Campaign-finance McCarthyism
By Bradley A. Smith
As the 2012 campaign heats up, it seems like everywhere we hear warnings of “shadowy groups” pumping millions into campaigns, “and nobody knows where that money is coming from.”
The hyperbole from campaign finance reformers is that the public will never know who funds political advocacy, which they blame on the Supreme Court’s 2010 decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission. In short, get ready, America, for a new version of the Old West, where lawlessness reigns and those willing to draw first write the rules.
Whoa. Time for a few facts. First, Citizens United did not change disclosure laws. It allowed corporations, unions and non-profit organizations such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Sierra Club to spend money to support political candidates, but they are subject to the same disclosure rules that have long applied to wealthy individuals and partnerships. In fact, every broadcast political ad in the United States includes, within the ad, information on who paid for it. Furthermore, every federal political action committee reports all of its expenditures, and all of its donors of $200 or more, to the Federal Election Commission on a regular basis, and the information is available to the public at www.fec.gov. Similarly, every individual union, corporation or person who spends money on political ads in federal races must report those expenditures to the FEC as well.
