President Obama Seeks Executive Order to Undermine Citizens United Case

[CAC1001]

http://online.wsj.com/article/potomac_watch.html
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-0509-donor-disclose-20110508,0,5609555.story

Seems like a real "Chicago-style" political move. I hope it doesn't pass. We shouldn't politicize the system of which companies get contracts.

 

[ParticleGrl]

I don't understand what the controversy is. I'm always for more transparency- why shouldn't companies bidding on contracts be required to reveal what money they've thrown around? I'd be happy if recipients of federal money had similar disclosures. I fail to see how more transparency can be a bad thing, especially when it comes to spending.

Also, the wsj opinion piece makes the rather bad assumption that companies donate to republicans exclusively and groups that receive federal money donate exclusively to democrats.

 

[TheStatutoryApe]

I am not sure why people are reacting to it the way that they are. It would seem to me to have the effect of discouraging hiring based on politics as it will be public knowledge that so-and-so made a large donation to so-and-so's campaign and now has a lucrative government contract. Why would anyone think that it would be a great idea to make their political favouritism public?

 

[mege]

Aside from the policy specifics - I'm getting really annoyed with 'executive orders' to flat ignore policies that have been passed by congress, signed by a previous President, and overcame judicial review. If President Obama wants to repeal these laws, then pressure congress to repeal it rather than just signing non-enforcement executive orders.

What's the point of checks and balances when one branch is not respecting the other's decisions?

 

[Hurkyl]

I fail to see how more transparency can be a bad thing, especially when it comes to spending.

Then you're not being imaginative enough. You're being too naïve if you cannot imagine how this could be used for coercion, both intentional and unintentional, both malicious and benevolent.

It's one thing to argue as to the extent of the negatives, but it's simply wrong to dismiss them without consideration, or even to fail to acknowledge them.

 

[WhoWee]

This is typical of the President - isn't it? IMO - he says one thing and does another.

 

[TheStatutoryApe]

Aside from the policy specifics - I'm getting really annoyed with 'executive orders' to flat ignore policies that have been passed by congress, signed by a previous President, and overcame judicial review. If President Obama wants to repeal these laws, then pressure congress to repeal it rather than just signing non-enforcement executive orders.

What's the point of checks and balances when one branch is not respecting the other's decisions?

Repeal what laws? He is setting policy. Requirements for applying for a government contract are not necessarily governed by law. It would seem, on face value, to be a measure of transparency which would allow us to see where there may be instances of large corporations "buying" government contracts.

This is typical of the President - isn't it? IMO - he says one thing and does another.

What is he saying and doing the opposite of in this case? Didn't he campaign partially on the issue of government transparency?

 

[WhoWee]

What is he saying and doing the opposite of in this case? Didn't he campaign partially on the issue of government transparency?

Hmmm - a few things come to mind:

Close scrutiny of dirlling in the Gulf - encouraging Brazilian oil companies to drill off-shore (BTW - George Soros was involved with one of Brazil's major oil companies that had a loan from China guaranteed by the Obama Administration). He also told them we wanted to be good customers? It was also reported recently (from Import/Export reports) that the Obama Administration was involved in the financing of a South American oil refinery - because they might buy parts from US manufacturers. How long has it been since a refinery was built in the US?

GM and GE both received very favorable tax breaks. The President has also traveled with GE around the world and helped them secure business - even though GE has outsourced or moved offshore many thousands of jobs.

As for GM, the Democrat-supporting unions received preferential treatment and many Republican-supporting car dealers found their franchises canceled - to allow for a more fair and diverse distribution of ownership and locations.

Please label my entire post IMO - as I don't to re-post all of the links I've used to support these same comments in other threads.

 

[CAC1001]

I don't understand what the controversy is. I'm always for more transparency- why shouldn't companies bidding on contracts be required to reveal what money they've thrown around? I'd be happy if recipients of federal money had similar disclosures. I fail to see how more transparency can be a bad thing, especially when it comes to spending.

Also, the wsj opinion piece makes the rather bad assumption that companies donate to republicans exclusively and groups that receive federal money donate exclusively to democrats.

Repeal what laws? He is setting policy. Requirements for applying for a government contract are not necessarily governed by law. It would seem, on face value, to be a measure of transparency which would allow us to see where there may be instances of large corporations "buying" government contracts.

What is he saying and doing the opposite of in this case? Didn't he campaign partially on the issue of government transparency?

According to the WSJ article, what blows a hole in the transparency argument is that this executive order does not apply to unions, environmental organizations, Planned Parenthood, etc...recipients of government contracts that usually give to Democrats. It was like the legislation that failed to pass (by one vote) to counter the Citizens United case, it was only to apply to corporations but to leave the unions free to spend freely in elections.

