The primary reason we have a First Amendment is that we don’t trust government to regulate political speech in the public interest. The framers understood that if government can regulate political speech, there will be an almost irresistible urge to use such regulation for partisan advantage, and to silence political speakers opposed to the majority.
Both of these problems are on display in the so-called “DISLCOSE Act” (“Democracy is Strengthened by Casting Light on Spending in Elections Act”—you know a law is trouble when it requires a gimmicky name). DISCLOSE purports to be a “response” to the Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens United v. FEC. In that case, the Court reached the thoroughly unremarkable conclusion that the government cannot censor speech merely because it comes from a corporation. It rejected the government’s argument that it could censor books and movies merely because they are published or distributed by corporations, such as Random House, Barnes & Noble, Tri-Star, Cinemark Theaters, or Dog Eat Dog Productions, the company that produced some of Michael Moore’s political films. (The Court did not disturb the prohibition on corporate political contributions to candidates and parties campaign funds).
Democrats have reacted with near hysteria, and the reason seems to be that they believe that corporate political speech tends to support Republicans. Drafted behind closed doors and scheduled for action without committee hearings, “DISCLOSE” is sponsored by Sen. Chuck Schumer, former chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, and Rep. Chris Van Hollen, Chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. Letters from Republican leaders asking to participate in the process have gone unanswered.
The sponsors have managed to scrape up one GOP co-sponsor out of 218 Republicans in Congress—Delaware Congressman Mike Castle. Twenty other Republicans who voted for “McCain-Feingold” are still in Congress, including Sen. McCain, but none have signed on to the bill…
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