DISCLOSE Act
Encyclopedia
The Democracy Is Strengthened by Casting Light On Spending in Elections Act, commonly known as the DISCLOSE Act and also known as H.R. 5175 (S.3628-Senate), was a bill
introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by Chris Van Hollen
(D
-Maryland
) on April 29, 2010 and in the U.S. Senate by Charles Schumer
(D-New York
) on July 21, 2010.
The bill, as introduced, included banning U.S. corporations controlled by foreign governments from influencing election outcomes through the use of campaign contributions; preventing Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) recipients from making political contributions; giving shareholders, organization members, and the general public access to information regarding corporate and interest group campaign expenditures; and creating transparency mechanisms for organizations with more than 500,000 members to stand by political ads.
expressed disapproval in his 2010 State of the Union Address
, stating that American elections should not be controlled by America’s most powerful interests. Rather, they should be decided by the American people. He urged Democrats and Republicans to unite behind legislation to correct this problem.
Senators Russ Feingold
(D-Wisconsin
) and John McCain
(R
-Arizona
), both major supporters of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002, made statements in response to the court’s decision:
) and Walter Jones, Jr. (R-North Carolina
) were the only two Republican co-sponsors of H.R. 5175. There were a total of 114 co-sponsors.
Senate: There are only seven Democratic co-sponsors and no Republican support.
The Republican Minority Leader, John Boehner
(R-Ohio
) opposed the legislation from its introduction. He argued that the DISCLOSE act is a direct violation of the First Amendment and believes the bill is a scheme on the part of the majority to silence their opponents and the legislation has fallen victim to backroom deals and special interest exemptions.
Republican Leader Mitch McConnell
(R-Kentucky
), a major opponent of the current bill, stated that the majority has drafted a bill behind closed doors without Congressional hearings or markups. He argues that politics is driving the bills introduction and future passage.
President Obama welcomed passage of the House bill. In his statement, he congratulated the House of Representatives for passing legislation that would create stronger disclosure requirements, restrict funding by organizations with recent government financial assistance, and limit the potential for foreign influence. After the Senate failed to pass legislation prior to October recess, President Obama expressed disappointment, stating that failure is a loss for the American people.
The Public Interest Research Group (U.S. PIRG) supported the introduction of the DISCLOSE Act, but withheld its support when special interest exemptions were provided. However, it has continues to maintain its support for future Senate action.
In addition, the U.S. PIRG started the campaign “Stop the Corporate Takeover of Democracy,” which is an on-going effort to educate voters on the negative contributions that corporations and labor unions can have on the election process, through a lack of disclosure and transparency.
AFL-CIO
In a statement by AFL-CIO
President Richard Trumka
on April 29, 2010, he applauded Congress for introducing legislation that would create transparency and address issues related to campaign finance reform. Trumka stated that the United States needs stronger regulation in place to promote equal participation by individuals and organizations, protects political speech, encourages the use public financing options for political candidates, and promotes disclosure for advertisement contributions.
Other:
The bill was supported by the Democratic Party establishment.
In a press statement, U.S. Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Thomas Donohue criticized the House Democratic majority for passing legislation that violates the principles of fairness and equality, as prescribed by the Constitution. Further, he argued that the bill’s passage resulted from backroom deals with special interest groups and unions who “mask the movement of political money.” Donohue believes that Congress should focus on the restoring the economy versus protecting their own jobs and called on the Senate to oppose future passage of the legislation.
National Federation of Independent Businesses
On June 22, 2010, the National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB) sent a key-vote letter to Members of the House of Representatives on behalf of Senior Vice President Susan Eckerly, opposing House passage of H.R. 5175. In their letter, the NFIB stated that passage would threaten small businesses under the First Amendment and creates an unlevel playing field by providing exemptions for certain special interests.
Other:
The DISCLOSE Act was opposed by the American Civil Liberties Union
(ACLU), which claimed that it "would inflict unnecessary damage to free speech rights and does not include the proper safeguards to protect Americans' privacy. The bill would severely impact donor anonymity, especially those donors who give to smaller and more controversial organizations."
“Democrats want to bring bloggers—all bloggers—not just conservative ones—under the control of federal campaign finance regulations.”