Also, there are quite a few government contractor companies that probably do tend to support Republicans because they are defense contractors, and Republicans are known more for the military-industrial complex than the Democrats. Corporations that tend to vote Democratic right now, wouldn't have much of a concern, but what President Obama seems to want to do is to intimidate the corporations that contribute to Republicans to not do so.

To me, this seems more like a blatant political move being labeled as "transparency." Imagine the uproar if George W. Bush, via executive order, decided to make it mandatory where all unions, environmental organizations, and Planned Parenthood had to disclose where and whom all their political donations went to, but then exempted completely all corporations.

The Left would scream and terms such as fascist, Hitler, Nazi, you name it, would probably be tossed around.

 

[CAC1001]

Hmmm - a few things come to mind:

Close scrutiny of dirlling in the Gulf - encouraging Brazilian oil companies to drill off-shore (BTW - George Soros was involved with one of Brazil's major oil companies that had a loan from China guaranteed by the Obama Administration). He also told them we wanted to be good customers? It was also reported recently (from Import/Export reports) that the Obama Administration was involved in the financing of a South American oil refinery - because they might buy parts from US manufacturers. How long has it been since a refinery was built in the US?

GM and GE both received very favorable tax breaks. The President has also traveled with GE around the world and helped them secure business - even though GE has outsourced or moved offshore many thousands of jobs.

As for GM, the Democrat-supporting unions received preferential treatment and many Republican-supporting car dealers found their franchises canceled - to allow for a more fair and diverse distribution of ownership and locations.

Please label my entire post IMO - as I don't to re-post all of the links I've used to support these same comments in other threads.

Didn't know that about the Republican-supporting car dealerships having their franchises cancelled.

 

[mege]

Repeal what laws? He is setting policy. Requirements for applying for a government contract are not necessarily governed by law. It would seem, on face value, to be a measure of transparency which would allow us to see where there may be instances of large corporations "buying" government contracts.


What is he saying and doing the opposite of in this case? Didn't he campaign partially on the issue of government transparency?

Checking into the finances of a private company has to do with government transparency? If anything, the politicians and the organizations receiving charitable money from the government should be the ones opening their books. That seems more appropriate than asking anyone submitting for a government contract to open their books in regards to donations.

Creating one more hoop for a government contractor to jump through only further limits the pool of government contractors regardless of their party affiliations. SDB legislation has already lapsed and nothing similar is in the loop. The partisian issues aside, this type of policy only further serves to separate the government contractors from the private contractors creating an elitism.

As for President Obama ignoring laws (weither I agree with the law or not) he has told the justice department to ignore DOMA, and single handedly took action in Libya (say what you want about President Bush going into the middle east - that was all with Congress's blessing remember). Regardless, it's not the job of the President to 'set policy' - congress should be the body with the real power, intentionally. 535 guys not getting along only passes the most necessary laws and attempts to prevent mavericking (in theory...).

In the end, if President Obama's dictitorial policy went into action requiring government contracts to have disclosure on political donations I think the American public would be suprised at how many are in the pocket of the left... presuming there's not additional clauses protecting leftist-supporting organizations (ie: Unions are already exempt in the last draft).

 

[Evo]

Since when is Planned Parenthood a "government contractor"?

Seems like a real "Chicago-style" political move. I hope it doesn't pass. We shouldn't politicize the system of which companies get contracts.

But this would let us know which politicians are involved in giving contracts to companies that are giving them money.

 

[Pengwuino]

To me, this seems more like a blatant political move being labeled as "transparency." Imagine the uproar if George W. Bush, via executive order, decided to make it mandatory where all unions, environmental organizations, and Planned Parenthood had to disclose where and whom all their political donations went to, but then exempted completely all corporations.

Exactly. Anyone who sees this as anything but a political attack needs to get real. If he really wanted to make the government more transparent, he would demand this for every company/agency/institution that receives federal funding.

 

[mege]

Since when is Planned Parenthood a "government contractor"?

They're not a government contractor - but they're an organization that gets quite a bit of unconditional money (more than most government contracts). Planned Parenthood comes up a lot in this type of discussion because they are known to be lobby-active in Washington. At least a 'traditional' contractor has terms to which they have to meet for some service - the federal government is really just subsidizing PP's activities with minimal checks. (I'm not judging PP for it's mission, but it's an example of potential waste because much of it comes back in political contributions)

The more I think about it - how many contracts do politicians even organize? Maybe some extremely high end military contracts (the once/year contracts you'll hear about in the news) have some congressional involvement, but do the run of the mill service contracts for the government have any political influence or are they decided on by a lower-level government employee?

