The measure is designed to blunt impact

June 25th, 2010|Jeniffer David
Campaign

S. Supreme Court ruling that President Barack Obama and others warn may drown out the voice of the American people by allowing corporations, unions and other groups to spend unlimited funds in political campaigns without even identifying themselves.

On a largely party-line vote of 219-206, the Democratic-led House sent the bill to the Senate where it faces a big fight and uncertain fate.

Democrats hold the Senate, 59-41, but would need 60 votes to clear a Republican procedural roadblock. While some Republicans may back the bill, some Democrats may oppose it, many because of limited exemptions in the measure.

Democratic Representative Chris Van Hollen, a chief sponsor of the bill, said the measure addresses very serious threats to our democracy created by the U.S. Supreme Courts decision by requiring disclosure of those who wage ad campaigns.

Voters have a right to know when they see an ad going on with a nice sounding nameThe Fund for a Better America — they have a right to know who is paying for it, he said.

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell accused Democratic backers of the measure of trying to pass a self-serving law that would violate freedom of speech.

This bill isnt about preserving any principle of transparency in campaign spending, McConnell said. It is about protecting incumbent Democratic politicians.

In January, the Supreme Court overturned legal precedents from 2003 and 1990 that upheld federal and state limits on independent expenditures by corporate treasuries to support or oppose candidates.

The decision is expected to unleash a flood of money from the traditionally pro-Republican business community to campaigns designed to favor or oppose candidates in Novembers congressional election and the 2012 presidential contest.

The House-passed measure would require corporate as well as union and advocacy group leaders to disclose their names in campaign ads. The measure would also ban election spending by companies with more than 20 percent foreign ownership and recipients of U.S. bank bailouts.

NRA ADS

To muster the House votes to pass it, Democrats provided a limited exemption to a handful of groups, including the 4-million-member National Rifle Association, one of the most influential lobbying organizations on Capitol Hill.

The NRA would not have to disclose its top donors on its campaign ads. But under the bill, it would have to put its own name on any of its spots.

The exemption applies to groups that have at least 500,000 members, are at least 10 years old and receive 15 percent or less of their funds from corporations or unions.

In addition to the NRA, the exemption is expected to apply to only a few others, including the Humane Society, Sierra Club and AARP, an advocacy group for the elderly.

Polls show broad public support for the aim of the bill to provide greater disclosure of campaign financing. But Republicans dismissed such surveys, saying they were conducted before Democrats drafted their measure, which Republicans complained were completed behind closed doors.

Editing by Mohammad Zargham source