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DISCLOSE Act fails on party-line, procedural vote
Published on July 27, 2010 04:12 PM
Category: Disclosure, First Amendment, Independent Speech
The Center for Competitive Politics and fellow travelers who support First Amendment rights in politics won a major battle today as the DISCLOSE Act failed on a party-line, procedural vote (57-to-41). But the fight is not over. Minutes after the vote, Democracy21 and other pro-regulation groups vowed a lame duck effort to pass this bill in September. The Hill quotes the bill's Senate sponsor, Chuck Schumer, as saying the majority will attempt to "go back at this bill again and again and again u
DISCLOSE done for?
Published on July 27, 2010 02:30 PM
Category: Disclosure, First Amendment, Independent Speech
Fox News reports that Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), who had been considered a swing vote on the DISCLOSE Act, will vote against cloture later this afternoon: Complaining that there have been "no hearings, no vetting, no attempt to bring people together," Snowe touted her own past work on the issue and added, "I know the new routine on legislation these days is to ram and jam...but it really does take time...It really does require building a consensus." Also, a spokesman for Sen. Dianne Fei
Down to the wire on DISCLOSE
Published on July 27, 2010 12:19 PM
Category: Disclosure, First Amendment, Independent Speech
As the DISCLOSE Act heads for a cloture vote in the Senate (expected at 2:45 p.m.), various media outlets are reporting that Sen. Joe Lieberman will miss the vote. This development means that Democrats will almost certainly be unable to invoke cloture and move to passage of this speech-restricting legislation. Other reports indicate that Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) will vote yes to invoke cloture while Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) will vote no. Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) is the main question ma
Fact-checking final DISCLOSE push
Published on July 26, 2010 04:07 PM
Category: Disclosure, First Amendment, Independent Speech
As the end-game for the DISCLOSE Act nears, its supporters are engaging in an all-out effort to obfuscate the worst parts of the bill and characterize its opponents as opposed to basic transparency in politics. The Senate will hold a procedural vote on the DISCLOSE Act at 2:45 p.m. Tuesday. Democrats do not yet have a Republican vote for the DISCLOSE Act and Sen. Chuck Schumer, the bill's sponsor, acknowledged Monday that he's having trouble holding his own caucus together for the vote.
FEC frees indy groups to spend in 2010
Published on July 23, 2010 10:55 AM
Category: Contributions & Limits, Disclosure, Independent Speech
The Federal Election Commission signed off on the plans of two independent political groups to spend freely on politics yesterday in a post-Citizens United consensus decision. On a 5-1 vote, the FEC approved two advisory opinions applying the logic of the Supreme Court's decision in Citizens United and an appellate court decision in SpeechNow.org v. FEC. The Center for Competitive Politics, along with the Institute for Justice, represents SpeechNow.org.
Is S. 3628 the last desperate gasp for the DISCLOSE Act?
Published on July 22, 2010 10:11 AM
Category: Disclosure, Independent Speech
Word began to trickle out late last night that Senator Chuck Schumer had introduced a new version of the DISCLOSE Act, S. 3628, and was angling to get it on the floor for a vote on Friday, skipping having the bill considered in committee. This morning we received a copy of the bill, and have just begun to look at it. At 116 pages, it's unlikely that the bill is much improved. What is quite likely is that the bill contains all sort of new special deals cut behind closed doors w
The shameless sophistry of Fred Wertheimer
Published on July 20, 2010
Category: Disclosure, Independent Speech
As Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins, both Maine moderate Republicans, follow in the footsteps of Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) and pan the DISCLOSE Act, campaign finance "reformers" are getting desperate. Take a 1,500 word missive penned by Democracy21 President Fred Wertheimer to supposedly shed light on the "Myths and Realities Regarding Claims that Labor Unions are Treated More Favorably than Corporations by the DISCLOSE Act..." The piece, dripping with self-righteous condescension toward
Express advocacy from beyond the grave?
Published on July 15, 2010 04:27 PM
Category: Independent Speech
Is there an exemption for express advocacy contained in an obituary? No, this isn't some weird law prof. hypothetical. The notice of the passing of Pahrump, Nevada's Charlotte McCourt has received a fair bit of attention. The final lines of her obituary read: We believe that Mom would say she was mortified to have taken a large role in the election of Harry Reid to U.S. Congress. Let the record show Charlotte was displeased with his work. Please, in lieu of flowers, vote
Sen. Schumer: Sultan of spin
Published on July 15, 2010 02:03 PM
Category: Disclosure, Independent Speech
There's room for disagreement over interpreting the DISCLOSE Act, a complex bill to remake the campaign finance system while midterm campaigns are underway. There's uncertainty over the amount of post-Citizens United "express advocacy" spending that may occur, there are questions about how grassroots groups could comply with the onerous requirements, and there are legitimate disagreements over the policy wisdom and constitutionality of various provisions. Unfortunately, though, sponsors a
Brown bashes DISCLOSE Act
Published on July 14, 2010 10:36 AM
Category: Disclosure, Independent Speech
On Monday, a coalition of organizations that support campaign finance regulation sent a letter to Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) demanding that he support the DISCLOSE Act, which narrowly passed the House and is now under consideration in the Senate. Brown fired back today with a great letter hitting on some of the most objectionable parts of the bill.
