six weeks after President Barack Obama appointed a blue-ribbon panel to help him dig America out of its economic crisis, the board has yet to hold an official public meeting.

Now, the administration finds itself in a Catch-22: It does not want to say that the president’s economic panel, announced amid much fanfare, is not meeting during the worst economic crisis in generations. But if it is meeting, where’s the announcement, the agenda, the minutes? In short, where’s the sunshine?

“If the president wants to talk to his advisory committee, it seems to me he ought to do that in the open,” said Sidney Shapiro, a law professor at Wake Forest University. “There ought to be accountability for private people who address the government. It seems to me it becomes even more important, not less important, when you have a presidential advisory committee.”

Asked about Obama’s right to solicit candid suggestions, Shapiro said, “If he wants private advice, he should pick up the telephone. He can call anybody he wants. If he wants to form a presidential advisory committee, they ought to meet in public.”

On Monday, after an early version of this story posted on POLITICO, Psaki acknowledged that such discussions have taken place by phone. “There are smaller conference calls of subgroups in preparation for the quarterly meetings. These do not involve the president or federal officials. These are not open to the media or the public, which not only abides by the, but it is also for the purpose of preparing for the public meetings,” she said.

Through an aide, one board member told POLITICO of a board meeting at the White House on Feb. 26. The White House did not respond to a question about that session.

So far, none of the commission members’ meetings have been public or officially announced in accordance with the 1972 federal law which governs such groups, the Federal Advisory Committee Act, or FACA.

That law has spawned a series of legal battles over the years, including fights over access to the Grace Commission on government waste set up by President Ronald Reagan, First Lady Hillary Clinton’s health care task force, and Vice President Dick Cheney’s task force on energy policy. Secrecy surrounding those panels sparked public outrage – and serious political blowback — that helped fuel Obama’s vows for more open government.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0309/20343.html

Very open and forthright with the public.