Per Rick Hess’ latest jihad poking sticks at the Obama Administration over this “secret” reviewers issue around Race to the Top, aren’t there a lot of consequential government processes and decisions where the accountability is look-back rather than contemporaneous? The issue here isn’t whether there should be complete transparency, merely when the information should be released to maintain the integrity of the process.
I’m not saying I agree with the Administration on this issue. In fact, I can see both sides on this one but tend to think the lousy politics and corresponding risk to what is a promising initiative outweigh the benefits. And Petrilli isn’t wrong about the political cover immediate transparency would provide. I’m just saying that they do have a case and reasonable people can disagree. As I said earlier below, it’s precisely the opportunities for influencing the process that Hess seeks that bolster the administration’s case. What’s debatable is whether any of that is outweighed by the potential for blowback that political operatives are now trying hard to create.
There is obviously a lot to know about this. I think you made some good points in Features also. Keep working ,great job!