Erickson is primarily concerned with specific wording in the Disclose Act relating to communication. In current federal campaign regulations, public communication is defined explicitly to exclude internet communications, which keeps exchanges among citizens on all political blogs from coming under prohibitive campaign speech regulations of the federal government. In the Disclose Act, where the bill addresses what would be covered by a host of the bill's new federal campaign regulations, the term "communication" is used, not "public communication." Erickson says this means internet communications are not protected, which could eventually lead to posts by bloggers being deemed campaign contributions.
However John Brown, a blogger on Geek.com, disagreed on October 6, 2009. He thinks the disclosure rules to be a good thing for the blogosphere. For blogging, it is overdue recognition: blogging has now been officially put on the same level of importance as magazines, television and newspapers as an influence in the buying decisions of the public. By being forced to disclose their relationships with the companies they cover, blogs will be more credible news sources.
In a more moderate stance, another blogger for Red State, GJ Merits, posted on May 20, 2010 that any attempt to control the political speech of bloggers—-liberal or conservative—-or anyone else should be met with resistance. He is concerned the FEC's control will extend to all "covered communications" over broadcast communications, including the blogosphere. He thinks the bill would radically redefine how the FEC regulates political commentary.
On September 23, 2010 conservative pundit Michelle Malkin called “false” on Senator Chuck Schumer's statement, "We do not want to chill free speech." She continues on by stating the irony of Schumer who talks about "transparency" while ignoring all the loopholes carved out for special interests and then proposed changes on the Senate floor to the bill to win over Senator Olympia Snowe, after having drafted the bill behind closed doors with lobbyists.
On the other side of the debate regarding transparency, Janine Wedel and Linda Keenan wrote an article on Huffington Post about the shadow elite and how it brings in an era of deniability because as more and more sources of campaign financing are being permitted to remain ambiguous or even secret, this enables funders to deny any responsibility. The shadow elite wants not just influence butt also what the writers call an influence of impunity.
For example, when a controversial policy decision is made the public would have no idea what questions to ask or even whether to ask questions in the first place. Both the donor and the politician enjoy the benefits of deniability that come with anonymity. Information that used to be public information is now firmly in a few, private hands. The scary result is that the public is now more reliant on the accounts and ethics of the political players themselves.
Jesse Zwick wrote in the Washington Independent explaining why Republicans, who have historically favored transparency initiatives like the Disclose Act, are not agreeing with Democrats on this issue.
According to Zwick, the problems with the bill really started when the House of Representatives added a carveout in the bill for membership groups like the NRA. This move allowed the bill’s opponents to argue that it was the result of a corrupt process and was not a pure transparency initiative, so when it moved to the Senate, moderate Republicans and Democrats were not willing to participate in talks. Had that incentive not occurred, there may not have ever been a debate regarding the Disclose Act.
Another conservative pundit, John Feehery, pointed out on The Hill's Pundits Blog on June 17, 2010 the absurdity of the lengths Democrats will go to win the 2010 midterm elections and elections beyond and not allow people to speak out against the government takeover.
“They are so desperate, they have made a deal with the devil himself, the NRA.”
The National Rifle Association
(NRA) is not included as an organization that will have to disclose contributions because the new agreement between Democrats and the NRA exempts organizations that have over one million members, have been in existence for more than 10 years, have members in all 50 states, and raise 15% or less of their funds from corporations, from the disclosure requirements. Many have criticized the criteria as a means of rewriting the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act in favor of the Democrats, as they exempt virtually all of the major unions from having to disclose contributions while heavily regulating such activity for corporations.
Still, advocates for the Disclose Act do not see it this way. An editorial in the Washington Post claims the current Citizen's United ruling is “unhealthy for democracy. As the Supreme Court itself explained in the portion of its Citizens United ruling rejecting a challenge to existing reporting requirements, the First Amendment protects political speech; and disclosure permits citizens and shareholders to react to the speech of corporate entities in a proper way. This transparency enables the electorate to make informed decisions and give proper weight to different speakers and messages. The current disclosure void threatens that balance, with an electorate clueless about the interests trying to influence their votes.”
