New Secrecy Report Card Out...

By just about every measure, government secrecy is growing at a quicker pace than ever before, according to a new annual survey from the advocacy coalition OpenTheGovernment.org.

While the creation of new secrets (termed "original classification decisions") actually declined in the past year, total classification activity grew significantly, as did the use of controls on unclassified information, and the costs of maintaining the apparatus of national
security classification.

"The current administration has increasingly refused to be held accountable to the public, including through the oversight responsibilities of Congress," said Patrice McDermott, Director of OpenTheGovernment.org -- the NFOIC is a steering committee member of the group.

The report is available here.