Gangster Government, part MCCLVII

Last week Hans von Spakovsky reported at PJM that the Obama administration is circulating the draft of an executive order for comments from several government agencies. Titled “Disclosure of Political Spending By Government Contractors,” it represents the Obama administration’s attempt to implement by executive fiat portions of the DISCLOSE Act as to federal contractors.
As von Spakovsky explains, the executive order would require companies to delve into the personal political activities of their officers and directors and require them to report political contributions those employees have made, not out of corporate funds (which is illegal), but out of their personal funds (“all contributions or expenditures to or on behalf of federal candidates, parties or party committees made by the bidding entity, its directors or officers, or any affiliates within its control; and any contributions made to third party entities with the intention or reasonable expectation that parties would use those contributions to make independent expenditures or electioneering communications”).
Hmmm. What gives? Conn Caroll takes a look and explicates the obvious:

There is a very simple way to prove that this Obama order is all about punishing his enemies and rewarding his friends: unions that sign collective bargaining contracts with the federal government are exempt from the “disclosure” requirements. Liberal groups, the largest of which are all unions, spent $95 million on outside expenditures alone in the 2010 cycle alone.

One can only imagine what liberals might say about such an order were it to be targeted at labor unions and promulgated by a conservative administration. The draft executive order in any event constitutes bad public policy. It is designed to circumvent resistance from Congress, the Supreme Court, and the FEC, and it is meant to facilitate the practice of Gangster Government.

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