Impending Government Censorship

Hans von Spakovsky / May 25, 2010

Last week, eight former commissioners from the Federal Election Commission (including me) tried to warn a committee in the House of Representatives that a bill it was about to vote on was not only unnecessary, but so burdensome to the right of political speech and advocacy that it violates the First Amendment.

We summarized our criticisms of the “Democracy Is Strengthened by Casting Light on Spending in Election Act,” or DISCLOSE Act (H.R. 5175), in this commentary in the Wall Street Journal.  As we pointed out, the DISLOSE Act not only abandons the longstanding policy in federal campaign finance law of treating unions and businesses equally, it attempts to do indirectly (through onerous and complex regulations) what the Supreme Court told Congress in the Citizens United decision that it cannot do directly – restrict the political speech of corporations and unions, including nonprofit associations.

A series of amendments were offered to the bill in the House Administration Committee by Republican members that would have applied some of the requirements of the bill equally to labor unions.  They were all defeated.  (more…)