Sunshine on elections makes me happy...
U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson has
thrown out a 2007 FEC ruling that allowed some funders of political ads to remain anonymous, striking a blow for transparency and sterilizing sunlight on at least some of the political attack ads we see
ad nauseum during election Silly Season.
The Federal Election Commission overstepped its bounds in allowing groups that fund certain election ads to keep their financiers anonymous, a federal judge ruled Friday.U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson's ruling could pave the way to requiring groups that spend money on electioneering communications — ads that don't expressly advocate for or against a candidate running for federal office — to disclose their donors.
The FEC ruled in 2007 that corporations and nonprofits did not have to reveal the identities of those who financed such ads. That regulation came in response to a Supreme Court ruling that gave more latitude to nonprofit groups — like the Karl Rove-backed Crossroads GPS and the President Barack Obama-leaning Priorities USA — on pre-election ads. [...]
In her 31-page ruling, Jackson said the FEC did not have legislative authority to substantially change McCain-Feingold, officially known as the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002. She said it is up to Congress, not the FEC, to make such changes.
It's a big step in the right direction. Now it's time for groups like Move to Amend to charge forward to push for a constitutional amendment declaring that businesses and corporations are NOT people with the same free speech rights as American humans have. I'd like a slice of transparency in robocalls, too, thank you very much.
[CC image credit: rishibando | Flickr]
Cross-posted from Eclectablog.