John Nichols wrote an excellent piece on Obama’s planned proposal to require transparency in political contributions from all firms that contract with the federal government. Despite opposition from virtually all Republicans and some Democrats, Obama should sign the transparency order now!

As no-brainers go, they don’t get much easier than this.

President Obama is reportedly preparing to issue an executive order that would require federal contractors to disclose their campaign contributions.

Campaign finance reformers and watchdog groups have, for years, argued that companies vying for federal contracts should be required to reveal their donations to candidates and political organizations.

This call for transparency became all the more pressing after a 5-4 Supreme Court majority ruled, in the Citizens United v. FEC decision, that corporations could spend unlimited amounts of money to influence the results of campaigns and, by extension, the governing process.

With so much money flowing out of corporate treasuries and into the political process, concerns about pay-to-play politics become all the more pressing.

Transparency won’t cure all the ailments of that political process. But, as Robert M. La Follette and the progressive reformers of the last century taught us, transparency gives the most engaged voters the information they need to determine whether their elected officials are making decisions in the public interest — or in the interest of campaign contributors.

Unfortunately, that prospect scares the pay-to-play crowd. The corporations that win federal contracts because of the size of their bribes, er, campaign contributions, are objecting. So too are members of Congress who want to keep collecting those bribes, er, campaign contributions.

It’s not just Republicans who are objecting. Some corporate-tied Democrats are grumbling as well. Even Maryland Congressman Steny Hoyer, the No. 2 Democrat in the House, has raised "concerns."

But let’s be clear: There are no legitimate "concerns" to be raised regarding transparency.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., is right when she says that steps must be taken to address "this endless, undisclosed money going into campaigns," because pay-to-play politics "undermines our democracy."… [emphasis added]