cross-posted at the Center for Competitive Politics
Word began to trickle out late last night that Senator Chuck Schumer had introduced a new version of the DISCLOSE Act , S. 3628, and was angling to get it on the floor for a vote on Friday, skipping having the bill considered in committee.
This morning we received a copy of the bill, and have just begun to look at it. At 116 pages, it’s unlikely that the bill is much improved.
What is quite likely is that the bill contains all sort of new special deals cut behind closed doors with interest groups, similar to the Shotgun Sellout struck with the NRA by the bill’s House sponsors. What is certain is that by skipping the committee process and trying jam through the DISCLOSE Act in only a few days, it will be almost impossible to find all the secret deals and hidden exemptions for favored political speakers.
Which is of course typical of the process followed so far for a bill allegedly about transparency and disclosure – write the bill in secret, locking Republicans out of the process while inviting lobbyists for privileged causes to help write the bill, cut special deals behind closed doors with interest groups in exchange for their promise not to oppose the bill, and introduce massive language changes at the last minute in order to avoid careful scrutiny of the bill.
And then the self-styled campaign finance “reform” community wonders why so many Americans don’t trust them and don’t believe that “reform” has anything to do with better government or fighting corruption. As I’ve said often of late, it’s like “reformers” just don’t have any sense of irony.
Maine’s two Senators, Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins, appear to be the key to whether or not the DISCLOSE Act will pass. Both have so far indicated that they do not support the speech-stifling legislation, but if you’re a resident of the Pine Tree State it might not be a bad idea to contact your Senators and let them know your thoughts on the matter.
Sean Parnell
President
Moe Lane
PG DeFreese
Victoria Coates
Daniel Horowitz
Dan Spencer
Could this be a sign that the Dems have concluded that DOOM faces them in November?
smagar (Diary) Thursday, July 22nd at 11:13AM EST (link)And therefore, they’re trying to grab what they can, while they can?
“Who will stand/On either hand/And guard this bridge with me?” (Macaulay)
The only way Reid and Shumer can ram
Scope (Diary) Thursday, July 22nd at 4:01PM EST (link)the Disclose Act through the Senate will be with the help of one Republican. Snowe, Collins and Brown just enabled the Progressives to pass the financial industry takeover, in their most recent power grab. Which one, or more, will now help them accomplish yet another piece of bad legislation? My vote is on Snowe.
We don’t just need to gain a majority in the Senate. We need to gain enough of a majority that will override the votes of the bi-partisan pack of R’s.
scorched earth.
tngal (Diary) Thursday, July 22nd at 4:15PM EST (link)Is that their solution to everything?
Scorched Earth Should Be Our Policy - Here Comes Cap-and-Trade
GJ Merits (Diary) Thursday, July 22nd at 4:44PM EST (link)Remove unanimous consent on every single occasion the opportunity arises. Obstruct, obstruct, obstruct. Do it on every piece of liberty stealing legislation between now and the next Congress. I don’t care if you have to spend Christmas Eve in session. I’m sure there are a number of Senators who are well aware of what I am referring to. I won’t name them, but one name not on the list is Jim DeMint, who was more than willing from the start to stick with this strategy during the ObamaCare saga. Too bad he stood alone for quite a bit of the time. I wonder what made the others come around?
Energy bill sans cap-and-trade – obstruct the hell out of it. It’s clear the Senate energy bill will be cuddly and fluffy enough in an attempt to get something passed so that during the lame duck session when the House and Senate bill must be reconciled – voila! – they can put the House cap-and-trade language into the Senate bill in committee. Look for language in the energy bill that relates directly to the oil cleanup efforts in an attempt to blunt any Republican tendency to obstruct passage.
Do I think the Senate GOP has the messaging strategy to fight this? Or the will? Nope and nope. Look for the GOP to aide the Democrats once again in easing the pathway to major job killing pocket raiding legislation that puts what just may be the last nail in any economic recovery.
Dig deep. Dig real deep, cause you ain’t seen nothing yet.
Don’t forget to check your emails for all those pleas to fax or call your Senators and tell them how mad you are and that you’ll jump up an down and think bad thoughts about them if they vote for it. You know, the same strategy that was so effective in stopping ObamaCare.
God I hope Senator DeMint is on top of this one.
I cannot undertake to lay my finger on that article of the Constitution which granted a right to Congress of expending, on objects of benevolence, the money of their constituents….James Madison
If you want to go fast – go alone. If you want to go far – go together.
To win against tyranny you must embrace not only novel solutions, but fear of the unknown as well.
DISCLOSE=Dirty Dancing
uvbogden (Diary) Thursday, July 22nd at 5:53PM EST (link)The Democrats intended that this unconstitutional bill would give them an unfair advantage in the coming elections, wishing against hope that they would not lose their jobs. This is just plain dirty politics. Despite this corrupt ploy, the Democrats will soon suffer well-deserved, substantial losses. However, it is likely to take years for a test case of this law to be brought before the Supreme Court. Until that day, we’ll have to keep fighting the good fight from the trenches, while the Democrats continue their “Dirty Dancing”.
“…an economy hampered by restrictive tax rates will never produce enough revenue to balance the budget–just as it will never produce enough jobs or enough profits.” –JFK