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Should the emails of politicians be made public?(assuming they were on the clock)

Should the emails of politicians be made public?(assuming they were on the clock)

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Redress said:
Public officials are not slaves.
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of course not. they are free to quit at any time, and in the meantime they get paid. But when you go into public service; you are entering a different kind of employment than private sector - and your liberties are subsequently reduced.
 
cpwill said:
of course not. they are free to quit at any time, and in the meantime they get paid. But when you go into public service; you are entering a different kind of employment than private sector - and your liberties are subsequently reduced.
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Reduced is not the same as eliminated. Public officials still should not be treated like slaves to appease the simple minded.
 
Having the documents immediately or nearly so available would end the ability of officials to actually consider unpopular options. Officials would spend all their time answering questions about what they wrote, instead of doing what they are being payed to do.
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Democracy's problem. Swift action is stalled due to conflicting interests...for better or worse
 
Re: Should the emails of politicians be made public?

makkam said:
NO

We should not be able to intrude on peoples private lives just because they are public servants. (bus drivers, lawyers, fireman, police...) Even if they did break the law, they should be able to have a trial without becoming the center of the media. The only things that should be revealed are those things found criminal AND having a direct and considerable effect on the public.
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The poll question says nothing about their private lives. Which is why there is "(assuming they were on the clock)". When they are on the clock working for the tax payer then everything they do while on the clock is the business of the tax payer. If they are at home off the clock after COB then the emails they send to other people is their business assuming they are not using tax payer property.
 
Re: Should the emails of politicians be made public?

jamesrage said:
The poll question says nothing about their private lives. Which is why there is "(assuming they were on the clock)". When they are on the clock working for the tax payer then everything they do while on the clock is the business of the tax payer. If they are at home off the clock after COB then the emails they send to other people is their business assuming they are not using tax payer property.
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True, except I think it has nothing to do with "on the clock". For instance, if I were the president, all areas of my life and my immediate families life are likely under scrutiny, but by competent security organizations who can make informed decisions about what they see or uncover. This happens around the clock, not just simply on the clock and I agree with that. What I don't like is the general public (that's what I'm thinking this post is about) having the same access to that kind of information, like private emails. There's no need for them to know any of that unless that person actually did something wrong.
 
Re: Should the emails of politicians be made public?

makkam said:
True, except I think it has nothing to do with "on the clock". For instance, if I were the president, all areas of my life and my immediate families life are likely under scrutiny, but by competent security organizations who can make informed decisions about what they see or uncover. This happens around the clock, not just simply on the clock and I agree with that. What I don't like is the general public (that's what I'm thinking this post is about) having the same access to that kind of information, like private emails. There's no need for them to know any of that unless that person actually did something wrong.
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The post is not about private emails its about emails they make while they are on the clock on the tax payer's time.
 
Redress said:
Reduced is not the same as eliminated. Public officials still should not be treated like slaves to appease the simple minded.
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you are creating a straw man argument - nobody has ever argued that they are slaves.

they are servants, and their work email is subject to review and release. every time you hop on a government computer, by using that computer, you are agreeing to monitoring and public oversight of your actions.
 
jamesrage said:
The post is not about private emails its about emails they make while they are on the clock on the tax payer's time.
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Oh god, well then of course. I've made personal emails on my job and I expect politicians to do the same. No need to be d**k-strict about it. But as far as relating to work, absolutely, they should be made public. Without question.
 
Kandahar said:
Hmm, it looks like I'm in the minority in this thread, which actually surprises me. No, their emails should absolutely NOT be made public. It will just lead officials to self-censor, and that doesn't help the public. In order to govern effectively, officials need to be able to share ideas openly with one another, float trial balloons of new ideas, compromise with their political opponents, and yes, just blow off some steam like everyone else. If they know that their emails are going to be made public, these things will all be much harder to accomplish.

The exception to this is if their records are subpoenaed due to possible wrongdoing, or if the politician in question consents to it.
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I would not be opposed to some kind rule in which the e-mails of a public official are sealed for 50 years after they leave office unless that seal is broken by a court order.

This is how the Swiss Federal Council operates. The SFC is one of the few government executive branches that operate under a collegial system rather than under a presidential system. That is each of the seven councillors operates an executive department and they govern in a collective fashion. All of their meetings are secret and their voting record on issues are sealed for 50 years. This is to preserve consensus of their collective executive.

So I have no problem with that. Since the youngest age a person can enter office is 18, that means their age will be 68 when those e-mail could become public, and he (or the constituents at that time) would be too old to deal with any fallout from the decisions made at that time.

So yeah, a 50-year seal record arrangement would be fine with me.
 
I want to see the e-mails of Sen. Barack Obama, if there are any.
 
Originally posted by samsmart

I would not be opposed to some kind rule in which the e-mails of a public official are sealed for 50 years after they leave office unless that seal is broken by a court order.

This is how the Swiss Federal Council operates. The SFC is one of the few government executive branches that operate under a collegial system rather than under a presidential system. That is each of the seven councillors operates an executive department and they govern in a collective fashion. All of their meetings are secret and their voting record on issues are sealed for 50 years. This is to preserve consensus of their collective executive.

