Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, has submitted a bill to possibly curb corporate political spending and ensure transparency for the outlays corporations do make.
Brown’s bill is one of several put forth in both houses of Congress by Democrats in reaction to the recent Supreme Court decision in Citizens United vs. Federal Elections Commission, which essentially removed all limits on and regulation of corporate campaign spending — by both domestic and foreign interests.
Here are the essentials of Brown’s legislation, as highlighted in a Huffington Post item.
- “It requires corporate shareholders to vote for election spending. Everything from its affect(sic) on pension funds to hiring practices and all the things that companies do, they should have a say and obviously expenditure of money for something like politics.”
- “Secondly, it promotes transparency by requiring the corporate CEO to disclose sponsorship of the political ads, just like a politician.” (This, Brown says, would apply even if corporations form front groups)
- Last, it would close the loophole that would permit foreign corporations, including those owned by foreign governments, to influence U.S. elections.”
Brown’s Web page asks visitors to sign a petition supporting his bill. We gladly obliged and urge you to show your support as well.
An amendment to the Constitution is the ultimate, ironclad way to rectify the Supreme Court’s grievous mistake. But amending the Constitution is a long, hard process. Legislation such as Brown’s is necessary to blunt the worst effects in the short run.
Here’s hoping at least a few Republicans will for once see beyond their own selfish ends and do the right thing for our political system and country. And yes, we know better than to hold our breath.
Sounds like a good thing to me but I think it has a zero chance of passing – not with the current obstructionism of Republican congressmen. But just in case, I’ll sign the petition.
I’m afraid Leslie is right — a great bill with zero chance of passing. Blue Dog Democrats will probably be against it too.
But I’ll sign it; can’t hurt.
Rep. Donna Edwards is proposing an Amendment to the Constitution, to take personhood away from corporations, which is good, but will take forever, if it succeeds at all. Brown’s bill could curb, and act as a bridge until a more concrete reining in of corporate interference.
LP, Tom, the one sure thing in D.C. these days is that Republicans and some poor-excuse Democrats will fight any change for the better. I think it matters that the rest of us show some strength in numbers. Signing Brown’s petition is one way to do that. If he can show his fellow senators an impressive level of public support, it will help him win their backing.
I urge you to put something up about Brown’s legislation at your blogs, and ask your readers to go sign the petition. The more who do, the better chance it has of passing.
Holte, good for Rep. Donna Edwards. Are you going to do a post on it? Let’s generate some buzz. Nose counters in D.C. and the media take note of buzz, if there’s enough of it.
The Rushpubliscums will never let this see the light of day. They’re too close to owning everything now.
TomCat did a good post on the Donna Edwards proposal.
J.R., if we do nothing we will ensure they get their way. Maybe they’ll get their way anyway, but let’s at least not make it easy for them.
Holte, like I said, the more buzz the better.
I signed. Who knows, maybe it will pass…but probably not.
SW, I switched to wordpress…I’ve still got some remodeling to do, but it works quite nicely:) And the comments work!