In a New York Times article on October 12, 2010, liberal political pundit (and former Clinton campaign manager) James Carville looked at this issue in a different way. He feels Democrats need to reframe the argument slightly by tweaking the foreign money message to focus on jobs.
“Why would the organizations whose agenda is outsourcing put in $75 million into the campaign?”
Carville and Democratic pollster Stanley Greenberg believe President Obama can help win over undecided voters with a promise to change Washington on behalf of the middle class and to oppose Republicans who support tax breaks for big companies that export jobs.
Bill (proposed law)
A bill is a proposed law under consideration by a legislature. A bill does not become law until it is passed by the legislature and, in most cases, approved by the executive. Once a bill has been enacted into law, it is called an act or a statute....
introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by Chris Van Hollen
Chris Van Hollen
Christopher "Chris" Van Hollen, Jr. is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 2003. He is a member of the Democratic Party...
(D
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
-Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
) on April 29, 2010 and in the U.S. Senate by Charles Schumer
Charles Schumer
Charles Ellis "Chuck" Schumer is the senior United States Senator from New York and a member of the Democratic Party. First elected in 1998, he defeated three-term Republican incumbent Al D'Amato by a margin of 55%–44%. He was easily re-elected in 2004 by a margin of 71%–24% and in 2010 by a...
(D-New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
) on July 21, 2010.
To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to prohibit foreign influence in Federal elections, to prohibit government contractors from making expenditures with respect to such elections, and to establish additional disclosure requirements with respect to spending in such elections, and for other purposes.
Background
In response to the Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens United vs. Federal Election Commission, members of both chambers of Congress introduced the Democracy is Strengthened by Casting Light on Special Elections Act of 2010 (DISCLOSE Act).The bill, as introduced, included banning U.S. corporations controlled by foreign governments from influencing election outcomes through the use of campaign contributions; preventing Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) recipients from making political contributions; giving shareholders, organization members, and the general public access to information regarding corporate and interest group campaign expenditures; and creating transparency mechanisms for organizations with more than 500,000 members to stand by political ads.
Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission
On January 21, 2010, the Supreme Court, in a 5-4 decision, argued in favor of Citizens United that it was unconstitutional to ban free speech through the limitation of campaign contributions made towards independent communications by corporations, associations and unions.Response
Following the Court’s ruling, President Barack ObamaBarack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
expressed disapproval in his 2010 State of the Union Address
2010 State of the Union Address
The 2010 State of the Union Address was given by United States President Barack Obama on January 27, 2010, to a joint session of Congress. It was aired on all the major networks starting at 9 p.m. ET...
, stating that American elections should not be controlled by America’s most powerful interests. Rather, they should be decided by the American people. He urged Democrats and Republicans to unite behind legislation to correct this problem.
Senators Russ Feingold
Russ Feingold
Russell Dana "Russ" Feingold is an American politician from the U.S. state of Wisconsin. He served as a Democratic party member of the U.S. Senate from 1993 to 2011. From 1983 to 1993, Feingold was a Wisconsin State Senator representing the 27th District.He is a recipient of the John F...
(D-Wisconsin
Wisconsin
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
) and John McCain
John McCain
John Sidney McCain III is the senior United States Senator from Arizona. He was the Republican nominee for president in the 2008 United States election....
(R
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
-Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
), both major supporters of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002, made statements in response to the court’s decision:
Feingold: “Just six years ago, the Court said that the prohibition on corporations and unions dipping into their treasuries to influence campaigns was ‘firmly embedded in our law.’ Yet this Court has just upended that prohibition, and a century's worth of campaign finance law designed to stem corruption in government. The American people will pay dearly for this decision when, more than ever, their voices are drowned out by corporate spending in our federal elections.”
McCain: “I am disappointed by the decision of the Supreme Court and the lifting of the limits on corporate and union contributions. However, it appears that key aspects of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (BCRA), including the ban on soft money contributions, remain intact.”
Legislative action
Representative Chris Van Hollen (D-Maryland) introduced the House version (H.R. 5175) and Senator Charles Schumer (D-New York) introduced the Senate version (S. 3628.Co-sponsors
House: Representatives Mike Castle (R-DelawareDelaware
Delaware is a U.S. state located on the Atlantic Coast in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It is bordered to the south and west by Maryland, and to the north by Pennsylvania...
