Barack Obama Quotes

If something is being done on a secret basis in national security, that's a great reason for elected officials to not talk about it. And that's a great way to shirk accountability for it with the public.

We need to keep pressure on our own governments to force more and more transparency.

I think prime ministers, I actually think Cabinet ministers should be subject to intense scrutiny, I think that's in the public interest, even if some of the allegations made aren't right and so on, and they have to correct the record, it doesn't matter.

We get what we deserve if we allow our policy-making representatives vote on laws they haven’t read and don’t fully understand.

We must keep the pressure on Congress to curb Obama's continued abuse of power. We must always expose that abuse to fellow citizens.

People should hold elected officials accountable for how they vote. Period.

The government takes the opposition day debates incredibly seriously.

We are absolutely going to make sure Paul Ryan is being held accountable to the people.

When I was on the London assembly it was quite common for government ministers to refuse to appear.

I promised to run the most open and transparent administration in Britain. That is why, with this brutally honest and unprecedented progress report, I am determined to level with Londoners.

If everyone in America can easily see who and what their lawmakers are requesting taxpayer money for, we can keep elected officials honest, end the days of political, special interest favors, and reduce wasteful spending.

The Transparency Bill is something we should all support - practical steps in promoting an open and accountable democracy.

Our public officials have forgotten that they are ultimately accountable to the people who put them in office, that the information they keep in secrecy belongs to all of us.

On taking office, Obama promised the 'most transparent' administration in history; yet his record as president has been anything but transparent.

Certainly accountability of government is what people are clamoring for; they want to know that when lawmakers make a promise or a proposal, you can actually accomplish it.

Given the pervasive secrecy of the Bush-Cheney administration, and the sorry consequences of that disposition, President Barack Obama's early emphasis on openness in government seems almost inevitable.

Lawmakers need to be held accountable and should feel the impact of a government shutdown just like many other Americans will.

Oppositions are not there to get legislation through. Oppositions are there to hold the government to account.

I think we can get respect for Parliament back providing governments and oppositions are frank.

Voters cannot hold officials responsible if they do not know what government is doing, or which parts of government are doing what.

If we were left solely to the wordy wit of legislators in Congress for our guidance, uncorrected by the seasonal experience and the effectual complaints of the people, America would not long retain her rank among the nations.

Oversight now is defined as going after political appointees.

We sometimes miss the inner working of government….most people wander around, make mistakes, and put on their pants just the way we do…. It’s not all this big conspiracy.

We are hiring too many people who are called politicians, and we are not holding them accountable…. You do not hire someone and not tell them what to do. Make a trip to Washington and see that they are doing what you want them to do.

We don’t trust government, but we need government….Government didn’t land here from Mars. We elected them.