Senator Landrieu's affirmative vote wasn't enough to lift the Senate over the Republican's procedural hurdle today, as GOP Senators successfully held up a bill that would force transparency for corporate spending in elections.
The DISCLOSE Act, or the"Democracy is Strengthened by Casting Light on Spending in Elections Act" (don't you just love it?) would require corporations to file reports detailing their political expenditures. The bill was held up by Republicans today after a 57-41 procedural vote along party lines (see article from The Hill).
The DISCLOSE Act was offered in response to the Citizens United v. FEC decision by the Supreme Court earlier this year (here's some background) that rocked the foundation of campaign finance law in America. In its decision, the 5-4 majority of the Court essentially held the following:
spending money = speech
corporations = people
people have freedom of speech under the First Amendment
THEREFORE, corporations have the constitutional right to spend as much money as they want to influence elections
What do you think, does this make sense? Republicans are known for being "pro-business," so of course they would want the business lobby to be able to spend unlimited amounts of cash keeping them in office. Fundamentally, I tend to agree with what law professor and civil rights attorney David Kairys wrote for Slate shortly after the Citizens United decision came down: "Money Isn't Speech and Corporations Aren't People."
A Washington Post-ABC News Poll found that most Americans disagreed with the Supreme Court's ruling on this issue - but what do you think? Vote in our poll below and leave a comment.
