It’s time for Congress to show us the money — in real time

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“With modern technology, disclosure now offers a particularly effective means of arming the voting public with information.” – Supreme Court Justice John Roberts

That’s what the Supreme Court said when it decided, in McCutcheon v. FEC, that there should not be an overall cap on the amount individuals can donate to political parties, candidates and PACs.

We couldn’t agree more. But here’s the thing: What Roberts and the high court failed to recognize is that right now, the laws don’t exist to ensure effective, complete and timely disclosure. Right now, we have a system in which the public must wait as long as three months before some contributions are made public; in the case of U.S. Senate candidates, even longer because candidates for Senate still file their campaign reports on paper, delaying disclosure by weeks after reports are due.

Sometimes that delay means voters go to the polls without knowing who contributed to a campaign. That’s not very democratic, is it?

We’re ready to change that. The Real Time Transparency Act, introduced in the Senate by Angus King (I-ME) and in the House by Beto O’Rourke (D-TX) would require 48-hour disclosure of so-called hard money campaign contributions of $1,000 or more to candidates, committees and parties. But we need your help to do it.

Here’s how you can help pass the Real Time Transparency Act

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    Here are three simple things that can also help build momentum for the Real Time Transparency Act:

  1. Sign our petition calling on Congress to pass the bill — and to do so as soon as possible.
  2. Write a letter to the editor of your hometown newspaper.
  3. Share one of our political cartoons on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and (that’s “and,” not “or”!) Tumblr.

As you can see, we’ve made it super easy for you to spread the word and help build momentum for the Real Time Transparency Act. You can sign a petition, write a letter to the editor of your paper, and share your support on your social networks — the hashtag is #showusthemoney — showing that you believe that this simple bill is a good first step towards a more accountable government.

So let’s demand that Congress #showusthemoney — in real time.