Tagged: Republican controlled Congress

December 27, 2015

“As untold millions of dollars pour into the shadowy campaign troughs of the presidential candidates, voters need to be reminded of the rosy assumptions of the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision that legitimized the new spending frenzy. In allowing unlimited spending on candidates by corporations and unions, the court’s decision, in 2010, blithely pronounced, ‘A campaign finance system that pairs corporate independent expenditures with effective disclosure has not existed before today.’ Effective disclosure exists? The court majority in the 5-4 decision should have been watching this month when the Republican-controlled Congress, which has firmly bottled up all campaign disclosure legislation, voted to further cripple disclosure at two of its most vital points. In the new budget bill, Republicans inserted a provision blocking the [IRS] from creating rules to curb the growing abuse of the tax law by thinly veiled political machines posing as ‘social welfare’ organizations. These groups are financed by rich special-interest donors who do not have to reveal their identities under the tax law. So much for effective disclosures at the I.R.S.”

Source: The Editorial Board. “Political Dark Money Just Got Darker.” New York Times. December 25, 2015. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/26/opinion/political-dark-money-just-got-darker.html.

November 7, 2014