[EL] Public Citizen release: Another legislative effort to hide money in politics

[Craig Holman]

June 13, 2012 
Here We Go Again: Another Legislative Effort to Hide Money in Politics
Republican Rider Would Block New FCC Transparency Rule
Washington, D.C. – In an effort to stave off another attack against transparency of money in politics, Public Citizen today joined with 17 other civic organizations in urging the Senate Committee on Appropriations not to block a new rule requiring TV stations to post information about political ad spending on the Internet.
The pre-emptive effort by Public Citizen and the other organizations follows on the heels of a rider added to the appropriations bill in the U.S. House of Representatives that would prevent the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) from implementing the new rule. The groups are asking Senate lawmakers to reject any similar amendments.

  Other transparency measures that have been stalled since the 2010 Citizens United decision include:

the DISCLOSE Act, which would provide full disclosure of spending in elections, even by innocuous-sounding third-party groups;
the Shareholder Protection Act, which would require companies to inform shareholders and the public about corporate political spending; and
a proposed transparency executive order, which would require government contractors to disclose to the public their campaign contributions and expenditures.

Pending before the Senate is another anti-transparency bill sponsored by U.S. Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) that would keep secret information about political spending by government contractors. Specifically, the bill would outlaw any special requirement mandating public disclosure by federal contractors of “information relating to political spending, including any payment consisting of a contribution, expenditure, independent expenditure or disbursement for an electioneering communication that is made by the contractor, any of its partners, officers, directors or employees, or any of its affiliates or subsidiaries to a candidate or on behalf of a candidate for election for federal office.”
You can read the full press release and the coalition letter at: http://www.citizen.org/pressroom/pressroomredirect.cfm?ID=3629


Craig Holman, Ph.D.
Government Affairs Lobbyist
Public Citizen
215 Pennsylvania Avenue SE
Washington, D.C. 20003
T-(202) 454-5182
C-(202) 905-7413
F-(202) 547-7392
Holman at aol.com
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