[EL] exchanges on disclosure, Fortune 500 election-related contributions etc.

Thu Jul 12 12:54:25 PDT 2012

For an overview of current state campaign finance disclosure laws, see Robert Stern, "Sunlight State By State After Citizens United" (2012),
http://www.citizen.org/documents/sunlight-state-by-state-report.pdf.

Ciara Torres-Spelliscy
Assistant Professor
Stetson University College of Law
--------------------------------------------------
View my research on my SSRN Author page:
http://ssrn.com/author=584767
--------------------------------------------------

From: law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu [mailto:law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu] On Behalf Of Roy Schotland
Sent: Thursday, July 12, 2012 3:38 PM
To: law-election at department-lists.uci.edu
Subject: Re: [EL] exchanges on disclosure, Fortune 500 election-related contributions etc.

May I suggest that one -the most crucial-- point has been missing from the exchanges and the endless newsclips about "outside spending" and disclosure:  What If Anything can be done?
If anyone is betting on action by Congress, I'd like other side of that bet.  BUT what is it about us academics that's so fixated on the Feds?  Does anyone believe there are NO States in which effective disclosure law can be enacted?  (Are there any States with effective law now?  Every time I ask, I've been referred to places that suffer the old magic-words hurdle.  And does anyone require disclosure of sources for funding non-broadcast action?)  Effective disclosure in even a single State can be so significant.  E.g., in Michigan, where savvy soul Rich Robinson looks at actual TV contracts, here's last week's report by Michigan Campaign Finance Network:
"...The television ad war has been a one-sided attack against the administration and policies of President Barack Obama, funded by 501-c-4 nonprofit "social welfare" corporations that will not disclose their donors. Americans for Prosperity, American Future Fund, 60 Plus Alliance, American Energy Alliance and Crossroads GPS have spent $5.8 million for candidate-focused "issue" advertisements designed to emphasize one issue: The unsuitability of Barack Obama to be reelected president."  [emphasis added.]
           "... Americans for Prosperity began the campaign in January and stopped its advertisements 31 days prior to the Michigan presidential primary election on February 28th, one day before a disclosure window opened that required reporting of donors to committees sponsoring 'electioneering communications.' ... American Future Fund picked up the attack campaign the day after the presidential primary, when the disclosure window for electioneering communications was again closed. American Future Fund was followed in succession by 60 Plus Alliance and American Energy Alliance. After a brief hiatus over the Easter holiday, American Future Fund and Americans for Prosperity returned to the air, ....  The relay-style campaign ran until May 18th and all parties used the same advertising agency, Mentzer Media Services.  On May 17th Crossroads GPS, another 501-c-4, assumed the advertising campaign. Crossroads GPS ... ran a four-week $2 million ad blitz that ended June 19th."
Re the anti-disclosure views, this brief bit:  The Financial Times last Friday had this line (from one of their leading columnists) about "cronyism":  "What all forms of cronyism share is a passion for secrecy and a hatred of open discussion."  Adding my view: if there were more substance to the fears of disclosure, I'd say that everything in life has pluses and minuses; but there have been fine postings about how little substance there is.  I'm so old-fashioned that I'm for disclosure of all significant-size activity, whichever side gains-- and if needed, tailored to safeguard against retaliation.
Roy A. Schotland
Professor Emeritus
Georgetown Law Center
600 New Jersey Ave. N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20001
202/662-9098
        fax: -9680

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://webshare.law.ucla.edu/Listservs/law-election/attachments/20120712/3e348574/attachment.html>