) and Walter Jones, Jr. (R-North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
) were the only two Republican co-sponsors of H.R. 5175. There were a total of 114 co-sponsors.
Senate: There are only seven Democratic co-sponsors and no Republican support.
House of Representatives
In a Washington Post op-ed, Representatives Van Hollen and Castle stated that now is the time for Congress to improve transparency and enforce disclosure on special interests who attempt to influence elections process. They believe that Americans deserve the right to information about special interests and further protecting democracy from outside influence. Further, they argue that opponents cannot argue against the merits of the bi-partisanship.The Republican Minority Leader, John Boehner
John Boehner
John Andrew Boehner is the 61st and current Speaker of the United States House of Representatives. A member of the Republican Party, he is the U.S. Representative from , serving since 1991...
(R-Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
) opposed the legislation from its introduction. He argued that the DISCLOSE act is a direct violation of the First Amendment and believes the bill is a scheme on the part of the majority to silence their opponents and the legislation has fallen victim to backroom deals and special interest exemptions.
“It allows the Humane Society to speak freely, but not the Farm Bureau. It would protect the AARPAARPAARP, formerly the American Association of Retired Persons, is the United States-based non-governmental organization and interest group, founded in 1958 by Ethel Percy Andrus, PhD, a retired educator from California, and based in Washington, D.C. According to its mission statement, it is "a...
’s rights, but not 60-Plus. And lastly it would protect the National Rifle Association but not the National Right to Life. The NRA is carved out and gets a special deal in this bill. The NRA is all about protecting the Second Amendment, but apparently its leaders don’t care about protecting the First Amendment. That’s very disappointing.”
Senate
Senator Charles Schumer (D-New York), the lead sponsor of the Senate version of the DISCLOSE Act (s. 3628), claims that in a time when the American people fear the influence of special interests, the legislation will create greater disclosure over the flow of money. He further argued that unless Congress acts quickly, The Supreme Court will have predetermined the outcome of November’s election.Republican Leader Mitch McConnell
Mitch McConnell
Addison Mitchell "Mitch" McConnell, Jr. is the senior United States Senator from Kentucky and the Republican Minority Leader.- Early life, education, and military service :...
(R-Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
), a major opponent of the current bill, stated that the majority has drafted a bill behind closed doors without Congressional hearings or markups. He argues that politics is driving the bills introduction and future passage.
Legislative procedure
On June 24, 2010 the House passed H.R. 5175 by a 219-206 vote (Roll call # 391). The Senate attempted to take up the legislation prior to the October recess working period, but failed to reach agreement on the Senate version (S.3628) on September 23, 2010 by a vote of 59-39 (Roll call # 240).President Obama welcomed passage of the House bill. In his statement, he congratulated the House of Representatives for passing legislation that would create stronger disclosure requirements, restrict funding by organizations with recent government financial assistance, and limit the potential for foreign influence. After the Senate failed to pass legislation prior to October recess, President Obama expressed disappointment, stating that failure is a loss for the American people.
Support
U.S. Public Interest Research GroupThe Public Interest Research Group (U.S. PIRG) supported the introduction of the DISCLOSE Act, but withheld its support when special interest exemptions were provided. However, it has continues to maintain its support for future Senate action.
In addition, the U.S. PIRG started the campaign “Stop the Corporate Takeover of Democracy,” which is an on-going effort to educate voters on the negative contributions that corporations and labor unions can have on the election process, through a lack of disclosure and transparency.
AFL-CIO
In a statement by AFL-CIO
AFL-CIO
The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations, commonly AFL–CIO, is a national trade union center, the largest federation of unions in the United States, made up of 56 national and international unions, together representing more than 11 million workers...
President Richard Trumka
Richard Trumka
Richard Louis Trumka is an organized labor leader in the United States. He was elected President of the AFL-CIO on September 16, 2009, at the labor federation's convention in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He served as the Secretary-Treasurer of the AFL-CIO, from 1995 to 2009, and prior to that was...
on April 29, 2010, he applauded Congress for introducing legislation that would create transparency and address issues related to campaign finance reform. Trumka stated that the United States needs stronger regulation in place to promote equal participation by individuals and organizations, protects political speech, encourages the use public financing options for political candidates, and promotes disclosure for advertisement contributions.
