Originally published September 23 2005
Watchdog groups find America spending more than ever on obfuscating data
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
According to the secrecy report card by OpenTheGovernment.org, a coalition of watchdog groups, the U.S. government is spending an increasing amount on shrouding data, overall spending $7.2 billion in 2004 stamping 15.6 million documents "top secret," "secret" or "confidential," but the Chicago Tribune reports the totals are incomplete because CIA spending figures are secret.
The government is withholding more information than ever from the public and expanding ways of shrouding data, a coalition of watchdog groups reported Saturday.
Last year, for each $1 spent declassifying old secrets, federal agencies spent a record $148 creating and storing new secrets, the groups said.
That's a $28 jump from 2003 when $120 was spent to keep secrets for every $1 spent revealing them.
In the late 1990s, the ratio was $15-$17 a year to $1, according to the secrecy report card by OpenTheGovernment.org.
Overall, the government spent $7.2 billion in 2004 stamping 15.6 million documents "top secret," "secret" or "confidential."
That almost doubled the 8.6 million new documents classified as recently as 2001.
Last year, the number of pages declassified declined for the fourth straight year to 28.4 million.
These figures cover 41 federal agencies, excluding the CIA, whose classification totals are secret.
The report also noted the growing use of secret searches, court secrecy, closed meetings by government advisory groups and patents kept from public view.
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