Politics

Obama has no plans to open memorials, parks to the public

Neil Munro White House Correspondent
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President Barack Obama’s aides may have made a special “First Amendment” exemption to allow World War II veterans visit their war memorial, but they have no plans to lift the barricades for other Americans.

The Department of the Interior “has made an accommodation for the Honor Flights,” White House spokesman Jay Carney said on Wednesday.

However, Carney rejected suggestions that the government should stop excluding Americans from World War II site and other national parks, most of which have no barriers and are open, public sites.

In recent days, Obama’s deputies have expended extra efforts to post guards and barricades to keep Americans away form their public memorials.

“The government shut down when the House Republicans decided to shut it down,” he claimed, denying that Obama and his Democratic allies in the Senate played any role. “Every House Republican who has decried any impact… clearly didn’t pay any attention when every agency in government… posted on their websites what would happen,” Carney said.

“When you shut down the government, you shut down a lot of services,” he said.

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Neil Munro