I am so utterly sick of this Third Way shit.

[freedom fighter jh]

275. Yes, you're right, I forgot about court orders.

It's possible, I suppose, that a court ordered the executive branch to restrict the way in which it (the EB) shares info on this matter with the Senate. But with less restriction to "a number of corporate officials"? Doesn't sound right.

I don't buy your argument about the bureaucracy, or lots of pieces of paper, being a barrier. The poor taxpayer on the phone with the IRS finds the system impossible to navigate because he or she hears about different rules and directives from different people and there is no one person who has the time to explain how the whole thing works. That's not good but that's the way it is. On the other hand, a senator who will have to vote on a treaty should get priority. (When I worked at EPA, Congressional correspondence was top priority.) Though the rules may be many, I repeat, the people who follow them know what they are and where they come from; understanding that is not rocket science, as much as it may seem so to someone outside the system.

Any USTR rule must come from the executive, legislative, or judicial branch of government. If President Obama wants to ease the Senate's access on information, he can ask USTR the reason for the restrictions. If it's the executive branch, then President Obama can change the rule. If it's the legislative branch, then Senator Wyden can see what he can do. And if it's the judicial branch then I suppose there's not much he can do.

But there must be a reason for it, and it should not be hard for President Obama to find out what his government is doing. Most likely he does have the power to change it.