Imperial White House Admits Working On Executive Order Attacking First Amendment

It started with Citizens United vs. Federal Elections Commission a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that upheld the right of corporations and unions to donate to campaigns, throwing out parts of McCain Feingold campaign finance law. The Court said the law violated the First Amendment to the Constitution. Little Chucky Schumer tried to create legislation to once again put restrictions on campaign (and internet free speech). He called it the "Democracy Is Strengthened by Casting Light On Spending in Elections Act" the DISCLOSE act. DISCLOSE "Get it?" asked Schumer when he announced the bill. Oh we got it, this is another progressive attempt at silencing Corporations while allowing labor unions to do just about whatever they want. Schumer's bill couldn't make it through the Congress dominated by his own party, so now the President is preparing an executive order that goes around the legislature and ignores the first amendment.

The executive order is called the “Disclosure of Political Spending By Government Contractors,” the order would implement parts of Chucky Schumer's DISCLOSE Act and just like Schumer's law it restricts corporations while giving unions Carte Blanche

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney confirmed Monday that work is underway on the draft order, and linked the move to President Obama’s stated commitment to transparency.

“We fully acknowledge there is a process underway,” he told CNSNews.com. “A draft is just that. It’s a draft until it makes its way through the process. The president is committed to transparency and he certainly thinks American taxpayers should know where their money is going.”

Government contractors are already required to disclose contributions to political candidates. This executive order would require the disclosure of any donations to independent groups, where conservative groups outspent liberal ones in the 2010 election.

Of course that's not quite true, amongst  the biggest spenders in the 2010 election were labor unions.

This is nothing but an attempt by the President to and his progressive minions to intimidate businesses away from participating in the election process, while allowing unions (who donate primarily to Democrats) to do whatever they want.

McConnell said in a statement last week, after reports of the draft emerged.

“So recent press reports about an unprecedented draft Executive Order raise troubling concerns about an effort to silence or intimidate political adversaries’ speech through the government contracting system,” he said. “If true, the proposed effort would represent an outrageous and anti-democratic abuse of executive branch authority. No administration should use the federal contracting system for campaign purposes.”

Hans A. von Spakovsky, senior legal fellow at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, was skeptical of Carney’s assertion that the president was merely committed to transparency.

“If transparency is the true goal, why isn’t the proposed executive order covering any outside entity that gets federal money? It only applies to government contractors, not grant recipients like Planned Parenthood,” he told CNSNews.com. “Public employee unions are also exempt from this order.”

The draft executive order would require government contractors to disclose:

• “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 or subsidiaries within its control.”

• “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.” 

In the end this is just one more attempt by the Obama administration to beat down the constitution and to go around Congress.  Just as he did with Obamacare, the Auto Buyout and the Czars this President's arrogance continues to place him at odds with the welfare of the American People.