OBAMA’S PROPOSED NEW EXECUTIVE ORDER: TRANSPARENCY OR A BOOT ON THE THROAT?

OBAMA’S PROPOSED NEW EXECUTIVE ORDER: TRANSPARENCY OR A BOOT ON THE THROAT?
The Blaze ^ | April 21, 2011 | Mike Opelka

Posted on Thursday, April 21, 2011 10:11:32 AM by La Lydia

What would you think if, before any government contracts could be awarded to private businesses, all bidders were required to reveal any and all political contributions made by the company, its executives and board of directors? One could infer that such a rule might create the potential for the government to decide on who wins the contract based on the company’s political leanings or that of its officers, instead of getting the best company to do the job for the best price.




Additionally, such a requirement might allow the government to financially punish any company that makes donations to candidates considered to be in competition with their party’s agenda. This situation is very close to becoming reality as a draft of the order has been circulating around Washington, DC and raising quite a few eyebrows.

Senate Minority Leader, Mitch McConnell was not pleased to hear about this and released the following written statement;

‘No White House should be able to review your political party affiliation before deciding if you’re worthy of a government contract. 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.’

McConnell’s statement was rebutted by White House spokesperson Jay Carney who claimed that this was more about ‘transparency’ than politics.

Not lost on fans of irony should be the fact that the same administration claiming to be fighting for transparency also accepted an award for transparency behind closed doors and without the benefit of any media coverage. And then there is last week’s Blaze story on the glaring lack of transparency from the White House visitor logs...