Susan Ackermann
Allegations have swirled that the Administration has been keeping an "enemies list," a rumor that began when the White House asked citizens to email them if they came in contact with "fishy" information about Health Care reform. Though the President has said this info was needed to dispel "misinformation," and that a list was not being kept, a partial catalog of names and complaints has been leaked.
The document, which seems to in stark contrast to the President's assurances, contains several pieces of surprising information.
The majority of the index simply contains complaints fielded by the Administration from received emails. At the top of these listings is written "Disseminator Unknown." This label is included when the person spreading 'misinformation' in unknown to the citizen who reported them.
However, a moderate percent of the entries have not only people's complaints, but also their name. If the name of the 'disseminator' is known, it is included with the concerns they have been voicing.
An even smaller percent of people, however, have much bigger entries. Not only does the list include these people's names and 'misinformation,' but also residence, gender, race, age, political party, annual income, size of family, and, in some cases, their social security numbers.
This leak seems to discredit President Obama's statements that no such list exists. It is also unknown what the information is used for, or why it was gathered in such detail. The document also raises questions on what information the Executive Branch should be allowed constitutionally to gather on individual citizens.
The release of this information comes at a time when support for the President's plan seems to be wavering. Also, Town Hall meeting have recently taken place in which opponents of the President's reforms have loudly voiced their opinions. It is unknown what effect this release will have on the bill and support for it.
The President could not be reached at the time of this release.
