Obama's 'Gangster Politics' - GOP Warns Obama Not to Issue Executive Order for Government Contractors

Today in Washington, D.C. - May 6, 2011:When the Senate reconvenes on Monday, Rep. Dean Heller (R-NV-2) will be sworn in as the a U.S. Senator from Nevada. He was appointed to serve until the Nov 2012 elections by Nevada Governor Brian Sandovalto replaces former Sen. John Ensign who resigned. Later in the day, the Senate will vote on cloture on the nomination of James Cole to be Deputy Attorney General.

House Republican Leaders are united on GOP Budget and said today, "Tax Hikes Off the Table." House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH), Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA), Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), GOP Conference Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-TX), Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI), Energy & Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI), and Ways & Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-MI) released the following joint statement today regarding President Obama’s request for an increase in the debt ceiling, and how Republicans are standing with the American people, who believe that such an increase would be irresponsible without spending cuts and reforms to address the real problem: out-of-control Washington spending:

"Yesterday, we began negotiations with the Democrats who run Washington regarding the Administration’s request for a debt limit increase. House Republicans are united in our approach to achieve real and immediate spending cuts and reforms today. These reforms and others are included in the Path to Prosperity, which passed the House with the strongest majority of any budget in more than a decade. We want to help our economy grow and create jobs, which is why everything must be on the table except increasing taxes. This has been and remains the Republican position. We are committed to our budget and to making the reforms necessary to grow our economy and create jobs, preserve and strengthen Medicare, and put our nation on a path to pay down the debt."

Today, the Bureau of Labor Statistics signaled more bad news that unemployment increased from 8.8% to 9%, ALG President Bill Wilson summed up the situation:

"The bad economic news just keeps rolling in. With unemployment once again rising, this time to 9 percent, it is clear that the so-called Obama 'recovery' is a myth. The Bureau reports unemployment increased by 205,000 in March alone. the federal government has seen fit to spend, borrow, and print more than $2.4 trillion to prop up the economy and save government 'jobs' that, in the end, could not be saved. The nation desperately needs a private sector recovery, but that will continue to remain elusive so long as government sucks up $2 trillion of resources a year to borrow at unsustainable levels. Instead of lending the government $2 trillion a year, the financial sector could be investing that money as equity, creating millions of jobs.

"As a result of these failed policies, growth slowed down to 1.8 percent in the first quarter, and inflation is up over the past year, with producer prices up 5.8 percent and consumer prices up 2.7 percent. Making matters worse, home prices are again on the decline as foreclosures rose 6.53 percent in March. "The economy is in troubled waters, and Jimmy Carter stagflation is once again here."

The Washington Examiner reports, “According to Republican sources on the Hill, President Obama may be days away from signing an Executive Order that would make many provisions of the failed DISCLOSE Act law by fiat. As we reported last month, the order would require all companies that sign contracts with the federal government to report on the personal political activities of their officers and directors. . . . According to a Congressional Research Service review of Executive Orders over the last 40 years, no White House has ever issued an EO dealing with campaign finance. Signing the DISCLOSE Act EO would be an unprecedented power grab by Obama.”

In a must-read opinion column, "Obama's Gangster Politics," for The Wall Street Journal today, Kimberley Strassel writes about this outrageous and unprecedented executive order.

“Whatever you call it, the order amounts to the White House brazenly directing the power of government against its political opponents — and at a time when the president claims to want cooperation on the budget and other issues. Senate Republicans from Mitch McConnell to Susan Collins are fuming, warning this is one political sucker punch too far, an unabashedly partisan move that will damage Senate work.

“Minority Leader McConnell in an interview calls the order the ‘crassest’ political move he's ever seen. ‘This is almost gangster politics, to shut down people who oppose them. . . . I assure you that this going to create problems for them in many ways—seen and unseen—if they go forward.’”

“The draft order, which came out last month, would require federal bidders to supply a complete list of all political contributions made by the company, its political action committee, and its senior executives—going back two full years. (Richard Nixon would be impressed.) More astounding, the order requires the list to include donations made to third-party political groups—disclosure that is not currently required by law, and that is, as a result, surely unconstitutional. Ever audacious, the White House is spinning this as ‘reform,’ claiming taxpayers deserve to know how federal dollars being paid to contractors are being spent in campaigns. This might hold (a drop of) water if the executive order also required all the (liberal) entities that get billions in taxpayer dollars via federal grants and funding—unions, environmental groups, Planned Parenthood—to disclose also. It doesn't.”

Last month, U.S. Chamber of Commerce Executive Vice President Bruce L. Josten spoke to bloggers about the executive order. The Heritage Foundation’s Tina Korbe noted,

“Josten thinks the executive order strikes at privacy issues. The draft applies not only to corporations as entities: It also applies to the directors and officers of private contractors. Josten said this invades the privacy of those individuals, who he says should be able to make political donations as individuals, rather than as representatives of their businesses. . . . ‘Privacy can be important to free speech,” Josten said. ‘What we have here is a political order that dangles the specter of potential political retaliation or harassment.’”

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell has called the proposed order "an outrageous and anti-democratic abuse of executive branch authority." "Let me be clear: No White House should be able to review your political party affiliation before deciding if you're worthy of a government contract," he said in a statement. "And no one should have to worry about whether their political support will determine their ability to get or keep a federal contract or keep their job."

Fox News reports that,

Republicans are warning President Obama not to issue an executive order that would require government contractors to disclose their political donations. Obama drafted the proposal last month, which is reminiscent of a provision in a Democratic bill called the Disclose Act that died in the Congress last year. That bill would have required corporations and unions to identify themselves in political ads they pay for – a response to a 5-4 Supreme Court ruling that upheld the First Amendment rights of these groups to spend money on campaign ads. . . .

"In a letter to the president, California Rep. Kevin McCarthy, the No. 3 Republican in the House, said Obama's proposed order "seems like a blatant attempt to intimidate, and potentially silence, certain speakers who are engaged in their constitutionally protected right to free speech." Twenty other Republicans signed the letter, which expresses their concern that the effect of the proposed order would be "stifled political speech, as potential and current federal contractors decide to limit their political speech in order to protect their livelihoods.

"The Professional Services Council, a trade association that represents more than 330 companies that work with federal agencies, also opposes the order. "This proposal should never see the light of day," PSC President and CEO Stan Soloway said in a statement. "It is based on dubious legality and a complete lack of awareness of the realities of the federal procurement process. This is an ill-conceived proposal that would place government contractors and their senior executives in a unique class. No other individuals or entities, including unions, federal grantees, federal employees, or other business entities, would be subject to such requirements, no matter how reliant they are on government policy or other decisions. It is counterintuitive and will likely be counterproductive."

Dr. Bill Smith, ARRA News Service Editor previously responded:

"As a former Federal Acquisitions Contracting Officer, the last thing I would wish to know or to consider is information about where and to whom the owners, executives or employees of a business or company donated campaign money. It is none of my business. The public does not need others especially elected or appointed politicians and their staff - including the President, knowing this type information and then pressuring contracting officers or their agencies to award contracts to contractors based on politics.

"Contracting Officers are to determine contract awards based on price and the contractor's ability to meet the contract's technical specifications. It is presently illegal for members of the White House, Congress or any one in an agency to put political pressure on a Contracting Officer to sway the decision of the award of the contract to a particular contractor or away from a particular contractor. . . . [O]ne should ask what is the White House doing proposing an Executive Order which in fact codifies that Chicago style corruption to be implemented from the White House and through all levels of Federal Government acquisitions. It is evident that someone is seeking to drag the Administration down a path which will be both destructive to the White House and to the reputation of the Federal Government as a whole."

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