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January 5, 2011
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Stop Secret Election Spending
Goal should
have support
from all sides
by
M ichael B. K eegan
Whatever you thought of
the outcome of November's
elections, you were prob
ably, like me, relieved to see
the end of an unusually nasty
season of political ads. An
unprecedented 1.5 million politi
cal ads aired in October alone -
- many of them false or mislead
ing attack ads paid for by anony
mous special interest groups.
Congress will have the oppor
tunity, when it gathers again this
month, both to put some of the
bitterness of the 2010 elections
behind it and to eliminate these
anonymous campaign ads from
our democracy.
By passing the Disclose Act,
a bill requiring groups that spend
money in elections to disclose
the identities of their donors,
members of the new Congress
would show that they are willing
to work across party lines to do
what is right for voters and for
democracy.
What the legisla
tion does is simple: it
would require orga
nizations that spend
money to influence
elections to disclose
the sources of major
campaign contribu
tions. The disclosure rules would
apply equally to conservative and
progressive groups. Under the
proposed law, voters would go
to the polls armed with more
information, and wealthy indi
viduals and corporations paying
for political advertisements would
be held accountable for their
claims.
The 2010 election cycle made
clear the need for greater trans
parency of campaign spending.
When the Supreme Court ruled
last year that corporations could
spend unlim ited am ounts of
money on political ads, it opened
the door for groups to funnel
huge sums from corporations and
wealthy individuals to fund cam
paign ads, without disclosing the
identity of the donors.
Because the people and cor
porations behind these groups
remained in the shadows, voters
According to the
Sunlight Foundation,
these secretive
groups spent a
whopping $126
million on federal
elections this year. |
had no way of knowing who was
trying to sway their vote and to
what end. According to the Sun
light Foundation, these secretive
groups spent a whopping $ 126
million on federal elections this
year.
Take, for instance, American
Crossroads, a group founded by money on elections recognized
Bush political advisor Karl Rove. that voters have an interest in
Its affiliate, Crossroads GPS, knowing who is spending that
spent almost $17 million on ads money, and who they're spend
attacking Democratic candidates ing it.
throughout the country. They
Whatever your opinion of cam
didn't have to disclose the source paign spending limits, there's no
of a single penny.
reasonable explanation for al
A reporter later found that lowing the wealthiest and most
Crossroads GPS received sig powerful in our society to pull
nificant funding from Wall Street strings in our elections in secret,
b ankers -- and then turned while voters are left in the dark.
around and used its money to
Covert spending will only bal
buy ads criticizing lawmakers loon in the 2012 elections if Con
who voted for the extremely gress doesn't stop it in its tracks.
unpopular Wall Street bailout.
Republicans in Congress, who
These ads ultimately served benefitted from the vast major
the interest of Wall Street by ity of this shadowy spending in
helping to elect pro-corporate, 2010, made sure that the Dis
anti-regulation candidates, and close Act didn't make it into law
did a disservice to voters, who before the midterm elections.
had no way of tracking the ads'
Now is the time for members
origins or intentions.
of both parties to put the 2010
Som e argue th at m aking elections behind them and do
groups disclose their donors lim what's right for voters and right
its those donors' free expres for democracy.
sion. But even the Supreme Court
Michael B. Keegan is the
justices who ruled to allow cor president o f People fo r the
porations to spend unlim ited American Way.
Right on Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell
Saddened by
Dream Act
obstruction
C arla (K C ) H anson
S ue H agmeier
by
and
T he M u ltn o m ah C o u n ty
Democratic Party applauds the
repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell,"
and is deeply saddened by the
continuing Republican Party ob
struction of the Dream Act.
“D on’t Ask, D on’t Tell was a
discriminatory policy that forced
gay and lesbian service mem
bers out of the military services,
disrupting their lives and jeopar
dizing national security.
We commend Oregon Sena
tors Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley
for their consistent support of
the repeal specifically, and their
ongoing support of the gay, les
bian, bisexual and trarfsgender
community more broadly.
The Dream Act is not only a
significant part of com prehen
sive immigration reform, but also
the fair and right thing to do for
immigrants who arrived here as
children, subject to their par
ents’ decisions.
glorila nò CDbsemer Established 1970
USPS 9 5 9 6 8 0
47 47 NE Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd., Portland, OR 97211
Charles H. Washington
EniTOR.Michael L eig h to n
D istr ibu tio n M anager : M ark W ashington
C reative D irector : P aul N e u feld t
The D ream Act is not a blan
ket am nesty, but includes spe
cific requirem ents for these
y o ung m en and w om en to
q u alify for perm anent re s i
dency, and then for citizen
ship. A m ong other req u ire
m ents, they m ust serve their
country, A m erica, in the m ili
tary, or com m it to and com
plete a course of study at an
institution of higher learning.
Sen. Je ff Sessions, a R e
publican from A labam a, has
called these children criminals.
This is false, inhum ane and
cruel. We are gratefu l and
proud that our Senators W yden
and M erkley have supported
the D ream Act.
Said M ultnomah Democratic
P a rty C h a ir C a rla "K C "
Hanson:
“ I have a y o u n g frie n d ,
brought here from M exico as a
four-year-old. ‘A ’ is now an
articulate, intelligent and com-
p a s s io n a te 22 y e a r o ld ,
hardworking and of impeccable
character, who excelled in high
school. I have no doubt that
‘A ’ w ould be an exceptional
college student, diligent in a
profession and an asset to the
community.
“But instead of that chance,
he faces the uncertain future of
being classified as an ‘illegal,’
and fears rep ercu ssio n s for
choices made for him at an age
he can barely remember. Port
land, Oregon, USA is his home
and he knows no other. ‘A ’ de
serves that chance to become
an excellent citizen in the only
country he knows.”
Carla (KC) Hanson is chair
and Sue Hagmeier is commu
nications officer fo r the
M ultnomah County D em o
cratic Party.
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