DISCLOSURE Act addresses Super PAC spending sources

Jul 19 2012

DISCLOSURE Act addresses Super PAC spending sources

I’ve written in the past about campaign finance and the cost of winning an election — at all levels, local to state to national races.

Those posts include reflections on the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in the Citizens United case to a more the recent post on a proposed constitutional amendment that would specifically limit First Amendment rights to people and not to collective entities such as corporations, nonprofits, unions and the like.

Among the many issues raised in the discussion of campaign finance is identifying where political campaign contributions come from — in other words, who is trying to buy the election.

In this debate, “Super PAC” has become part of the political nomenclature.

These PACs can raise and spend unlimited amounts of money raised from corporations, unions, individuals and associations. And for the most part, they do not have to reveal who gave the PAC the money.

And so a bill called the DISCLOSE Act aims to fix that. The acronym stands for “Democracy Is Strengthened by Casting Light on Spending in Elections Act of 2012.”

If lawmakers could be so creative in solving the country’s problems, life might be much easier. Nevertheless, this law tries to address non-disclosure by Super PACs. And the Supreme Court has ruled that requiring disclosure is constitutional.

The law would require groups that spend $10,000 or more on a “campaign-related disbursement” to disclose donors to the Federal Election Commission within 24 hours.

But chances for the law at this point look slim, primarily because U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., Senate majority leader, thinks it’s a bad idea, an odd position in that he used to be a proponent of full disclosure.

Both major political parties have Super PAC support. And the raising and spending race at all levels is on. In the presidential election, Mitt Romney raised $106 million and President Barack Obama raised $75 million in June alone.

I encourage you to read more about the DISCLOSURE Act and make your own judgments about its value.

iCitizenForum

DISCLOSURE Act addresses Super PAC spending sources

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