So I have no problem with that. Since the youngest age a person can enter office is 18, that means their age will be 68 when those e-mail could become public, and he (or the constituents at that time) would be too old to deal with any fallout from the decisions made at that time.

So yeah, a 50-year seal record arrangement would be fine with me.
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Well, not really. If that particular opinion or statement is unpopular at the time it is revealed, it can potentially lead to this man being harassed at the age of 68. We all know how understanding the media can be in regards to personal space. But the damage can also effect his family as well. His sons and daughters, etc.

It still is a gray area for me. It's perfectly understandable for all forms of official correspondence of a public official to be reviewed with an open policy to promote fair dealings, but then this information becomes conceptualized and abused by people who will use it to promote their own advantages. I'm not sure if it makes to much of a difference. Besides, if you know there's a camre in your room, you learn to sneak around it.
 
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Barbbtx said:
I want to see the e-mails of Sen. Barack Obama, if there are any.
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I believe that the e-mails of governors are covered under state law and the e-mails of representatives and senators are covered under federal law.

That's one reason why Obama's e-mails haven't been released.

I would also like to add that I think only e-mail accounts used for government business should be accessed, and that the private e-mail accounts of public officials shouldn't be accessed. However, if a public official uses their private account for government business then they must be considered a public account for these purposes.
 
makkam said:
Well, not really. If that particular opinion or statement is unpopular at the time it is revealed, it can potentially lead to this man being harassed at the age of 68. We all know how understanding the media can be in regards to personal space. But the damage can also effect his family as well. His sons and daughters, etc.

It still is a gray area for me. It's perfectly understandable for all forms of official correspondence of a public official to be reviewed with an open policy to promote fair dealings, but then this information becomes conceptualized and abused by people who will use it to promote their own advantages. I'm not sure if it makes to much of a difference. Besides, if you know there's a camre in your room, you learn to sneak around it.
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Note, 18 is the youngest someone can get for most local and/or state positions. Most don't get into office until about the age of 30 or later, which means realistically they'll likely be more like 80 or older.

And harassment of family members of public officials can be dealt with by the police and the courts. Just because someone is a family member of a public official does not make them inherently a public figure in their own right, and thus protects them from harassment by the press.

And ANYTHING can be used by a person's political enemies against them, so that's not really a fair defense. I mean Barack and Michelle Obama got criticized for doing a fist bump with each other. Access of information is much more important, especially when public officials must volunteer to run for office.

If you can't handle the scrutiny then don't run for office.
 
samsmart said:
Access of information is much more important, especially when public officials must volunteer to run for office.

If you can't handle the scrutiny then don't run for office.
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If politicians actually behaved behind closed doors the way that they behave on C-SPAN (which is basically the standard to which they would be held if their emails were released), nothing would ever get done. Compromise would be impossible and innovative policy ideas would never even be mentioned in government circles.
 
Kandahar said:
If politicians actually behaved behind closed doors the way that they behave on C-SPAN (which is basically the standard to which they would be held if their emails were released), nothing would ever get done. Compromise would be impossible and innovative policy ideas would never even be mentioned in government circles.
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Or the electorate should stop holding their public officials to impossible standards to meet and realize that even politicians piss, ****, fart, and **** just like everybody else.
 
Barbbtx said:
I want to see the e-mails of Sen. Barack Obama, if there are any.
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was he in Washington long enough to get an email account set up?
 
samsmart said:
Or the electorate should stop holding their public officials to impossible standards to meet and realize that even politicians piss, ****, fart, and **** just like everybody else.
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And send dick pics, just like Brett Favre.
 
Anything and everything you do at work, with the exception of going to the restroom, is subject to your employer's scrutiny.
 
samsmart said:
Or the electorate should stop holding their public officials to impossible standards to meet and realize that even politicians piss, ****, fart, and **** just like everybody else.
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I don't think they really hold them to any higher degree. It's just convenient to link personal character to party or personal policies. Leverage and all that...
 
ElCid said:
Anything and everything you do at work, with the exception of going to the restroom, is subject to your employer's scrutiny.
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At some point though, you go home and that is NOT subject to your employer's scrutiny. So it really only works as an analogy for Weiner if he Tweeted these pictures from the floor of the House.

Not saying that changes anything, just saying that at some point these guys go home too. Where their lives are not our business.
 
No. Absolutely not. If I, a constituent, email my representative, I don't want it getting in the public. I don't care if they hide my name and email. Politicians are people too.
 
If you work on the public dollar your emails should remain public. If you have a private email account that you use on an e-device that should remain private.
 
Risky Thicket said:
If you work on the public dollar your emails should remain public. If you have a private email account that you use on an e-device that should remain private.
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So since I am a federal employee my emails should be public then? Really... can we stop with all this anti government nonsense.
 
jamesrage said:
Should the emails of politicians be made public?(assuming the emails were made while they were on the clock)

Yes
No
Maybe/I do not know



I say yes.What they do with tax payer funded property while on the clock working for the tax payer is the business of the tax payer.
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Personally I am of the opinion that the government should not be keeping any secrets from citizens beyond that of what pertains to the military tactics and technological wise and current troop movements (movements should be kept secret only until roughly 1 year after that troop movement is done with).
 
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