A bill to make political speech freer for some than for others. In theory, campaign finance reform is about clean elections, transparency and ending special interest influence. In practice, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has scheduled a cloture vote for this week on a bill designed to undo a recent Supreme Court free speech decision and give Democrats a fund-raising advantage in the fall elections.
In its
Citizens United decision earlier this year, the Supreme Court ruled that Congress may not prohibit spending on political speech by corporations, unions and nonprofits. President Obama has publicly criticized the decision, and Democrats have been trying to pass legislation that reverses some of its provisions.
Yet what they've proposed is a blatantly partisan bill sponsored by two Members whose main duty is electing Democrats. The House version, which passed last month on partisan lines, is sponsored by Representative Chris Van Hollen, who runs the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. The companion bill in the Senate was introduced by Charles Schumer, the two-time head of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee who is in a backroom battle with Dick Durbin to succeed Harry Reid as Majority Leader.
In the name of "transparency," the Schumer-Van Hollen
legislation tilts the playing field in favor of Democratic candidates by taking direct aim at corporate speech. The bill prohibits speech by government contractors, beneficiaries of the Troubled Asset Relief Program and "foreign-controlled domestic corporations," which are defined as U.S. subsidiaries of companies in which 20% or more of voting shares are owned by a foreign national.
more Oh my. Poor corporations that are not people! Oh, did they just admit that corporate speech is tilted to help Republicans? And on further edit: think the title of the editorial reveals a little wishful thinking that Senator Reid will lose?
:rofl:
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