Monday, January 4, 2010

Obama gives science czar power to classify information

While most of America was preparing for the New Year's celebrations, Barack Obama was unveiling a new executive order that retooled how the government classifies information. Thanks to Obama, the "Director [of the] Office of Science and Technology Policy" will now have the power to classify documents. That's John Holdren, the science czar, climate change alarmist (he is the president's senior advisor on climate change), and eugenics fan.
Not only can Holdren issue classification orders, he can assign them the status of "Top Secret". This is usually reserved for information which, if published, could do grave harm to America's national security. "Top Secret" is the highest level of classification in the United States government. It's a power usually reserved for the president, his chief of staff, and high-level cabinet secretaries. But in an unprecedented move, Obama handed this potent authority to his science czar.
Other czars, including Homeland Security Czar John Brennan and Drug Czar Gil Kerlikowske, also have classification powers. But this makes sense, seeing as both regularly deal with security and crime policy. In contrast, Vice President Joe Biden doesn't have the ability to classify information. The Secretaries of Commerce, Agriculture, and Transportation can only classify at the "Secret" level, one step below the "Top Secret" category. Now Holdren is more powerful than all of them.
So what exactly is the Obama Administration preparing to hide? Could it be more sketchy data on the climate? Is this a cover-up to protect the draconian, business-killing aims of the Green religion's zealots?
Only in Barack Obama's world does a science czar deserve the unfettered ability to hide information from the public. We need to know why.

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