 

[Pengwuino]

But this would let us know which politicians are involved in giving contracts to companies that are giving them money.

Yes, and why isn't he applying this to organizations that receive grants or other forms of monies? Bailout recipients?

 

[Evo]

The more I think about it - how many contracts do politicians even organize? Maybe some extremely high end military contracts (the once/year contracts you'll hear about in the news) have some congressional involvement, but do the run of the mill service contracts for the government have any political influence or are they decided on by a lower-level government employee?

It doesn't have to personally involve the politician that's getting the money, but the people that the politician can persuade to throw a contract to his benefactors.

 

[ParticleGrl]

Close scrutiny of dirlling in the Gulf - encouraging Brazilian oil companies to drill off-shore (BTW - George Soros was involved with one of Brazil's major oil companies that had a loan from China guaranteed by the Obama Administration). He also told them we wanted to be good customers? It was also reported recently (from Import/Export reports) that the Obama Administration was involved in the financing of a South American oil refinery - because they might buy parts from US manufacturers.

Pretty much every word of the above are highly out-of-context facts designed to paint a misleading picture. The whole line of reasoning reflects huge misunderstandings about the import/export bank of the US and how it works. The money comes from the private sector, not government money, and the decisions are made by businessmen and bankers, not the administration. Further, the deals made with Petrobras were made by Bush's appointees. Basically, at every level the conspiracy theory fails.

Exactly. Anyone who sees this as anything but a political attack needs to get real. If he really wanted to make the government more transparent, he would demand this for every company/agency/institution that receives federal funding.

Many non-profits already make such disclosures under the law, and the campaign finance disclosure laws require politicians to disclose donations. You can look up, for instance, how much the UAW donated to Obama, etc. But what happens occasionally (and more and more frequently) is that a company or group "launders" the money by passing it through a third party to hide the source of the money.

What the Obama administration wants is for these so called "super-pacs" to have to disclose the source of their funds. This would have the side-effect of all non-profits having to make such disclosures. This requires rewriting the laws governing non-profits- such a law was tried, and sadly voted down. Both republicans and democrats don't seem to want to risk hurting the gravy-train.

The executive order can be made regarding government contracts- but there is no way for an executive order to force all non-profits to disclose funding sources.

This is a political move, no doubt, but its not as nakedly political as you seem to be painting. The administration DID craft a law that tried to do as you suggest- full transparency for non-profits, but couldn't get the votes.

Also- something to think about: the only way this can effect companies is if they are worried there donations will seem improper. If everything is above-board, such an executive order should have no effect.

And lastly- this is NOT in anyway a run around Citizens United. If you read the majority decision, it assumes such donations made by corporations would be transparent. In that sense, the executive order, and requiring super-pac disclosures are very much in the spirit of citizens united.

 

[WhoWee]

Pretty much every word of the above are highly out-of-context facts designed to paint a misleading picture. The whole line of reasoning reflects huge misunderstandings about the import/export bank of the US and how it works. The money comes from the private sector, not government money, and the decisions are made by businessmen and bankers, not the administration. Further, the deals made with Petrobras were made by Bush's appointees. Basically, at every level the conspiracy theory fails.



Many non-profits already make such disclosures under the law, and the campaign finance disclosure laws require politicians to disclose donations. You can look up, for instance, how much the UAW donated to Obama, etc. But what happens occasionally (and more and more frequently) is that a company or group "launders" the money by passing it through a third party to hide the source of the money.

What the Obama administration wants is for these so called "super-pacs" to have to disclose the source of their funds. This would have the side-effect of all non-profits having to make such disclosures. This requires rewriting the laws governing non-profits- such a law was tried, and sadly voted down. Both republicans and democrats don't seem to want to risk hurting the gravy-train.

The executive order can be made regarding government contracts- but there is no way for an executive order to force all non-profits to disclose funding sources.

This is a political move, no doubt, but its not as nakedly political as you seem to be painting. The administration DID craft a law that tried to do as you suggest- full transparency for non-profits, but couldn't get the votes.

Also- something to think about: the only way this can effect companies is if they are worried there donations will seem improper. If everything is above-board, such an executive order should have no effect.

And lastly- this is NOT in anyway a run around Citizens United. If you read the majority decision, it assumes such donations made by corporations would be transparent. In that sense, the executive order, and requiring super-pac disclosures are very much in the spirit of citizens united.

I labeled my entire post - IMO - thank you for acknowledging as fact. Care to enlighten us about the guarantees of Petrobras loans? Did they not occur while Mr. Soros was an investor and during the term of this President?

