DISCLOSE Act Shows Republicans Hide Behind Their Super PACs

Impact

Political Action Committees (PACs) are not required to disclose their donors. Hundreds of millions of dollars can be poured into "Super PACs" to flood the airwaves with negative ads.  This can dramatically alter the course of elections.

This week, Republicans blocked the DISCLOSE Act, which requires PACs to disclose all donors who gave more than $10,000. They blocked it by filibuster, which requires 60 votes to end. The vote was in favor of the measure 51-44, enough to pass, but Republicans continued abusing the filibuster to block the legislation. (Take a deeper look at what the DISCLOSE Act involves in an article by Ahren Stroming.)

This is the same method Republicans used to block 17 pieces of Jobs Legislation that Obama proposed.

If Republicans do not want to disclose their donors above $10,000, then they must be hiding something. What are they trying to hide?

Let's consider the possibilities. The conditions of zero disclosure, which exist now, allow the funding to come from anywhere. Some are writing checks for millions of dollars, all to influence  your opinion. Republicans don't want you to know who is writing the checks for millions and millions of dollars.

That leaves voters wondering. Are the Chinese writing checks? How about Iran? Or health care companies abusing Medicare? Or casino billionaires?

The problem is, we simply don't know who is donating, and fact-checking is impossible.

There is an online petition to support the DISCLOSE Act. Your signature on a petition might be the best influence you could have to prevent government for the highest bidder.