Senate Democrats don’t like free speech, and they’re working to curtail it. What else to conclude from their decision to include in S. 2747 — the latest rewrite of their 800-plus-page “election reform” bill — Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse’s “DISCLOSE Act”? The aim of this multiple-Supreme-Court-precedent-ignoring donor disclosure measure is to shut down political speech opposed by the Rhode Island senator.
What exactly is the DISCLOSE Act? The bill’s full title is the “Democracy Is Strengthened by Casting Light On Spending in Elections Act.” (Yes, the untruths in this legislation begin with its very name.) The bill would require certain charitable organizations to disclose their top donors’ information when they make expenditures on non-campaign-related political speech that mentions a candidate for federal office. This is a reversal of current practice. If, for example, a television ad urges viewers to call their member of Congress to urge him to support particular legislation, donors do not presently have to disclose their personal information. Whitehouse has introduced a version of the bill in every Congress since 2012, and he was happy to have it included as a separate title in S. 1, the Democrats’ original omnibus “election reform” bill.
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