WashPost: Campaign Finance Bill Falls Short

[mjah]

THIS NEWS SUCKS.

Bill on political ad disclosures falls a little short in Senate

Dammit so much. Next-100-days style politics aside, we need this bill to pass. We all do.

I don't give two shiny craps which side of the aisle might benefit or lose out in the short-term as a result of this passing or failing. I'd like someone to please tell me why, for any reason other than pure cynical lockstep BS, a Senator who deserves to be in office representing us would oppose the following:

-- A corporation, labor union or special interest group would be required to report all donors who have given $600 or more during a 12-month period if the organization spends in excess of $10,000 on political ads or other political activities.

-- Chief executives, presidents or other senior officials would be required to appear on camera to endorse political ads a company pays for, much as political candidates are required to do.

-- Spending on political ads by outside groups would be subject to expanded disclosure requirements.

-- Major federal contractors and recipients of Troubled Asset Relief Program financing would be barred from funding political ads.

-- Companies with more than 20 percent foreign ownership would be barred from participating in elections

(Source)

Watching this fail basically on party lines is really, really disappointing. Maybe not entirely unexpected, but terribly disappointing.

[ACW]

http://www.aclu.org/free-speech/aclu-urges-no-vote-disclose-act

Not to mention the carve-outs for the NRA and others.