TheLagerLad wrote:

Common Sense wrote:

TheLagerLad wrote:

That's a valid question Common. I think it is fair for the Administration to expect the various departments to carry out the strategy and direction of that administration. 

But here's the problem. NOT EVERYTHING IN GOVERNMENT IS POLITICAL!!!  There is political government and functional government.

Go to the Department of Education website: It's 100% functional government programs and data. Student Loans, Grants, Laws, and Data are the four main sections of the site. In other words, the site is providing information to the taxpayers of the country.

Information is good.

Now I don't know what information Donald Trump is preventing the EPA from sending out via press releases, its website, and social media, but I'd be willing to bet you that it's 99.99999% functional and perhaps, maybe, .00001% political.

So the Trump administration is being a bottleneck to providing information to the taxpayers of this nation. 

That's both outrageous and moreso, completely unnecessary!! 

NOT EVERYTHING IN GOVERNMENT IS POLITICAL!!

Talk to the Obama administration about that. They turned every agency into a place where their agenda could be pushed every single day. The Obama  administration were master of the message they were pushing! Now the crying about the Trump administration who is taking charge of their message is very telling.  

It seems if you agree with the message is a great thing but disagree and oh my it's so outrageous!
 

 
Let me try this again Common -- There are parts of the government that are political. There are parts of the government that are not. 

If the Trump administration wants to cleanse all scientific data around around climate change because it doesn't purport to his worldview, he has every right to do so. And if he wants to put a policy in place to keep government scientists from talking to the public in any official capacity as an employee of the government, he has every right to do so.

But not everything on the EPA website has to do with climate change. And the activities of government are not 100% inherently political. So why would the incoming administration need to feel the need to control every press release, every blog post, every Facebook post or tweet?

And by the way, despite your implication, this isn't a defense of Obama. He's gone. Trump is now the president and he needs to be held to account for his decisions. And shutting down citizen's access to information isn't in his job description.

Correct. 

There is one thing to present alternate arguments which are supported by research and use them to formulate policy, but it is AN ENTIRELY DIFFERENT thing to throttle and suppress differing views and research. I am AMAZED that anyone has a problem with this. It astounds me and it is actually scary. 


 

Last edited by tennyson (1/25/2017 12:49 pm)

TheLagerLad wrote:

Common Sense wrote:

TheLagerLad wrote:

That's a valid question Common. I think it is fair for the Administration to expect the various departments to carry out the strategy and direction of that administration. 

But here's the problem. NOT EVERYTHING IN GOVERNMENT IS POLITICAL!!!  There is political government and functional government.

Go to the Department of Education website: It's 100% functional government programs and data. Student Loans, Grants, Laws, and Data are the four main sections of the site. In other words, the site is providing information to the taxpayers of the country.

Information is good.

Now I don't know what information Donald Trump is preventing the EPA from sending out via press releases, its website, and social media, but I'd be willing to bet you that it's 99.99999% functional and perhaps, maybe, .00001% political.

So the Trump administration is being a bottleneck to providing information to the taxpayers of this nation. 

That's both outrageous and moreso, completely unnecessary!! 

NOT EVERYTHING IN GOVERNMENT IS POLITICAL!!

Talk to the Obama administration about that. They turned every agency into a place where their agenda could be pushed every single day. The Obama  administration were master of the message they were pushing! Now the crying about the Trump administration who is taking charge of their message is very telling.  

It seems if you agree with the message is a great thing but disagree and oh my it's so outrageous!
 

 
Let me try this again Common -- There are parts of the government that are political. There are parts of the government that are not. 

If the Trump administration wants to cleanse all scientific data around around climate change because it doesn't purport to his worldview, he has every right to do so. And if he wants to put a policy in place to keep government scientists from talking to the public in any official capacity as an employee of the government, he has every right to do so.

But not everything on the EPA website has to do with climate change. And the activities of government are not 100% inherently political. So why would the incoming administration need to feel the need to control every press release, every blog post, every Facebook post or tweet?

And by the way, despite your implication, this isn't a defense of Obama. He's gone. Trump is now the president and he needs to be held to account for his decisions. And shutting down citizen's access to information isn't in his job description.

Lager,

Let me offer this perspective, since I work in State government and have experience in this since my previous position had plenty of contact with the Department's press office, in the way of responding to press inquiries, writing press releases and even writing talking points for the Governor.

I have dealt with both Corbett and Wolf's administration, and from my understanding the Rendell administration was the same.  But I can tell you everything that came out of the press office or shared with the public was reviewed and approved by a political appointee of the Governor.  Many times for press releases we were given instruction on what to include and what to exclude.  The Department did not give non-appointed individuals access to post anything to a social media account (Facebook, Twitter) or anything like that.  Every bit of information that was shared with the public, either in the media or in advisory council meetings was measured, whether it was a political topic or not.

Each new administration reduces communication with the public when they take over to control their message.  It seems to me either Trump wasn't as quiet about this transition or people have so much of a dislike for him they wanted to share this information.

Brady Bunch wrote:

TheLagerLad wrote:

Common Sense wrote:

NOT EVERYTHING IN GOVERNMENT IS POLITICAL!!

Talk to the Obama administration about that. They turned every agency into a place where their agenda could be pushed every single day. The Obama  administration were master of the message they were pushing! Now the crying about the Trump administration who is taking charge of their message is very telling.  

