- Home
- News
- Opinion
- Letters
- Sports
- Prospecting
- Essentials
- Obituaries
- Real Estate
- Comics
- Gallery
- Classifieds
- Advertisers
- Coupons
- Contact Us
Share Article
428
1,0854281,085
EDITOR: The U.S. Senate has now twice refused to allow full debate on the Disclose Act of 2012, which would require complete disclosure of spending on big-money advertising in candidate elections. We are proud that the senators from our state supported the bill and stood up for the voters against the special interests pouring huge sums of secret money into the elections.
Huge sums of secret money are flooding into our elections and without full disclosure the voters won’t know who is trying to buy influence. The Disclose Act is an important step towards eliminating secret money.
The League of Women Voters supports this legislation because we believe that Americans deserve all the information they can get before they vote. We will continue to push nationwide for passage of Disclose because secret campaign money has no place in America’s democracy. It undermines the role of the voter and corrupts the election process.
Voters have a right to know — whether it is a corporation, union, trade association, or non-profit advocacy group making unlimited campaign expenditures and influencing elections. Tell us where the money is coming from and let the voters decide.
KATHLEEN MCCOY
President of the League of Women Voters of El Dorado County
Ms McCoy — Supreme Court Justice Scalia agrees with you. I saw him discussing the Citizens United decision and he linked the “money is speech” point to the point that the people have the right to know who is “saying” (contributing) what. Most politicians want those big bucks flowing, but they don’t want us to know where it comes from.
Bernie Sanders Exposes the 26 Billionaires who are Buying the 2012 Election
It takes an honest liberal like Sanders to expose the source of Tea Party / Republican treason.
An “honest liberal…” there’s an oxymoron for ya. Libs/Progressives are still cheesed off that Unions no longer have a stranglehold on mega-political contributions. I do agree that we should have the right to know who is paying for political ads, but do not be deceived: the angry rhetoric in this discussion is driven by those who want to deprive corporations equal political footing with unions.
According to CNSnews.com, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and other Democrats in Congress announced on Thursday that they have moved to ratify an amendment to the United States Constitution that would give Congress power to control the political speech of corporations, including those corporations that produce films, newspapers, books, and radio broadcasts. The amendment would seek to reverse the Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission in which the High Court ruled that the First Amendment protects the right of free speech for corporations as well as individuals. It was this decision that President Obama openly criticized during his State of the Union address in January of 2010.
Minority Leader Pelosi said that the move to amend the Constitution was part of a three-pronged strategy that includes passage of the DISCLOSE Act, which would further regulate disclosure requirements for organizations that run political ads, and promotion of taxpayer funding of political campaigns. Ms. Pelosi said, “Our Founders had an idea. It was called democracy. It said elections are determined by the people, the voice and the vote of the people, not by the bankrolls of the privileged few. This Supreme Court decision flies in the face of our Founders’ vision and we want to reverse it.”
REPORT: Five Senior Goldman Sachs Execs Gave $130K To ‘Obama Victory Fund’ WHILE Eric Holder Was Deciding Whether To File Criminal Charges
“CNS News” Mr. Steers quotes is the internet equivalent of FOX News. With my apologies to FOX