Other:
The bill was supported by the Democratic Party establishment.
Opposition
U.S. Chamber of CommerceIn a press statement, U.S. Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Thomas Donohue criticized the House Democratic majority for passing legislation that violates the principles of fairness and equality, as prescribed by the Constitution. Further, he argued that the bill’s passage resulted from backroom deals with special interest groups and unions who “mask the movement of political money.” Donohue believes that Congress should focus on the restoring the economy versus protecting their own jobs and called on the Senate to oppose future passage of the legislation.
National Federation of Independent Businesses
On June 22, 2010, the National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB) sent a key-vote letter to Members of the House of Representatives on behalf of Senior Vice President Susan Eckerly, opposing House passage of H.R. 5175. In their letter, the NFIB stated that passage would threaten small businesses under the First Amendment and creates an unlevel playing field by providing exemptions for certain special interests.
Other:
The DISCLOSE Act was opposed by the American Civil Liberties Union
American Civil Liberties Union
The American Civil Liberties Union is a U.S. non-profit organization whose stated mission is "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States." It works through litigation, legislation, and...
(ACLU), which claimed that it "would inflict unnecessary damage to free speech rights and does not include the proper safeguards to protect Americans' privacy. The bill would severely impact donor anonymity, especially those donors who give to smaller and more controversial organizations."
Public reaction
Erick Erickson, a conservative blogger for Red State, asserted on May 20, 2010 that the Disclose Act is just another way for Democrats to control another sub-group of Americans, bloggers. He believes the government wants to limit the amount of political participation Americans have by passing the Disclose Act.“Democrats want to bring bloggers—all bloggers—not just conservative ones—under the control of federal campaign finance regulations.”
Erickson is primarily concerned with specific wording in the Disclose Act relating to communication. In current federal campaign regulations, public communication is defined explicitly to exclude internet communications, which keeps exchanges among citizens on all political blogs from coming under prohibitive campaign speech regulations of the federal government. In the Disclose Act, where the bill addresses what would be covered by a host of the bill's new federal campaign regulations, the term "communication" is used, not "public communication." Erickson says this means internet communications are not protected, which could eventually lead to posts by bloggers being deemed campaign contributions.
However John Brown, a blogger on Geek.com, disagreed on October 6, 2009. He thinks the disclosure rules to be a good thing for the blogosphere. For blogging, it is overdue recognition: blogging has now been officially put on the same level of importance as magazines, television and newspapers as an influence in the buying decisions of the public. By being forced to disclose their relationships with the companies they cover, blogs will be more credible news sources.
In a more moderate stance, another blogger for Red State, GJ Merits, posted on May 20, 2010 that any attempt to control the political speech of bloggers—-liberal or conservative—-or anyone else should be met with resistance. He is concerned the FEC's control will extend to all "covered communications" over broadcast communications, including the blogosphere. He thinks the bill would radically redefine how the FEC regulates political commentary.
On September 23, 2010 conservative pundit Michelle Malkin called “false” on Senator Chuck Schumer's statement, "We do not want to chill free speech." She continues on by stating the irony of Schumer who talks about "transparency" while ignoring all the loopholes carved out for special interests and then proposed changes on the Senate floor to the bill to win over Senator Olympia Snowe, after having drafted the bill behind closed doors with lobbyists.
On the other side of the debate regarding transparency, Janine Wedel and Linda Keenan wrote an article on Huffington Post about the shadow elite and how it brings in an era of deniability because as more and more sources of campaign financing are being permitted to remain ambiguous or even secret, this enables funders to deny any responsibility. The shadow elite wants not just influence butt also what the writers call an influence of impunity.
For example, when a controversial policy decision is made the public would have no idea what questions to ask or even whether to ask questions in the first place. Both the donor and the politician enjoy the benefits of deniability that come with anonymity. Information that used to be public information is now firmly in a few, private hands. The scary result is that the public is now more reliant on the accounts and ethics of the political players themselves.
