While this was hardly surprising, yesterday the entire Republican Senate caucus voted unanimously to uphold Citizens United v. FEC. All 41 Republicans in the Senate -- including so-called moderates such as Olympia Snowe, Susan Collins, and Scott Brown -- cast a vote against cloture on the DISCLOSE Act, thereby effectively defeating campaign finance reform for this year (and prior to the November elections). As President Obama stated in Rose Garden comments on Monday, a vote against the DISCLOSE Act
"is nothing less than a vote to allow corporate and special interest takeovers of our elections."
Just to recap what the DISCLOSE Act would have accomplished, here is a quote from the non-partisan website Gavel Grab:
The legislation would force corporations and unions to completely disclose political spending, including for what are called "issue ads." These typically are intended to elect an individual candidate, without directly asking voters to do so. The legislation also would require CEOs to appear in a company’s political advertising and state support for its message.
http://www.gavelgrab.org/...
Never one to miss an opportunity to engage in some mendacious, upside-down logic, Mitch McConnell tried to mischaracterize the DISCLOSE Act as seeking to "protect unpopular Democrat politicians by silencing their critics."
Bullsh*t.
The DISCLOSE Act would have done nothing more than shine some bright sunlight on the corporate interests that almost entirely fund the Republican party. While "sunlight is the best disinfectant" (Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis), sunlight is also fatal to blood sucking vampire corporations that are attempting to subvert our democractic process.
And the Senate Republicans fully support this -- every last one of them.
It is appalling that the Republican Party is willing to so nakedly protect its corporate supporters, and to so openly aid these corporations in attacking Democratic candidates.
We cannot let them get away with this. This issue needs to be hung around the neck of every single Republican senatorial candidate this fall.