DREAM, CLEAR And DISCLOSE, Too

From America's Right:

DREAM, CLEAR & DISCLOSE, Too


September 22, 2010 by John Feeny

Filed under Assigned Reading

3 Comments

The Washington Independent: Senate Leaders Exchange Barbs over DISCLOSE Act



This morning’s Senate session was devoted to a debate surrounding the DISCLOSE Act, which Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has indicated will likely be put to a vote sometime tomorrow.



Reid and Sen. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.), the Democratic Whip, spent the majority of their time ripping the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision and reminding Republicans that, once upon a time, they too supported increased transparency and disclosure of campaign spending as an alternative to strict limits on total dollar amounts. Republican Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) continued to claim that Democrats are raising the issue at at time when they should be focused on jobs and the economy — and that the bill is an attempt to rig the electoral system to their advantage.



What a week.



As Mitch McConnell points out in this piece, the Democrats apparently decided that this is “politics only” week in Washington. The DISCLOSE Act is once again rearing its head, as Harry Reid and Dick Durbin are making an all-out push to bring this vote to the floor tomorrow (9/23) in an effort to restore “transparency” to the manner in which candidates receive their funds.



Okay, fair enough.



What I’d like, then, is for the DISCLOSE Act to be retroactive, so that the American people can finally be informed as to all of the sources behind the accumulation of Barack Obama’s outrageous war chest during the 2008 campaign. Lots of reputable characters in that bunch, no doubt.



What this all boils down to is that the children are upset that we now have to play by adult rules. Everyone – individuals, groups, corporations – have the right to donate to political campaigns. Lest we not forget that we are a free people.



Of course, I’m sure that it’s just a-okay for the unions to donate as much as they’d like to the campaigns of Democratic Party candidates. After all, the unions leaders are only out to protect the regular guy.



I actually wrote that with a straight face.