From: downwithtyranny.blogspot.com
Published: June 26, 2010
Yesterday we talked a little about the blatant way conservatives thumbed their noses at voters in regard to campaign finance. They just flat-out refuse to go along with even the most modest reforms. One of the most reform-minded Democratic candidates running for Congress this year, North Carolina farmer and carpenter Billy Kennedy, is vying for a seat currently held by one of Congress' most arrogant and stubborn relics of mindless corruption, Virginia Foxx. Needless to say, she voted against the DISCLOSE Act. Like many of the self-serving corporate shills on both sides of the aisle-- remember, Blue Dogs were as opposed to reform as Republicans-- Foxx was shrieking that reforming the system is "unconstitutional." I asked Billy for a guest post on how he sees it and why he differs so fiercely with such a "constitutional scholar" like Foxx.
"The case of Citizens United v FEC was heard by the Supreme Court back in January. When all was said and done, the Court ended up changing the law so that corporations can now spend as much as they like on political campaigns without even identifying themselves. That’s right-- average working people get the short end of the stick. Again.
So the US House has now just passed the “Disclose Act,” a law which will at least require that these corporations tell us who they are when they put their fancy, high-dollar commercials on TV that attack anyone who would dare come up against them. The “Disclose Act” could most certainly be better than it is. If we didn’t have so many politicians in Washington beholden to corporate interests, we’d surely have gotten a better bill in the end, but the bill is at least a start.
Even so, I wasn’t surprised to hear Rep. Virginia Foxx rail against the “Disclose Act” on WPTF radio Thursday. more...
