From the start, the Bush White House
has resisted efforts to disclose information about
executive-branch activities and decision making. The
energy task force headed by Cheney is just one
example. In May 2001, the task force produced a
report calling for increased oil and gas drilling,
including on public land. The Sierra Club and
another activist group, Judicial Watch, sued to get
access to task-force records, saying that energy
lobbyists unduly influenced the group. Citing the
Constitution's separation of powers clause, the
administration is arguing that the courts can't
compel Cheney to disclose information about his
advice to the president. A federal judge ordered the
administration to produce the records, prompting an
appeal to the Supreme Court.
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Energy interests
aren't alone in winning a friendly hearing from
the Bush administration. Auto and tire manufacturers
prevailed in persuading the administration to limit
disclosure requirements stemming from one of the
highest-profile corporate scandals of recent years.
Four years ago, after news broke that failing
Firestone tires on Ford SUVs had caused hundreds of
deaths and many more accidents, Congress enacted a
new auto and tire safety law. A cornerstone was a
requirement that manufacturers submit safety data to
a government early-warning system, which would
provide clues to help prevent another scandal.
Lawmakers backing the system wanted the data made
available to the public. After the legislation
passed, officials at the National Highway Traffic
Safety Administration said they didn't expect
to create any new categories of secrecy for the
information; they indicated that key data would
automatically be made public. That sparked protests
from automakers, tire manufacturers, and others.
After months of pressure, transportation officials
decided to make vital information such as warranty
claims, field reports from dealers, and consumer
complaints--all potentially valuable sources of
safety information--secret. "It was more or
less a bait and switch," says Laura MacCleery,
auto-safety counsel for Public Citizen, a nonprofit
consumer group. "You're talking about
information that will empower consumers. The
manufacturers are not going to give that up
easily."
Get out of jail free.
Government officials, unsurprisingly, don't see
it that way. Lloyd Guerci, a Transportation
Department attorney involved in writing the new
regulations, declined to comment. But Ray Tyson, a
spokesman for the traffic safety administration,
denies the agency caved to industry pressure:
"We've listened to all who have opinions
and reached a compromise that probably isn't
satisfactory to anybody."
Some of the
strongest opposition to making the warning-system
data public came from the Alliance of Automobile
Manufacturers. The organization, whose membership
comprises U.S. and international carmakers, argued
that releasing the information would harm them
competitively. The Bush administration has close
ties to the carmakers. Bush Chief of Staff Card has
been General Motors' top lobbyist and head of a
trade group of major domestic automakers. Jacqueline
Glassman, NHTSA's chief counsel, is a former
top lawyer for DaimlerChrysler Corp. In the months
before the new regulations were released, industry
officials met several times with officials from the
White House's Office of Management and
Budget.
"Veil of Secrecy," a 
