Our democracy is threatened. Not by partisanship run rampant, not by an electorate that stays home, (although those are big... View Article
Continue readingThese Senators Were For Disclosure Before They Were Against It
Later today, the Senate is expected to vote along party lines to deny cloture to the DISCLOSE Act. Republicans have... View Article
Continue readingWhat You Should Know About the DISCLOSE Act Part 4: Is the DISCLOSE Act Constitutional?
This evening, the Senate will vote on the DISCLOSE Act, a bill that would shine a light on the dark... View Article
Continue readingDark money in the 2012 elections (so far)
As the Senate this week takes up the DISCLOSE Act, a bill that Sunlight and other open government groups are... View Article
Continue readingWhat You Should Know About the DISCLOSE Act Part 3: Does the DISCLOSE Act Favor Unions?
Opponents of the DISCLOSE Act are so desperate to keep the light from shining on massive amounts of secret, dark... View Article
Continue readingRebuttal to McConnell’s War of Misinformation on DISCLOSE Act
A war is being waged against the DISCLOSE Act. Its Commander in Chief is Senator Mitch McConnell, his secret weapon is misinformation and his goal is to protect unlimited dark money contributions to the political process. It’s time for a counter-attack. Last week, McConnell outlined his plan of attack in a speech to the American Enterprise Institute. Wrapping himself in a narrow and self-serving interpretation of the First Amendment, McConnell casts liberals as the enemies of free speech and he and his foot soldiers (the Chamber of Commerce) as the true protectors of our constitutional rights. But take apart his arguments and it is easy to spot his true intentions—not to protect the free speech rights of all citizens, but to protect the ability of wealthy donors to anonymously influence our democratic process. The Sunlight Foundation refutes the worst inaccuracies being lobbed against reasonable efforts to disclose the dark money that is infiltrating our elections. This Orwellian tactic is timed to defang public support for the DISCLOSE Act, which the Senate is likely to consider in July.
Continue readingLibertarian think tank: Get behind DISCLOSE (or something like it)
A bill requiring super PACs and other outside political groups to include the names of top donors on their ads will hit the Senate floor next month, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., said Friday. Meanwhile, an unlikely source warned the Republicans who are expected to filibuster it that they are standing in the way of the inevitable.
Whitehouse's comments came in his home state at a conference of liberal bloggers, where he was on a panel about the effects of Citizens United, a 2010 Supreme Court case that opened the door for unlimited campaign spending by corporations and unions ...
Continue readingCourts See the Light on Transparency
Yesterday, a three-judge panel of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals demonstrated that it gets the need for greater transparency... View Article
Continue readingConnecticut Legislature Takes on Campaign Finance Disclosure
A Connecticut bill has been making the rounds in transparency circles recently: HB 5556, a toothy, bipartisan approach to corporate... View Article
Continue readingSunlight Submits Testimony in Favor of DISCLOSE Act
The Senate Rules Committee will hold a hearing on Thursday to discuss S. 2219, the “Democracy Is Strengthened by Casting... View Article
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