It seems if you agree with the message is a great thing but disagree and oh my it's so outrageous!
 

 
Let me try this again Common -- There are parts of the government that are political. There are parts of the government that are not. 

If the Trump administration wants to cleanse all scientific data around around climate change because it doesn't purport to his worldview, he has every right to do so. And if he wants to put a policy in place to keep government scientists from talking to the public in any official capacity as an employee of the government, he has every right to do so.

But not everything on the EPA website has to do with climate change. And the activities of government are not 100% inherently political. So why would the incoming administration need to feel the need to control every press release, every blog post, every Facebook post or tweet?

And by the way, despite your implication, this isn't a defense of Obama. He's gone. Trump is now the president and he needs to be held to account for his decisions. And shutting down citizen's access to information isn't in his job description.

Lager,

Let me offer this perspective, since I work in State government and have experience in this since my previous position had plenty of contact with the Department's press office, in the way of responding to press inquiries, writing press releases and even writing talking points for the Governor.

I have dealt with both Corbett and Wolf's administration, and from my understanding the Rendell administration was the same.  But I can tell you everything that came out of the press office or shared with the public was reviewed and approved by a political appointee of the Governor.  Many times for press releases we were given instruction on what to include and what to exclude.  The Department did not give non-appointed individuals access to post anything to a social media account (Facebook, Twitter) or anything like that.  Every bit of information that was shared with the public, either in the media or in advisory council meetings was measured, whether it was a political topic or not.

Each new administration reduces communication with the public when they take over to control their message.  It seems to me either Trump wasn't as quiet about this transition or people have so much of a dislike for him they wanted to share this information.

I appreciate your perspective Brady. 

I guess there are two issues I have.

1 - I'm looking at the EPA website right now and the top three press releases on there are....

EPA issues a notice of violation to Fiat Chrysler for violating the clean air act

Volkswagen agreed to a $4.3 billion penalty for violating the clean air act

Air emissions of toxic chemicals from industrial facilities went down 56% from 2005 to 2015.

All three of those are not political. It's just newsworthy information for public consumption.  Trump's "shut it down" approach to all information coming out of certain departments like the EPA or National Park Service does a disservice to the American People who pay for those services. 

2 - Trump has yet earn my trust. Focusing on the trival (inauguration attendance numbers) and the untrue (massive voter fraud) has me concerned that this guy may not have his all his marbles and/or may be far too authoritarian for my tastes and the good of the country as a whole.

Brady Bunch wrote:

TheLagerLad wrote:

Common Sense wrote:

NOT EVERYTHING IN GOVERNMENT IS POLITICAL!!

Talk to the Obama administration about that. They turned every agency into a place where their agenda could be pushed every single day. The Obama  administration were master of the message they were pushing! Now the crying about the Trump administration who is taking charge of their message is very telling.  

It seems if you agree with the message is a great thing but disagree and oh my it's so outrageous!
 

 
Let me try this again Common -- There are parts of the government that are political. There are parts of the government that are not. 

If the Trump administration wants to cleanse all scientific data around around climate change because it doesn't purport to his worldview, he has every right to do so. And if he wants to put a policy in place to keep government scientists from talking to the public in any official capacity as an employee of the government, he has every right to do so.

But not everything on the EPA website has to do with climate change. And the activities of government are not 100% inherently political. So why would the incoming administration need to feel the need to control every press release, every blog post, every Facebook post or tweet?

And by the way, despite your implication, this isn't a defense of Obama. He's gone. Trump is now the president and he needs to be held to account for his decisions. And shutting down citizen's access to information isn't in his job description.

Lager,

Let me offer this perspective, since I work in State government and have experience in this since my previous position had plenty of contact with the Department's press office, in the way of responding to press inquiries, writing press releases and even writing talking points for the Governor.

I have dealt with both Corbett and Wolf's administration, and from my understanding the Rendell administration was the same.  But I can tell you everything that came out of the press office or shared with the public was reviewed and approved by a political appointee of the Governor.  Many times for press releases we were given instruction on what to include and what to exclude.  The Department did not give non-appointed individuals access to post anything to a social media account (Facebook, Twitter) or anything like that.  Every bit of information that was shared with the public, either in the media or in advisory council meetings was measured, whether it was a political topic or not.

Each new administration reduces communication with the public when they take over to control their message.  It seems to me either Trump wasn't as quiet about this transition or people have so much of a dislike for him they wanted to share this information.

Great post Brady! 

Lager said:1 - I'm looking at the EPA website right now and the top three press releases on there are....
 
EPA issues a notice of violation to Fiat Chrysler for violating the clean air act

Volkswagen agreed to a $4.3 billion penalty for violating the clean air act

Air emissions of toxic chemicals from industrial facilities went down 56% from 2005 to 2015.
All three of those are not political. It's just newsworthy information for public consumption.  Trump's "shut it down" approach to all information coming out of certain departments like the EPA or National Park Service does a disservice to the American People who pay for those services. 


In theory, you are correct.  They shouldn't be political press releases.  But in my experience on the state level, I can guarantee you they would have been.  For example, I can see how in a Republican administration they would want to word those press releases in order to not anger the automotive lobbying industry and industrial facilities as much as possible.  In a Democratic administration, they would make sure those press releases were viewed favorably by the environmental lobbyists and others such as them.  I have seen plenty of examples of "non-political", innocuous press releases come down with instructions to make sure they get painted in a certain light.