This Afternoon: Congress Votes on Grassroots Muzzle, ‘DISCLOSE Act’
Congress Votes on Grassroots Muzzle
Armed with the inspiration that comes from political desperation, the Democrat-controlled House of Representatives is scheduled to vote on campaign finance bill Thursday that critics on both the left and the right say will disable grassroots political opposition – including the nascent “Tea Party” movement that has been looking to sweep away liberal incumbents in November.
According to House Republican sources, the House began meeting at 10:00 a.m. for legislative business and are now taking up H.R. 5175, the “Democracy is Strengthened by Casting Light on Spending in Elections (DISCLOSE) Act” that has pro-life, pro-family groups, and even the ACLU crying foul.
The Act would force grassroots organizations to release the names of donors and members of their organizations into a publicly searchable database, and frustrate the ability of grassroots entities to communicate effectively with the public about public policy.
Sources with House GOP leadership say they expect a final vote in the House anytime between 2:45 – 3:15 p.m.
Once passed by the House and Senate and signed into law by President Barack Obama, the act would take effect in 30 days, even if the Federal Elections Commission has not yet crafted new guidelines – just in time for the mid-term elections in November.
House members have had virtually no time to read the final version of the bill devised yesterday by the House Rules Committee. Only the Rules Committee for certain knows what details have been included or deleted at the last moment behind closed doors. But instead of waiting for Congressmen and their staff to analyze the final bill, the Democrat leadership is determined to force through a vote today by invoking a “Martial Law Rule.”
The Martial Law Rule dispenses with a longstanding House rule (Rule XIII(6)(a)), which is intended to give U.S. Representatives and the public enough time to understand significant legislation. The rule requires that there be at least one day between the bill’s unveiling and the House floor vote. Under normal rules a bill can only be considered on the same legislative day as reported by the Rules Committee if two-thirds of the House agree – but the Martial Law Rule dispenses with that process entirely.
The rule has been used before by House Republicans when they were in the majority, but critics on both the left and the right have denounced the tactic. They say it empowers a party’s leadership to act in an authoritarian manner and endangers democratic self-government by forcing members to vote blind on measures they want enacted.
Once the Martial Law rule is passed, the House will engage in a series of votes culminating in the adoption of the rule for H.R. 5175, which should conclude before the House takes a break anticipated for 11:45 a.m.
During the afternoon, the House will then have just one hour of general debate on H.R. 5175 – a bill they have not had time to read – which will then be followed by debate on the five amendments permitted under the Rule.
In a June 18 letter to Congress, the ACLU wrote that, “This bill fails to improve the integrity of our campaigns in any substantial way while significantly harming the speech and associational rights of Americans.”
Under the bill, all groups subject to the law’s requirements would have to list all donors of $600 or more with the Federal Election Commission (FEC). Groups must also post a hyperlink on their website to the FEC, where a list of the names of their donors can be accessed.
But the DISCLOSE Act exempts large 501(c)4 groups – like the 4 million strong NRA and 750,000 member Sierra Club – from having to report their donors if they have at least 500,000 members, over 10 years of existence, chapters in all 50 states, and receive no more than 15 percent of total contributions from corporations.
The ACLU noted the irony that a bill ostensibly dedicated to uprooting corruption in the political process would exempt entrenched “mainstream” political interests from its reporting requirements, while “smaller organizations and those just starting out would have to disclose their donors in order to engage in political speech.”
“Those groups not challenging the status quo would be protected; those challenging the status quo would be suppressed,” they concluded.
The bill also requires that every time an organization runs a campaign ad, its CEO must appear in the ad and state twice his name and the organization’s name. The top five funders of the organization behind the ad – even if they had nothing to do with the ad’s funding – must also have their names listed in the ad.
In addition, the most “significant” donor to the organization must list his name, rank, and organization three times in the ad. Critics of the bill say that the disclaimers effectively consume valuable airtime bought by these groups that would otherwise be used to inform voters about a candidate’s record.
Other affected entities will likely include vocal liberal and conservative groups that communicate through the internet. While traditional media organizations like newspapers and television stations are exempt from the bill, bloggers, the vanguard of the “new media,” are not.
Contact: Peter J. Smith
Source: LifeSiteNews.com
Publish Date: June 24, 2010
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