Opening the Doors to the Sausage Factory
Right-wingers are showing their colors again in this:
Republicans are working on multiple fronts to stop President Barack Obama from making companies bidding on federal contracts disclose their donations to third-party political groups.
Gee, I wonder why? But here’s a quote I found interesting:
Issa said the legislation “preempts an executive order designed to silence and intimidate job creators….”
“Job creators”? But we’re talking about companies that use money spent by the federal government. And Republicans have made it eminently clear that such money never, ever, ever creates any jobs. Ever. Remember when Obama was pushing the stimulus? That’s what they insisted. But suddenly, federal money is feeding “job creators.” Interesting.
That’s not all they’re being dishonest about, though. You have to question assumptions: exactly why would it “intimidate” federal contractors if they are required to disclose their contributions to third-party political groups? Note, however, that Issa did not just say “intimidate,” he also said “silence.” Silence them how? What exactly are they saying, and why would they feel it necessary to stop saying these things if they were exposed? Apparently, these are corporations spending millions of dollars to attack politicians who don’t steer as much federal spending their way. So if letting the public know what they are doing will silence and intimidate them, why is that? Because the public would become upset if they knew how the political system was being bought? Why, of course not!
In fact, the Center for Competitive Politics, a right-wing organization which vehemently opposes campaign finance regulation and reform, claims that the Republican bills to stop the requirement of such disclosures constitute a
strong rebuke to the executive branch’s effort to bring politics into the federal contracting process and enable the creation of a Nixon-style Enemies List.
Wow. Federal contractors secretly spending millions of dollars to influence elections and support the campaigns of politicians who will give them billion-dollar contracts is not “bringing politics into the process,” but allowing the public to know what they are doing is “bringing politics into the process”? That’s fascinating.
Also, we all know that Obama is so corrupt that he wants nothing more than to compile enemies lists all day long and then make evil plots to attack groups which support his political opponents. Because we all know there is a long list of right-wing organizations which have been attacked or even killed off by Obama and other liberals in acts of purely political retribution. Organizations like ACORN, SEIU, unions in general, Planned Parenthood, the TIDES–oh, wait, those are liberal groups attacked by right-wingers with enemies lists.
Come to think of it, I can’t really come up with any right-wing groups which have faced such concerted efforts to bring them down. The “enemies list” thing is yet another case of right-wing projection–accusing the other side of your own worst practices. If you recall, the “Obama’s enemies list” canard is nothing new; right-wingers have applied that conspiracy theory to all kinds of things, including the decennial census.
Of course, the disclosure would do nothing than to show the American people exactly who is buying influence in their government. Which is what the right-wingers really don’t want you to see.