bobbyw24
06-01-2010, 05:49 AM
By: David A. Patten
President Obama and leading Democrats are pushing the House to vote on a controversial campaign-finance bill that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is blasting as "unconstitutional" and a "desperate attempt" by Democrats to grab a political advantage in the upcoming midterm elections.
The bill, called the Disclose Act, appears to be a blatant effort by Democrats in Congress to find a way around the Supreme Court's recent Citizens United v. FEC ruling, which struck down provisions of McCain-Feingold campaign-finance reforms that severely restricted the rights of corporations and nonprofit groups to run political advertising.
The Supreme Court ruled such restrictions violate the First Amendment right to free speech.
But this new effort includes a series of provisions seeking to disclose donors involved in political advertising as well as saddling private business with boatloads of paperwork to discourage their involvement in the political process.
The constitutional issues involved make it all the more surprising that some members of Congress want to try a legislative maneuver to evade the ruling, says Hans Von Spakovsky, senior legal scholar for The Heritage Foundation.
"Members of Congress have the same obligation that the president does, and that judges have, to uphold the Constitution," Von Spakovsky tells Newsmax.
"That means they should not be sponsoring, pushing, or voting in favor of bills that very clearly are unconstitutional. This particular law has many provisions, especially based on the Supreme Court's Citizens United ruling, that violate the First Amendment. They're trying to restrict political speech, and they're trying to restrict political advocacy."
In some ways, the Disclose Act represents the fulfillment of President Obama's State of the Union address, when he publicly scolded the Supreme Court for its ruling, alleging that it would "open the floodgates for special interests, including foreign corporations, to spend without limit in our elections."
Obama urged Congress "to pass a bill that helps to right this wrong."
Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, and Sen. Charles Schumer, a former chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, are co-sponsoring the Disclose Act.
Democrats had hoped to push it through the House Rules Committee, and possibly bring it to the floor for a vote as early as Friday. But the rules committee session was postponed on Thursday, and now the bill isn't expected to come up for a vote until sometime in June.
The roster of organizations expressing their concern about the measure is long and growing. Among them: the NRA, the NAACP, the National Association of Manufacturers, the National Retail Federation, the U.S. Travel Association, the National Federation of Independent Business, the National Restaurant Association, and the American Trucking Association, to name a few.
Despite that opposition, House Democrats are expressing cautious optimism they have the votes they need to get the bill through the house. It's unclear how it would fare in the Senate.
Democrats are promoting the bill as a way to disclose to the American people know who's behind the political advertising they are exposed to.
Even the bill's proponents, however, are touting it as a way to tighten the spigot on corporate speech related to campaigns.
"The deterrent effect should not be underestimated," Schumer said when the New York Democrat rolled out the bill.
That "deterrent effect" is the bill's inclination to discourage companies, trade groups, and other organizations from exercising their First Amendment right to express their political views. That right was upheld in Public Citizens.
Von Spakovsky tells Newsmax that previous campaign-finance laws have given unions and corporations identical treatment. "This new provision kind of breaks that compact," he says.
Chamber President and CEO Thomas J. Donahue, who says Democrats desperately are seeking a way to improve their prospects in November, has dubbed the Disclose Act the "Incumbent Protection Act."
Among its controversial provisions:
http://www.newsmax.com/Headline/campaign-finance-democrats-disclose/2010/05/31/id/360620
President Obama and leading Democrats are pushing the House to vote on a controversial campaign-finance bill that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is blasting as "unconstitutional" and a "desperate attempt" by Democrats to grab a political advantage in the upcoming midterm elections.
The bill, called the Disclose Act, appears to be a blatant effort by Democrats in Congress to find a way around the Supreme Court's recent Citizens United v. FEC ruling, which struck down provisions of McCain-Feingold campaign-finance reforms that severely restricted the rights of corporations and nonprofit groups to run political advertising.
The Supreme Court ruled such restrictions violate the First Amendment right to free speech.
But this new effort includes a series of provisions seeking to disclose donors involved in political advertising as well as saddling private business with boatloads of paperwork to discourage their involvement in the political process.
The constitutional issues involved make it all the more surprising that some members of Congress want to try a legislative maneuver to evade the ruling, says Hans Von Spakovsky, senior legal scholar for The Heritage Foundation.
"Members of Congress have the same obligation that the president does, and that judges have, to uphold the Constitution," Von Spakovsky tells Newsmax.
"That means they should not be sponsoring, pushing, or voting in favor of bills that very clearly are unconstitutional. This particular law has many provisions, especially based on the Supreme Court's Citizens United ruling, that violate the First Amendment. They're trying to restrict political speech, and they're trying to restrict political advocacy."
In some ways, the Disclose Act represents the fulfillment of President Obama's State of the Union address, when he publicly scolded the Supreme Court for its ruling, alleging that it would "open the floodgates for special interests, including foreign corporations, to spend without limit in our elections."
Obama urged Congress "to pass a bill that helps to right this wrong."
Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, and Sen. Charles Schumer, a former chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, are co-sponsoring the Disclose Act.
Democrats had hoped to push it through the House Rules Committee, and possibly bring it to the floor for a vote as early as Friday. But the rules committee session was postponed on Thursday, and now the bill isn't expected to come up for a vote until sometime in June.
The roster of organizations expressing their concern about the measure is long and growing. Among them: the NRA, the NAACP, the National Association of Manufacturers, the National Retail Federation, the U.S. Travel Association, the National Federation of Independent Business, the National Restaurant Association, and the American Trucking Association, to name a few.
Despite that opposition, House Democrats are expressing cautious optimism they have the votes they need to get the bill through the house. It's unclear how it would fare in the Senate.
Democrats are promoting the bill as a way to disclose to the American people know who's behind the political advertising they are exposed to.
Even the bill's proponents, however, are touting it as a way to tighten the spigot on corporate speech related to campaigns.
"The deterrent effect should not be underestimated," Schumer said when the New York Democrat rolled out the bill.
That "deterrent effect" is the bill's inclination to discourage companies, trade groups, and other organizations from exercising their First Amendment right to express their political views. That right was upheld in Public Citizens.
Von Spakovsky tells Newsmax that previous campaign-finance laws have given unions and corporations identical treatment. "This new provision kind of breaks that compact," he says.
Chamber President and CEO Thomas J. Donahue, who says Democrats desperately are seeking a way to improve their prospects in November, has dubbed the Disclose Act the "Incumbent Protection Act."
Among its controversial provisions:
http://www.newsmax.com/Headline/campaign-finance-democrats-disclose/2010/05/31/id/360620