I'm also not sure what is misleading about restricted drilling in the Gulf and the President's encouragement of Brazil to drill?

 

[Hurkyl]

Again you seem to be adopting a rather naïve position.

Also- something to think about: the only way this can effect companies is if they are worried there donations will seem improper.

If you mean what you say, then I really, truly, don't understand how you got this idea in your head. (Except, possibly, via the process of latching onto one idea and completely rejecting any other thought relevant to the topic)

How do you manage to ignore the possibility that, even if everything is proper, knowing a corporation's donations will influence opinions of the public, government employees, and other corporations? (and all of the good and bad that come from such opinions)

If everything is above-board, such an executive order should have no effect.

And even if you were right, "seem improper" isn't even the antonym of "everything is above-board".

 

[ParticleGrl]

Again you seem to be adopting a rather naïve position.

What bad do you perceive as coming from open information of this variety?

How do you manage to ignore the possibility that, even if everything is proper, knowing a corporation's donations will influence opinions of the public, government employees, and other corporations? (and all of the good and bad that come from such opinions)

I believe this is the whole point of the law- to allow information to influence the political and voting climate. Having accurate information to shape opinions allows for informed opinions. I strongly believe that informed opinions are always preferable to the opposite.

Further, if companies are aware of each other's lobbying efforts, it helps move things toward a free market. Markets fail when information is asymmetrical.

 

[Vanadium 50]

since when is planned parenthood a "government contractor"?.

1970.

 

[Hurkyl]

What bad do you perceive as coming from open information of this variety?

The obvious! Corporations or other persons with power discriminating based upon political activity. Public hysteria over imagined below-the-board dealings. Corporations refraining form otherwise right and proper political activity for fear of being accused of impropriety.

 

[ParticleGrl]

The obvious! Corporations or other persons with power discriminating based upon political activity.

In what way do you see corporations discriminating based on political activity? What sort of discrimination are you suggesting? I honestly don't understand what this point is.

Public hysteria over imagined below-the-board dealings. Corporations refraining form otherwise right and proper political activity for fear of being accused of impropriety.

If the public becomes "hysterical" over money being thrown around, aren't they really saying "I prefer a politician who hasn't accepted this money?" Isn't that their right as a voter? Basically, your argument is that people might use this information to vote for different politicians, so we should hide this information?

What exactly will corporations be afraid of when engaging in political activity? Its obvious that when a contractor donates to a member of an appropriations committee, they expect it will help the bottom line of the corporation. This is right and proper- in fact if they thought it wouldn't help the bottom line, they aren't serving share-holders. What is to fear by exposing the money flow to some daylight? Are they worried customers will vote with their wallets? Isn't that a customers right?

 

[Pengwuino]

What bad do you perceive as coming from open information of this variety?

You're looking at this from a different perspective as others are looking at it. I'm still trying to actually figure out which issue is the more realistic one.

You believe that it's a great idea because you're seeing it from the "contractors can't be trusted" side. You believe that it's only fair for the public to know if certain contractors are throwing money at a candidate who inevitably hands them over a big time contract. Fair enough.

Other people are seeing this from "the government can't be trusted" side. If a Republican (Democrat) representative must select from a group of people vying for a contract, whose to say they won't throw out bids that they see are made by people who overwhelmingly gave to Democrat (Republican) campaign funds?

I feel, if anything, it might force even more corruption. If you're, for example, a legitimate California company that just happens to contribute mainly to democrats, might you be persuaded to give to republicans just so you don't appear corrupt?

 

[Proton Soup]

The obvious! Corporations or other persons with power discriminating based upon political activity. Public hysteria over imagined below-the-board dealings. Corporations refraining form otherwise right and proper political activity for fear of being accused of impropriety.

if public hysteria is bad, does that mean corporate hysteria is good?

i think the fear is a bit overblown. it's not as if some corporate leaders aren't already a bit public about their politics.

 

[ParticleGrl]

You believe that it's a great idea because you're seeing it from the "contractors can't be trusted" side. You believe that it's only fair for the public to know if certain contractors are throwing money at a candidate who inevitably hands them over a big time contract. Fair enough.

Other people are seeing this from "the government can't be trusted" side. If a Republican (Democrat) representative must select from a group of people vying for a contract, whose to say they won't throw out bids that they see are made by people who overwhelmingly gave to Democrat (Republican) campaign funds?

