Yes indeed! When one wants to do something that would actually be good for the American people and bad for the Republican’s American Taliban and their corporate masters, Senator McConnell is usually the first Taliban member to pitch a bitch about it.
So,what is the “ executive order “ that Obama may issue that has Bitch McConnell so upset? DailyKos diarist
Pluto has the details.
I like this breaking story so much, I decided to Diary it. It's sort of "a tale of two commonwealths," in my opinion.
I think the headline may be misleading, but here's how it appears in the Washington Post:
McConnell slams executive order to allow White House to demand political records before awarding contracts
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Wednesday strongly criticized a proposed executive order that would require companies seeking federal contracts to disclose political contributions that would otherwise have been secret under current law, calling the move an “outrageous and anti-Democratic abuse of executive branch authority.”
Yeah. Right.
The Corporatist Republican Point of View:
Mitch McConnell claims that this Executive Order has nothing to do with transparency. He insists that it is a device for the Obama administration to block Republican donors from receiving lucrative government contracts.
He paints the scenario this way:
“Under the guise of ‘transparency,’ the Obama administration reportedly wants to know the political leanings of any company or small business, including those of their officers and directors, before the government decides if they’ll award them federal contracts.” “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,” McConnell added. “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.”
Today, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney confirmed that an Executive Order was, indeed, in the works.
Meanwhile, the Heritage Foundation acquired a draft copy and have started their spin about this "sinister" White House scheme. They note that: "The executive order would require any company bidding for a federal contract, including its directors and officers, to reveal any political contributions it has made over the past two years that amount to more than $5,000 annually."
First of all, citizen contributions are already a matter of public record. So are corporate lobbying contributions. There are no secrets there. So, what has the Republicans so alarmed? The stinger is that the EO includes language that is a significant "work around" to the corrupt Citizens United Supreme Court decision, which gives corporations the ability to anonymously bribe elected officials by passing money through a third party.
The Executive Order would bring transparency to corporate contributions made to outside groups who are currently allowed to make anonymous "gifts" to Senators and Congressmen.
Normally -- when there is a conflict of interest -- those Senators and Congressmen, who have accepted corporate bribes through third-parties, will vote for a specific corporation's interests and vote against the best interests of the people and the American commonwealth.
And, since this indirect bribery is anomyous -- the taxpayers will never have a paper trail to find out who paid how much to buy whose vote.
The Populist Democratic Point of View:
Jay Carney, when confronted with this epic political conspiracy theory, firmly dismissed the idea that there were partisan motivations behind this Executive Order -- which he says will be announced over the next few days. He did not elaborate on any details of the EO, but explained the motivation for its writing:
“President Obama believes very strongly that taxpayers deserve to know whether or not the contractors that their money is being used — how they’re spending their money, and how they’re spending [taxpayer contract money] in terms of political campaigns. And his goal is transparency and accountability. That’s the responsible thing to do when you’re handling taxpayer dollars.”
Did you get that?
(Thanks to Citizens United, taxpayer money that corporations receive for government contracts can be anonymously kicked back to Senators and Congressmen, to buy their votes for future lucrative contracts (or legislation) on that corporation's behalf -- whether or not it actually benefits the American commonwealth.)
Ugh, transparency.
I hate it when that happens!
McConnell whined earlier today that it was his "sincere hope that recent reports of a draft Executive Order were simply the work of a partisan within the Obama administration and not the position taken by the president himself." "But he should make that clear," he whimpered.
Moar Executive Orders!
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