Politics

Much post-2012 attention has been focused on identifying weaknesses within the Republican Party, with armchair quarterbacks sounding alarms for a party that still controls one house of Congress, 30 governorships, and a majority of state legislatures across the country.
 
There are obvious issues that the party needs to address to win future national elections, but is the playing field really as uneven as the postgame analysis has made it out to be?  What about some of the looming woes soon to confront Democrats?
 
With Barack Obama in the White House, it’s easy for Democrats to wear the mantle of “change” and moving “forward,” buoyed by a re-elected president who toppled a giant to become his party’s nominee five years ago. But Barack Obama won’t be on the ballot in 2016.
 
Three names that might be pose a challenge to the “change” label: Clinton, Biden and Cuomo.
 
A once-ran for president, twice-ran for president, and son of the Democrat that never ran for president currently dominate 2016 speculation.

Small businesses expect direct decisions and actions from Congress this year. We expect Congress to carry out the people’s business in an orderly fashion. On the surface this seems peripheral to business, and that specific bills or budgets should be the order of the day; however, those bills that come up to Congress that seem to be socially weighted dramatically effect small businesses. Should the government act on banning assault rifles? Maybe, but there is more than the gun industry that is affected by this decision. Many school districts are scrambling to find budgets for additional private security, and one issue facing them is imminent need, and with the assault rifle being viewed as a direct threat, you can bet local authorities are developing budgets and asking for federal assistance to hire companies.

Much has been written recently about  the “disappearing lobbyists” -- the de-registration of individuals once registered under the Lobbying Disclosure Act (LDA). The commentary generally implies that while no longer registered, these individuals are still actively lobbying and strongly suggests that something is amiss -- either the former registrants are violating the LDA or that the LDA is deficient and must be amended.

It’s highly doubtful that this is a result of an epidemic of LDA violations but it may be an indication that LDA should be amended. 

President Obama has nominated long-time public servant Thomas E. Perez to serve as our nation’s next secretary of Labor. As leaders of Maryland’s Workforce Investment Board, we had the opportunity to work closely with Perez when he served as secretary of the Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing, and Regulation.
 
As Congress considers reauthorization of the Workforce Investment Act, the federal legislation key to so many of the state and local programs we worked on in Maryland, Perez' experience working on this and related issues can be a crucial addition to the national debate.

I’ve got bad news for the national press: The Republican Party is not dead. I know much has been said, written and pontificated upon about how terrible the Republican brand has become and how the party needs to change. I disagree – one can look no further than Republicans in the United States House of Representatives to see an alive, vibrant and thoughtful group of Republican leaders. 

True, the GOP suffered a large-scale defeat in the presidential race and, true, the GOP failed to win important seats in the U.S. Senate. But elections do not defeat ideals and policies – elections defeat candidates. What happened in November was a wakeup call to the party that candidates and principles matter. Some of our candidates lost, but the foundation of the GOP is as strong as ever. We stand for liberty, freedom, less government, a strong defense, growth and more prosperity.

This week may prove critical to the future of the National Labor Relations Board and the protection of workers’ fundamental rights. On Tuesday the NLRB announced that it would ask the Supreme Court to review the D.C. Circuit Court’s January 2013 Noel Canning decision, which ruled unconstitutional President Obama’s recess appointments to the Board in January 2012. And on Wednesday, the president met with Senate Democrats to discuss how to tackle ongoing Republican obstruction of his nominees to federal agencies, the courts and others.

As we mark the ninth annual National Sunshine Week, it’s important to remember that transparency in government is more than just a worthwhile goal — it is a necessary condition for a free and open society. “Sunlight,” as the saying goes, “is the best disinfectant.” In our country, that sunlight comes from “We the People,” who provide the ultimate check on the powers of the government. It is incumbent upon policymakers to make sure the windows stay open so that light can pour in.

Remember President Obama’s call to action on making governments open and transparent? OpenTheGovernment.org, which has coordinated United States participation in the Open Government Partnership the president touted, just released its evaluation report.
 
In his 2010 speech to the United Nations, the president said, “We know that countries are more likely to prosper when governments are accountable to their people. … In all parts of the world, we see the promise of innovation to make government more open and accountable. And now we must build on that progress. When we gather back here next year, we should bring specific commitments to promote transparency; to fight corruption; to energize civic engagement; to leverage new technologies that strengthen the foundations of freedom in our own countries while living up to the ideals that can light the world.” A year later, the president launched the Open Government Partnership, a global initiative to advance participating governments’ accountability to their people.

President Obama won re-election in what turned out to be a walk. But instead of it clearing the path for progress on his agenda, the path got muddied. The president initially reacted by reverting to campaign war footing, but recently shifted gears and went on a charm offensive when his popularity plummeted. Oh, the tale of woe that is the Obama White House. Has ever a president seemed so lost so fast in a second term?

Last month, former Democratic congressional candidate Dr. David Gill, his campaign committee, and my organization, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), sued the IRS for misinterpreting the Tax Code and creating a loophole that allows some tax-exempt organizations to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on political activity while keeping their donors secret.
 
According to federal law, groups seeking tax exempt status under section 501(c)(4) must be “operated exclusively for the promotion of social welfare.”  The IRS, however, issued a regulation undermining this clear language by requiring such groups only to be “primarily engaged” in promoting social welfare. This has allowed some groups to conclude up to 49 percent of their overall activities may be political. The lawsuit simply asks the court to require the IRS to interpret and apply the law the way Congress wrote it.