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Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle aired their grievances Thursday about a draft proposal from the White House that makes federal contractors disclose their political contributions.

"Doing this ahead of the fact; doing this ahead of the contract award and having that information out there can serve no other purpose than to be politically motivated," Rep. Sam Graves, R-Mo. said at a joint hearing of the House oversight and small business committees.

Bipartisan opposition to the proposal grew, when Democratic Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill joined Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman, an independent, in a letter to the president with a warning.

"[R]equiring businesses to disclose their political activity when making an offer risks injecting politics into the contracting process," Lieberman said.

Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., chairman of the House Oversight committee who has vowed to investigate many Obama administration policies this year, took a more personal swipe at the president, saying contractors are fearing "...a corrupt Chicago-style spoils system where contracts are tied to partisan political affiliations."

The White House has argued that the proposal is in draft form and that the president continues to look it over. They have reiterated for the administration, it’s about transparency and openness.

But Issa says the draft order doesn't apply to unions.

"It exempts unions which do have a limited amount of contracts and a great many grants to the federal government," he said.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., on Wednesday called the proposal a disguise that would allow the administration to know a political donation and use that as a basis or denial of a contract.

Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Md., the second ranking Democrat in the House, who has many federal workers in his Maryland district also opposes the draft order.


emperor obama strikes again.

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Showing their true colors ... color

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They just don't want the public to see how they got those contracts - by spreading some money around.

I think its a good idea to let the public know how entangled these companies may be with the politicians they stand to benefit from.  This should help combat graft.  It would still be illegal to discriminate against companies due to political affiliation, and if discrimination could be proved, then it would be grounds for law suit.

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omg...