Blue Mass Group

Reality-based commentary on politics.

  • Shop
  • Subscribe to BMG
  • Contact
  • Log In
  • Front Page
  • All Posts
  • About
  • Rules
  • Events
  • Register on BMG

Your Candidate, Paid for by Corporate America

July 19, 2010 By lizziweyant

Americans are about to experience their first election under new the campaign finance regime outlined in the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision, Citizens United v. FEC.  The decision basically said that corporations have the same right to “speak” in an election as ordinary voters do.  As a result, we can expect corporations to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to pay for ads that will flood the airwaves.  

And get this: they don’t even have to tell you who they are.  

As a July 17 Globe editorial pointed out, you could be sitting at home enjoying a Grey’s Anatomy rerun, and see an advertisement attacking an environmentalist candidate.  But you would have no idea that it was paid for by a strip mining company.  

At least, that’s what Senator Scott Brown is hoping.  In a recent statement, our junior Senator said that he couldn’t support the DISCLOSE Act, the legislation that would require corporations to be transparent with and accountable for the money they spend and what they say.

Given the fact that corporations with multi-billion dollar coffers can now literally drown out all other voices, the least we can ask for is that the water not cover our eyes.  

During his campaign, Senator Brown promised to bring “accountability and transparency back to our government.”  

Now is his chance to make good on that promise, and require that corporations are at least transparent about the campaigns they’re supporting.  American voters deserve to know which financial fat cats are supporting political candidates, so they can make informed choices at the polls.  

Lizzi Weyant is the staff attorney at MASSPIRG.  For more information about MASSPIRG, visit www.masspirg.org.

Please share widely!
fb-share-icon
Tweet
0
0

Filed Under: User Tagged With: campaign-finance, congress, corporations, national, senator-brown, vote

Comments

  1. peter-porcupine says

    July 20, 2010 at 12:19 am

    • bpaskin says

      July 20, 2010 at 4:29 am

      Businesses will provide more disclosure than Unions do.  I keep reading the Unions are excluded, which is not the case, and there are many exceptions for other groups, depending on such things as how long they existed and how much money people gave.  It would have been so much easier to write a one page bill, but that’s not how DC works.  

    • christopher says

      July 20, 2010 at 10:09 am

      Whenever someone brings up unions in this context I sense a JohnD-esque consistency taunt.  If the AFL-CIO pays for advertising supporting a candidate I don’t see why the ad wouldn’t, couldn’t, or shouldn’t say, “Paid for by the AFL-CIO.”  Likewise if the AFL-CIO contributes to a coalition that is running ads I assume the fact of their contribution would be disclosed just as a corporation’s would be.

    • peter-porcupine says

      July 20, 2010 at 3:19 pm

      IMO, EVERYBODY should have to say ‘AFL-CIO’ or ‘Megalomart’ in ads.

      <

      p>Any other answers out there?

      • billxi says

        July 20, 2010 at 4:12 pm

         But if the SEIU supports Patrick, they should be investigated. The Governor is trying to eliminate them and their members.

Recommended Posts

  • No posts liked yet.

Recent User Posts

Predictions Open Thread

December 22, 2022 By jconway

This is why I love Joe Biden

December 21, 2022 By fredrichlariccia

Garland’s Word

December 19, 2022 By terrymcginty

Some Parting Thoughts

December 19, 2022 By jconway

Beware the latest grift

December 16, 2022 By fredrichlariccia

Thank you, Blue Mass Group!

December 15, 2022 By methuenprogressive

Recent Comments

  • blueeyes on Beware the latest griftSo where to, then??
  • Christopher on Some Parting ThoughtsI've enjoyed our discussions as well (but we have yet to…
  • Christopher on Beware the latest griftI can't imagine anyone of our ilk not already on Twitter…
  • blueeyes on Beware the latest griftI will miss this site. Where are people going? Twitter?…
  • chrismatth on A valedictoryI joined BMG late - 13 years ago next month and three da…
  • SomervilleTom on Geopolitics of FusionEVERY un-designed, un-built, and un-tested technology is…
  • Charley on the MTA on A valedictoryThat’s a great idea, and I’ll be there on Sunday. It’s a…

Archive

@bluemassgroup on Twitter

Twitter feed is not available at the moment.

From our sponsors




Google Calendar







Search

Archives

  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter




Copyright © 2025 Owned and operated by BMG Media Empire LLC. Read the terms of use. Some rights reserved.