Government secrecy costs soar to $7.7 billion

Clandestine CIA prisons get headlines, but a recent report says that secrecy is spreading to federal programs with little connection to national security.
In its “Secrecy Report Card 2006,” a coalition of government watchdog groups cites indicators from across government to argue that areas like the patent process, military procurement and records of scientific advice given to the government suffer from a lack of transparency. “We don’t know what we don’t know,” said Patrice McDermott, director of OpenTheGovernment.org and a co-author of the report. “We don’t know what’s being withheld. Things are set out of view with no better reason than, ‘We don’t want you to see this.’” Issues like the National Security Agency’s wire-tapping program and an increase in federal use of the state secrets privilege have made government secrecy a widely discussed issue. But the Secrecy Report Card, now in its third year, attempts to consolidate metrics on transparency from across government.

federaltimes.com