Jesse Zwick wrote in the Washington Independent explaining why Republicans, who have historically favored transparency initiatives like the Disclose Act, are not agreeing with Democrats on this issue.
According to Zwick, the problems with the bill really started when the House of Representatives added a carveout in the bill for membership groups like the NRA. This move allowed the bill’s opponents to argue that it was the result of a corrupt process and was not a pure transparency initiative, so when it moved to the Senate, moderate Republicans and Democrats were not willing to participate in talks. Had that incentive not occurred, there may not have ever been a debate regarding the Disclose Act.
Another conservative pundit, John Feehery, pointed out on The Hill's Pundits Blog on June 17, 2010 the absurdity of the lengths Democrats will go to win the 2010 midterm elections and elections beyond and not allow people to speak out against the government takeover.
“They are so desperate, they have made a deal with the devil himself, the NRA.”
The National Rifle Association
National Rifle Association
The National Rifle Association of America is an American non-profit 501 civil rights organization which advocates for the protection of the Second Amendment of the United States Bill of Rights and the promotion of firearm ownership rights as well as marksmanship, firearm safety, and the protection...
(NRA) is not included as an organization that will have to disclose contributions because the new agreement between Democrats and the NRA exempts organizations that have over one million members, have been in existence for more than 10 years, have members in all 50 states, and raise 15% or less of their funds from corporations, from the disclosure requirements. Many have criticized the criteria as a means of rewriting the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act in favor of the Democrats, as they exempt virtually all of the major unions from having to disclose contributions while heavily regulating such activity for corporations.
Still, advocates for the Disclose Act do not see it this way. An editorial in the Washington Post claims the current Citizen's United ruling is “unhealthy for democracy. As the Supreme Court itself explained in the portion of its Citizens United ruling rejecting a challenge to existing reporting requirements, the First Amendment protects political speech; and disclosure permits citizens and shareholders to react to the speech of corporate entities in a proper way. This transparency enables the electorate to make informed decisions and give proper weight to different speakers and messages. The current disclosure void threatens that balance, with an electorate clueless about the interests trying to influence their votes.”
In a New York Times article on October 12, 2010, liberal political pundit (and former Clinton campaign manager) James Carville looked at this issue in a different way. He feels Democrats need to reframe the argument slightly by tweaking the foreign money message to focus on jobs.
“Why would the organizations whose agenda is outsourcing put in $75 million into the campaign?”
Carville and Democratic pollster Stanley Greenberg believe President Obama can help win over undecided voters with a promise to change Washington on behalf of the middle class and to oppose Republicans who support tax breaks for big companies that export jobs.
See also
- Citizens United v. Federal Election CommissionCitizens United v. Federal Election CommissionCitizens United v. Federal Election Commission, , was a landmark decision by the United States Supreme Court holding that the First Amendment prohibits government from censoring political broadcasts in candidate elections when those broadcasts are funded by corporations or unions...
- Campaign finance in the United StatesCampaign finance in the United StatesCampaign finance in the United States is the financing of electoral campaigns at the federal, state, and local levels.At the federal level, the primary source of campaign funds is individuals; political action committees are a distant second. Contributions from both are limited, and direct...
External links
- H.R. 5175 at THOMASTHOMASTHOMAS is the database of United States Congress legislative information. It is operated by the Library of Congress and was launched in January 1995 at the inception of the 104th Congress...
- DISCLOSE Act: Shine the Light on Special Interests Behind American Elections at the Speaker of the House
- H.R. 5175: Democracy is Strengthened by Casting Light on Spending in Elections Act at GovTrackGovTrackGovTrack.us is a website developed by then-student Joshua Tauberer who launched it as a hobby. It enables its users to track the bills and members of the United States Congress. Users can add trackers to certain bills. The website collects data on Congress members, allowing the users to check...
- H.R. 5175 - DISCLOSE Act at OpenCongressParticipatory Politics FoundationThe Participatory Politics Foundation is a United States non-profit organization which jointly operates the OpenCongress.org website, which is intended to encourage transparency in lawmaking and to make it easier to engage with government. PPF operates OpenCongress together with the Sunlight...
- DISCLOSE Act advocacy group