DISCLOSE Act defeated in the Senate
After the Supreme Court ruled PARTS of the McCain/Feingold campaign finance reform law unconstitutional Democrats began to craft legislation to counter the Supreme Court’s decision; this new legislation was called the Democracy is Strengthened by Casting Light on Spending in Elections Act (DISCLOSE Act.)
But a funny thing happened on the way to limiting the biggest corporations and unions from disclosing the money spent on campaigns– they were exempted. The most publicized exemption was gained by the NRA, but the AARP was also exempted, and it turns out that language in the bill exempted many of the biggest labor unions as well because according to this article:
Aggregate contributions of $600 or more would be disclosed. Why start at $600? Why not $200 or, say, $500? Because most union members’ dues aggregate less than $600 in a calendar year and thus members’ contributions to labor’s campaign-related spending wouldn’t need to be disclosed . . . even to the union members whose dues are spent for political purposes.
Democrats were so desperate to pass the DISCLOSE Act before the November mid-terms that they granted exemptions to the biggest campaign contributors to both parties, rendering this legislation useless. This was a political stunt designed at shoring up the party base, there was no real reform here– the bill had no teeth.
Today the Senate voted for cloture on the DISCLOSE Act and it failed 57-41. Harry Reid is still vowing to bring this bill to the floor for a vote in time to affect the mid-term elections, but I find it highly unlikely that anything will get done in time.
Democrats will now try to use this vote as a way to paint the Republicans as being in bed with big businesses– again playing to their base. But anyone that is paying attention has to be asking themselves what kind of reform this was in the first place if some of the biggest campaign donors were exempted from this legislation.
America's Watchtower 
weasles!!!
unions are one of the most destructful forces in our country, they are only 16 % of the workforce yet they control and take so much
Steve different subject but check out this on healthcare from the CBO,
http://cboblog.cbo.gov/?p=1183
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Smells like the start of a victory…
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Just the start though…they will never go away.
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I want to believe this is it, but I know better with this administration. I am so thankful, however, that the it was defeated at this point. This bill cannot pass…EVER.
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Yeah, we know it is coming back again, they never give up!
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The DISCLOSE Act is nothing more than a knee-jerk reaction to the Supreme Court Ruling earlier this year. Combine that with how the bill was worked out and it’s final makeup and I am glad to hear this legislation has been defeated, at least for the time being.
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That’s exactly what it was Larry. The left saw the outrage from the left on this issue, so they moved to pass a response. Even with its failure the left can use this issue in the election by claiming that Republicans are out of touch and in bed with business. It will be interesting to see how important of an issue the voters find this. I would think its lower down on the list.
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I certainly agree the bill lost its teeth when the exemptions were put in place but I’m still at a loss to understand how corporations, labor unions, or other legal entities have any Constitutional rights that are equal to or exceeding those of citizens and especially that of free speech. It surprises me that conservatives feel so strongly about the appropriateness of the Supreme Court ruling.
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Pesonally, I don’t have strong feeling one way or the other about the ruling. I despise all of the money that comes into campaigns, but I don’t see where McCain/Feingold stopped any of that money from flowing in as groups found loopholes around it. WE need to look no further than the 2008 election, between Hillary and Obama didn’t the two candidates spend almost a billion dollars, and then there was the general election with hundreds of millions also spent.
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