The Austin American-Statesman [1]thinks that who visited Vice President Cheney's residence to conduct business is something the public is entitled to know.  Not a surprise, but we agree -- strongly:

In short, the American public, the White House says, is not entitled to know who attempts to influence Cheney. That might not matter so much if Cheney were powerless, but there's good reason to think he is one of the most powerful vice presidents in American history.

The White House's position was stated in a Sept. 13 letter that came to light recently when it was filed in court by the Justice Department, which is defending the government against a lawsuit by a group calling itself Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. The group wants to find out which conservative religious leaders recently have visited Cheney.

In May 2006, the White House signed a memorandum of understanding with the Secret Service that its visitor logs were presidential and therefore not covered by Freedom of Information Act. Now the White House and Cheney are trying to extend that exemption to the vice president's office.

The White House has told the court that the visitor logs should be kept confidential to preserve "the effective functioning of the vice presidency under the Constitution," and that releasing the information would "impinge on the ability of the (vice president) to gather information in confidence."

But no one is trying to force the vice president or his visitors to disclose what was said, only who the visitors were and who they met with at the vice president's office or residence. That's government business, and that makes it the public's business.