Team Obama’s New Transparency Tactic

If the secret policy wonk in you has always hankered to sit in on those exciting meetings that happen in elite circles of government, you’re in luck — members of the Obama transition team have found another way to use the Web for the sake of transparency with their new “Seat at the Table” initiative.

ABC News/Political Punch:

The [Obama transition team] will post, per these instructions, all policy documents and written policy recommendations from “official meetings” with outside organizations and the date and organizations represented at official meetings in the Transition headquarters or agency offices, along with any documents presented. Staff are strongly encouraged to include any additional materials.

After the information is posted, the general public can comment at the OTT website: http://change.gov/seatatthetable.

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Here’s an excerpt from the memo announcing the initiative on Change.gov:

Change.gov:

Overview: As an extension of the unprecedented ethics guidelines already in place for the Obama-Biden Transition Project, we take another significant step towards transparency of our efforts for the American people. Every day, we meet with organizations who present ideas for the Transition and the Administration, both orally and in writing. We want to ensure that we give American people a “seat at the table” and that we receive the benefit of their feedback.

Accordingly, any documents from official meetings with outside organizations will be posted on our website for people to review and comment on.

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