NYT editorial: Campaign Money to Burn
After Tuesday’s vote, there is no limit to the ambitions of stealth political groups bankrolled by anonymous check writers. Two of the flushest pro-Republican operations, American Crossroads and Crossroads GPS, plan to extend their campaigning into the lame-duck session of Congress with waves of misinformation about tax and immigration issues.
The moment could not be more pressing for lame-duck senators to revisit — and pass — the “Disclose Act.” It has been approved by the House and would mandate that the public at least be told which deep-pocketed corporate and union donors are politicking from the underbrush. The measure failed by one vote in a September filibuster by Republicans.
The Democratic majority needs just a few Republicans to break party lock step and stand up for politicking in the sunshine. Republicans who once made disclosure their mantra (as an alternative to robust limits on contributions) are predictably backing away.
One Republican newcomer, Senator-elect Mark Kirk of Illinois, did offer a ringing endorsement of disclosure in the campaign. Asked in a debate about the $1.1 million in advertising support that he received from Karl Rove’s Crossroads GPS, Mr. Kirk firmly insisted special-interest groups writing campaign checks “should reveal their donors and be fully transparent.”
(More here.)
The moment could not be more pressing for lame-duck senators to revisit — and pass — the “Disclose Act.” It has been approved by the House and would mandate that the public at least be told which deep-pocketed corporate and union donors are politicking from the underbrush. The measure failed by one vote in a September filibuster by Republicans.
The Democratic majority needs just a few Republicans to break party lock step and stand up for politicking in the sunshine. Republicans who once made disclosure their mantra (as an alternative to robust limits on contributions) are predictably backing away.
One Republican newcomer, Senator-elect Mark Kirk of Illinois, did offer a ringing endorsement of disclosure in the campaign. Asked in a debate about the $1.1 million in advertising support that he received from Karl Rove’s Crossroads GPS, Mr. Kirk firmly insisted special-interest groups writing campaign checks “should reveal their donors and be fully transparent.”
(More here.)
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1 Comments:
Who will tell the Republicans to this would be good for democracy ?
Norm Coleman said during his 2002 campaign : “I can’t change where we’ve been yesterday, but we can say starting from now that we reach agreement on this and that simply now we look forward and by looking forward ensure that only Minnesotans and only companies headquartered in Minnesota and individuals in Minnesota, that they’re the ones who decide who the next senator should be.”
And then during his 2008 campaign, “It’s time for all of these attacks to end. I pulled down my negative ads because I felt we need to keep the focus on the issues facing our nation. I call on Al Franken, the DNC, the RNC, the DSCC, the NRSC and any other organization engaged in negative attacks on any candidate to bring them to an immediate end. Minnesotans are sick and tired of this, and they want positive solutions for the future and for how we’re going to turn this country around. Enough is enough.”
Well, not likely since as CEO of American Action Network, commercials were produced that were so inaccurate that some television stations refused to air them.
The Republican victory can be tied to two dates ... June 26, 2009 when the House voted to approve "Cap and Trade" and January 26, 2010 when the Supreme Court ruled on the Citizens United-v-FEC.
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