Nixonian

Enemies list. [Link]

[T]he president prepares to issue a far-reaching executive order that would require the government to collect detailed information about the political activities of anyone applying for a federal contract. The proposed order would require businesses to furnish, with each contract proposal, a list not only of their contributions to political candidates and committees, but also their contributions to groups that do not under current law have to reveal their donors.

Democrats are probably going, 'You go Obama! Stop those evil corporations that support Republicans', but you may want to hold the applause.

Why is this a bad idea? Recall that in August 1971, Richard Nixon’s White House counsel John Dean penned a confidential memorandum in which he proposed creating a list of “our political enemies.” The purpose of the exercise, according to Dean, was to “determine what sorts of dealings these individuals have with the Federal Government and how we can best screw them (e.g., grant availability, federal contracts.. . . etc.)” Since then, enormous steps have been taken to clean up the federal contracting process and ensure that government contracts are granted solely on the basis of merit. Obama’s proposed executive order would undermine that progress, reverse years of effort to remove politics from contracting decisions and create incentives for impropriety.

Even if no corrupt action is ever taken by the president’s political appointees, just the existence of these new rules would have a chilling effect on free speech. Businesses that disagree with the president’s policies would be discouraged from exercising their right to free expression for fear that doing so would jeopardize their chances of being awarded government contracts. Meanwhile, there would be an unspoken incentive for businesses seeking contracts to contribute to candidates and causes supported by the White House.