Russ Feingold on Disclosure and Transparency in Elections

So much for Olympia Snowe and Scott Brown being centrist Republicans. All 41 Republican Senators voted to not allow a floor vote on the Disclosure and Transparency in Elections bill. The bill would require 527 and other political groups to publicly disclose being behind ads. Obviously, there was no way Senate Republicans were going to let voters know that BP and the NRA are behind their ads.

Longtime campaign finance reform champion Russ Feingold sent out this press release.

Statement of U.S. Senator Russ Feingold

On Efforts to Block Disclosure and Transparency in Elections

Washington, D.C. – Today, a minority of Senators blocked the Senate from taking up the DISCLOSE Act, legislation requiring political advertisers to disclose their donors and stand by their ads, as well as barring foreign-controlled corporations from making political expenditures. Following the vote, Senator Russ Feingold, a cosponsor of the bill, released the following statement:

"It is very disappointing that a minority of senators decided to block the Senate from even considering this bill to increase transparency and disclosure in elections. While the bill is not perfect, it was our best chance to provide voters with adequate information about exactly who is behind the onslaught of political ads they can expect to see this fall. Instead, a minority of senators sided with wealthy special interests and wouldn’t even allow the bill to be debated, and potentially improved. While today was a setback, I will continue working to protect the integrity of our elections in the wake of the Supreme Court’s misguided Citizens United decision.”