Is this your idea of transparency?

If you thought that the financial reform legislation that passed last week was bad, it turns out that it's probably even worse than you had imagined. A freedom of information act inquiry that was recently submitted by FOX Business to the SEC was summarily rejected. Why? Apparently under the new financial reform legislation the SEC is no longer required to comply with such requests.

The law, signed last week by President Obama, exempts the SEC from disclosing records or information derived from "surveillance, risk assessments, or other regulatory and oversight activities." Given that the SEC is a regulatory body, the provision covers almost every action by the agency, lawyers say. Congress and federal agencies can request information, but the public cannot.

Not only does this legislation ignore many of the root causes that lead to the financial meltdown of 2008, it prohibits the public and the media from obtaining information from the regulatory body that oversees financial markets in the US. So much for that pledge of increased transparency and accountability under the Obama administration.