Video: Rep. Allen West destroys Obama bureaucrat on the DISCLOSE executive order
Rep. Allen West, who is retired military, knows more than a thing or two about the government procurement process. So when he grills Obama admin lackey Douglas Gordon on the executive order drafted to force companies that do business with the government to disclose their employees’ political contributions, he knows what he is talking about. The bureaucrat insists that contract officers would “never” actually use that information in weighing the awarding of contracts, but never justifies that assertion. West finally gets the bureaucrat to admit that he isn’t even in a position to assess the draft executive order, West cuts to the heart of the conversation: “Why are you here?”
This executive order would create conditions for a political pay-to-play government contracting process, while stifling political speech and creating a whole new enforcement bureaucracy. That’s the bottom line here.
(via Right Scoop)
the Chicago way.
…and it IS CRIMMINAL
Playing the contrarian here…
Go ahead, let The Won issue that order.
Then when he’s booted out in favor of a Republican in 2012, let said Republican offer contracts only to the most conservative companies.
When the lefties complain, point out that it was Their Own Secular Savior who issued the executive order.
Make popcorn and watch them tie themselves in knots over that “abuse” of power that was just fine when His Obamaness did it.
Better entertainment than most things that are on TV these days!
obama stands to win in 2012 with more votes then voters. acorn has never stopped their work
Democrats thought George H. W. Bush was unbeatable after the first Gulf War, too.
You can probably remember how valid that prediction turned out to be.
No one is unbeatable.
what a shame that THUGS will decide who the leaderof our people will be!!!!
It doesn’t matter what dems did.
Facts don’t matter. Truth doesn’t matter. What matters is controlling the megaphone in the media and in the class room.
So long as the dems control the MSM the facts and truth will not matter.
Don’t let bad laws come to fruition. Stop them, stop them all the time you can.
Heh.
I did say I was playing contrarian.
Honestly, if I drop the devil’s advocate mask, Obama has to be stopped. But it’s fun speculating on what could happen if he succeeds and some Republican takes advantage of it later.
Don’t be silly, you fall into the double-standard trap.
Have we withdrawn from Iraq? Why aren’t there anti-war protests?
Why don’t Code Pinks protest the Afghanistan War, the Libyan War, Gitmo, the Patriot Act, the warrantless phone taps? Why aren’t the press hyperventillating against Bush’s policies in 2011? Because a Democrat is in the White House.
Ergo Obama can reward his cronies with pay to play, and punish those who do not pay, the Republican president will not be allowed to do the same.
Another example: when Newt Gingrich’s(?) phone call was bugged by a Democrat operative, Newt was pillorized for his campaign plan, the illegal phone tap was ignored; when a Republican got hold of a Dem plan, the Republican operative was fired, the Republicans were excoriated by the media, the Dem plan was not discussed.
In any case, pay-to-play is wrong whether under a Democratic president or a Republican president. The politicians reward those who bribe them, i.e. contribute to their campaigns, with our money.
Just to let you know: politician Mayor Daly keeps his million dollars bribe/campaign fund.
I am blown away by the incompetence of this administration hack who would even respond to any hypothetical questions concerning a draft Executive Order (EO). That said, there should be no reasonable doubt in anyone’s mind that such an EO, if implemented, would be consistently abused to discriminate against conservatives and to strongly discourage contributions to conservative candidates. This administration is lawless.
I’m surprised at the level of willful misinterpretation here.
When you run a company that contracts with the government, should you be able to lobby congress? Even on things that affect your business? It would be better to ban this, but at least if we (the public) know about it, we can raise a fuss. Right now, we’re left in the dark while companies pull this kind of thing.
In an ideal world, we’d take all the lobbying out of politics. This is the next best thing.
No “misrepresentation” …just facts. The proposed EO would require companies to delve into the private lives of their executives to find out and report PRIVATE contributions. This is intrusive and should be stopped!!
I’m surprised at the level of willful misinterpretation here.
When you run a company that contracts with the government, should you be able to lobby congress? Even on things that affect your business? It would be better to ban this, but at least if we (the public) know about it, we can raise a fuss. Right now, we’re left in the dark while companies pull this kind of thing.
In an ideal world, we’d take all the lobbying out of politics. This is the next best thing.
(hoping this isn’t a duplicate reply; my first try didn’t seem to work)
Mr. Gunn,
As an individual, I contribute to political campaigns based on my own political philosophy that more than often runs contrary to the political philosophy of the corporation for whom I work.
If my company were to apply for a government contract and the issue of my personal political contributions were raised, with my identity exposed to my employer, I would most likely be released from employment.
What we are talking about with this Executive Order is a political pogrom, a political witch hunt to expose and disemploy dissenters from major corporations. Think of the poor guy at GE who doesn’t like the crony capitalism of his ivy league executives and works quietly to upend it.
This is an attack on individuals. What it is NOT is a move towards transparency. If this Administration wanted transparency we’d know a hell of a lot more about Obama’a undisclosed foreign donors, but we don’t and we won’t.
Get serious, man.
Rep. West: excellent insightful incisive questioning. This guy is first rate. Glad he’s on our team and bet the lefties are mortified. Great future and he’s never had a bigger target painted on him.
“The bureaucrat insists that contract officers would “never” actually use that information in weighing the awarding of contracts”
Then why do they need it?
Of course they would use it.
In legitimate contracting, not the chicago way, you never ask for any information that is not going to be directly weighed in the selection process. To do otherwise, is to in invite suspicions that the extraneous information was used, inappropriately.
If they think the donation list is for transparency, then it is simply something that is provided after award along with all the other performance documentation such as copies of insurance, etc. That still leaves opportunity for harassment but at least not impacting the selection process.
By the way, did you catch the witnesses attempt to be condescending. “When I heard the acronym, RFP, I knew you were…” The Congressman shut him down quick and I’m sure the “Why are you here?” question stung.
If the public is really interested they can search the Federal Election Commission (FEC) database for contributions. You can search by candidate, campaign committee or by donor.
There’s no need for anyone to collect the information a second time.
If the public is really interested in this information it’s available on the Federal Election Commission (FEC) website. You can search donations by candidate, campaign committee or donor.
There’s no reason for anyone to collect this information a second time since candidates are required to collect and submit it. Of course if you could get enough disclosures from donors it might be interesting to compare that list with the list the candidates submit.
Political contribution disclosure will ceratinly be used in the selection process. Who are they trying to kid? This administration preaches from both sides of it’s mouth….
It seems to me that if disclosure of political contributions is not necessary for the evaluation of a proposal, then it is not necessary at all. But if that information is available before the award, it will certainly influence decisions.
Hey That is a fearless man ! We need 1000000000 more like him in America. Commmon sense and testicles!!! Barry and all his marxist peeps think we are in the dark like those who voted him in. Bless God America!
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The thing that gets me is with a response like, he probably didn’t have the knowledge to understand the OE any way and west knew that. The most concerning thing is that they can also use the companies workers at will and with out pay. This is coming from a “lower class worker” who can and dose understand it and I think it is criminal. I hope that at 224 years old I don’t have to see the down fall of the best country in the world for one man’s greed. I’ve no one to blame but the ignorance of my generation.
24 years old sorry