I'm actually from a "more information is always good", "less information is always bad" perspective. The reason is that I don't trust government or corporations. Hence, I want to know what they are doing. If you have information, and someone is doing something you don't like, you can vote them out (or the shareholders can)

First, I don't think most companies gives to only democrats or only republicans. Keep in mind, we are only talking about federal government contractors. Rather, I expect (say) military contractors give to anyone on the Defense appropriations sub-committee, etc. But even granting that-

Assume a Republican(Democrat) consistently veto contractors who gave to the other party. If voters decide that naked partisanship is a bad thing, they'll vote on it. If they don't vote on it, the competitive equilibria is that no contractors give to elections. This leads to a. fair competition for contracts, b. less money for campaigns.

 

[Hurkyl]

In what way do you see corporations discriminating based on political activity? What sort of discrimination are you suggesting? I honestly don't understand what this point is.

...

Politicians denying government contracts to corporations that support opposing parties. Major corporations strong-arming suppliers into supporting its favorite candidates (or at least staying out of politics entirely). Spin doctors turning perfectly innocent contributions into imagined wrongdoings that whip up a frenzy of negative public opinion. Corporations avoiding any political activity at all out of fear of being vulnerable to such activities. Politicians denying, out of fear of being accused of wrong-doing, government contracts to deserving corporations that happen to have supported his party

i think the fear is a bit overblown.

You can find people who overblow anything. I'm pretty sure that arguing, as I have, that one should acknowledge these concerns doesn't count as being overblown.

 

[TheStatutoryApe]

You're looking at this from a different perspective as others are looking at it. I'm still trying to actually figure out which issue is the more realistic one.

You believe that it's a great idea because you're seeing it from the "contractors can't be trusted" side. You believe that it's only fair for the public to know if certain contractors are throwing money at a candidate who inevitably hands them over a big time contract. Fair enough.

Other people are seeing this from "the government can't be trusted" side. If a Republican (Democrat) representative must select from a group of people vying for a contract, whose to say they won't throw out bids that they see are made by people who overwhelmingly gave to Democrat (Republican) campaign funds?

I feel, if anything, it might force even more corruption. If you're, for example, a legitimate California company that just happens to contribute mainly to democrats, might you be persuaded to give to republicans just so you don't appear corrupt?

This is what I do not get. Even the appearance of republican discrimination will supposedly be enough to unfairly influence the activities of republican politicians and companies that donate republican but at the same time it will make it open season for democrats to discriminate right out in the open. Does that really make any sense to you?

I mean this as it is being portrayed in the articles, I did note that you made them interchangeable in your post. The point is that both sorts of discrimination, by whom ever, will be visible to the public. Why does visibility make one more acceptable than the other?

 

[mege]

This is what I do not get. Even the appearance of republican discrimination will supposedly be enough to unfairly influence the activities of republican politicians and companies that donate republican but at the same time it will make it open season for democrats to discriminate right out in the open. Does that really make any sense to you?

I mean this as it is being portrayed in the articles, I did note that you made them interchangeable in your post. The point is that both sorts of discrimination, by whom ever, will be visible to the public. Why does visibility make one more acceptable than the other?

The court of public opinion is where much of the actual judgement will take place. This policy is just one more notch of anti-corporate policy that is meant to hurt politically active companies just as much as their donation targets. I feel much of the public will EXPECT discrimination based on a company's donation. It opens up a realm of even more partisan politics when we're already becoming more divisive. Sure, everyone can do it - but do we want to add more weapons to the game?

Something of note - just because a company gets a government contract doesn't mean that the owner/controller/CEO/president of that company is going to be lining their pockets - there still is a value that the government is getting from the contract. Any contract that an elected official is going to be manipulative over will have to defend that contract against his peers (from all parties). Otherwise, if you're worried about cronyism - you're likely dealing with more waste in contracts that are administered by non-elected officials than the few large ones that congress deals with.

If the real purpose of the policy is to end corruption in congress and the white house - then I would propose the following: 1) eliminate tax-breaks for political donations and 2) make political donations taxable when submitted from a 501c3 organization. I think much of the political donations are really just tax havens, so why wouldn't individuals/businesses donate politically if they can get a gain out of it - tax free. I don't think the government needs to be in the business of encouraging political donations - that will all come out on it's own anyhow.

 

[CAC1001]

If they are going to do this, require all entities that get government money to reveal to whom/what they are giving donations, not just one specific form, while exempting others because they benefit your party.

But I am fuzzy on the idea of it. I understand ParticleGrl's point about entities getting government money and contracts, that the public has a right to know who that company gives money to in case said company is continually giving it to the official giving them a contract, on the other hand, I also think it opens up the door to a huge amount of additional corruption.

We also have limits on how much a company can donate to a politician, so it isn't as if Lockheed-Martin for example could say, "Vote for us and we'll fund your whole campaign."