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US474 - DISCLOSE Act (H.R. 5175, S.3628-Senate)
| Prohibit foreign & government contractor influence in Federal elections and establish spending disclosure requirements | |
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Description
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 Spending in Elections Act of 2010 (DISCLOSE Act) "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."
The bill:
- Bans U.S. corporations controlled by foreign governments from influencing election outcomes through the use of campaign contributions,
- Prevents Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) recipients from making political contributions,
- Gives shareholders, organization members, and the general public access to information regarding corporate and interest group campaign expenditures, and
- Creates transparency mechanisms for organizations with more than 500,000 members to stand by political ads.
- If a corporation wants to run an advertisement during a political campaign, the CEO would have to appear at the end of the ad and approve the message.
- If an advocacy organization is behind the ad, the head of the organization, and whoever is funding the ad would have to appear in the ad and approve it. They would also have to list the top five funders paying for the ad.
Source: wikipedia.org
Arguments
Citizens United put powerful corporate interests in the driver's seat, allowing them to secretly spend millions of dollars on elections. Transparency is critical to the health of our democracy. We've got to make sure the big corporate interests are held accountable for their actions and voters have the information they need to make informed choices. Unfortunately, Scott Brown and Republicans in the Senate have blocked this common sense measure. It’s time for them to stop protecting their influential friends by helping them hide their influence from the public.
Source: masslive.com
Counterarguments
The DISCLOSE Act is a cynical political ploy masquerading as reform and I continue to oppose it. Rather than treat all sides equally as a true reform bill would, it contains special carve outs for union bosses and other favored interest groups. In Massachusetts, I took direct action to limit the influence of outside spending and Super PACs, and I am glad my People's Pledge has kept third parties out of our state. I didn't wait for Washington D.C. to come up with a solution to the problem of outside money, and I would encourage other candidates running across the country to do the same.
Source: masslive.com
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