House Democrats Trying To Defy Supreme Court Ruling

The Disclose Act that House Democrats passed would "shred" the U.S. Constitution and represents a "blatant partisan maneuver to protect their incumbency," according to U.S. Chamber of Commerce Executive Vice President R. Bruce Josten.  Josten says the Disclose Act, which passed by a 219 to 206 margin, reveals just how much Democrats fear the nation's rising anti-incumbent fervor.

"I think it's clear what's going on here," says Josten. "The House Democratic majority and the Senate Democratic majority in Congress are clearly trying to tilt the playing field in the middle of the game, racing and rushing to do it."

Last week it looked like the bill was in trouble due to a controversial "carve out," or exception, granted to the National Rifle Association excluding it from the bill's provisions. The NRA is selling out its members to the Democrats and helping shred the First Amendment.  But the bill was resuscitated in part thanks to a strong endorsement from the White House.

The administration declared Monday that the Disclose Act "takes great strides to hold corporations who participate in the Nation's elections accountable to the American people. As this is a matter of urgent importance, the administration urges prompt passage of the Disclose Act."

But Josten says the act would heavily restrict the rights of more than 100,000 associations nationwide to run ads expressing their political views. Groups opposing the measure span the political continuum, including the ACLU, the Sierra Club, PIRG (the federation of state public interest research groups), the chamber and many others.

The chamber recently called the bill a "desperate attempt" by Democrats to grab a political advantage in the midterm elections.

The act requires companies and associations to submit a mountain of paperwork to the Federal Election Commission if they want to run an ad.  Some companies – those that receive substantial government contracts or took TARP bailouts – would be altogether banned from spending money on election advertising.

CEOs who are major donors would have to appear on in ads to notify the public of their involvement. The top donor to the advertising organization would be required to appear in the commercial to explain their role as well.  Finally, a TV ad would have to list the top five funders to the organization. The disclaimers alone would preclude the possibility of a 15-second advertisement.

Josten and other business leaders charge the act's onerous provisions are obviously designed to dissuade the business community from exercising its First Amendment rights. Another reason the bill's intentions are suspect: Its principal author is Rep. Chris Van Hollen, (D-MD) Van Hollen's primary job, as chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, is to get Democrats elected to Congress.

The measure also gives preferential treatment to labor unions. "Organized labor, which notably was the single largest political spender in the 2008 election, some $420 million, who just in the past three weeks has announced their intention to spend $150 million minimally in this election to protect 'incumbency,' to quote them, they are carved out of the bill, no effect on them, no real disclosure, no real reporting requirements required of them," said Jolston.

"I don't think there's any doubt," Josten said. "Mr. Van Hollen made it very clear that the Democrats are 'anxious,' to quote him, to pass this as fast as they can before the elections clearly to protect their incumbent majority, because the anti-incumbent mood across the country is probably the highest since 1994."

"The first paragraph in the Constitution states declaratively that Congress shall pass no law abridging freedom of the speech," Josten says. "We just had a Congress shred that part of the Constitution. They have now created in effect a multitiered law with respect to free speech.

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