Roll Call has an article today detailing how House Homeland Security Chairman Bennie Thompson (D., Miss.) is pushing DHS contractors to “hire more small, minority-owned and women-owned companies to fulfill government contracts.” Now there’s a great idea: Don’t award government contracts based simply on who can do the best job for the best price — make sure that skin color and sex are given plenty of weight, too. This is an especially good idea when there are national-security interests at stake. Oh, and don’t forget that it’s unconsitutional, too.
The article concludes by noting, “Republicans have previously raised concerns that Thompson’s focus on minority contracting is elbowing out other important issues on the committee’s agenda, but none of the GOP Members would comment for this story.” Well, why not? Federal statutes are increasingly honeycombed with race-based provisions and, while I’m prepared to believe that Democrats have provided the impetus for them, Republicans share the blame for not fighing them.