Stop the special-interest, speech-squelching DISCLOSE Act; Collins, Graham oppose, Snowe is a no; McConnell blasts Dem attempt to “rig fall elections;” Update: DISCLOSE Act fails on 57-41 cloture vote
The union-friendly, loophole-ridden, Orwellian-titled DISCLOSE Act comes up for a cloture vote in the Senate this afternoon. It appears doomed. But take nothing for granted.
It passed the House in June.
This is a relief: Squishy GOP Sen. Susan Collins announced she’s a no vote:
The legislation exempts some politically powerful, large membership groups like the NRA and the AARP, a move that Collins’ spokesman blasted, on behalf of the senator.
“Senator Collins also believes that it is ironic that a bill aimed at curtailing special interests in the election process provides so many carve outs and exemptions that favor some grassroots organizations over others. This too is simply unfair,” Kelly said.
Yesterday, Prince of Transparency-Underming Darkness Barack Obama had the chutzpah to complain about “shadow” groups holding sway over politics (video here).
Snort. Take your disclosure-evading complaints about Astroturfing to David Axelrod, Mr. President.
***
Background on DISCLOSE Act’s First Amendment assault here.
***
Update: The Hill’s Michael O’Brien reports via Twitter that squishy GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham will also oppose the bill.
Update: Snowe is a no, too. Lieberman is going to miss the vote, via Ed Morrissey.
Looks dead. For now.
***
Update 2:51pm – McConnell on Senate floor now blasting DISCLOSE as “transparent attempt to rig fall elections.” Written “behind closed doors” with help from lobbyists. “Unions don’t need carve-outs, because they got exemptions.”
“Unions are the ultimate victors under this bill.”
Mocks carve-outs for AARP, NRA, and other large non-profits.
There’s no asterisk by 1st Amendment only protecting favored special-interest speech, McConnell continues.
Great closing line from McConnell invoking Founding Fathers and fundamental duty of lawmakers: “We’re here to protect the Constitution, not our own hides.”
****
Update 3:55pm Eastern Cloture vote falls short, DISCLOSE Act fails 57-41.
Sen. Charles Schumer, the sponsor of the stalled campaign finance bill, promised Tuesday that Democrats would hold round-after-round of votes on it until it passes.
Schumer (D-N.Y.) spoke to reporters following the weekly caucus luncheons, slamming Republicans for holding up the response to the Citizens United Supreme Court case, which allowed unlimited political spending by corporations and unions.
“And we will go back at this bill again and again and again until we pass it,” he said. “It’s that vital, not to Democrats, not to Republicans, but to the future of people’s faith in the functioning of this government.”
Actually, the failure of this bogus bill went a long way toward restoring faith in the functiong of this government.
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So wouldn’t you say this would cut the head off any competitor to an incumbent? What’s wrong with that — LOL.
Isn’t that how we got the congressional clunkers we got? Free speech hangs by a thread, and after Kagan, then what do we do.
When did Susan Collins become a Republican?
I will believe that lindsey and the Maine gals vote no when the vote is done.
L
How’s McAnus voting….???
I mean, this ELECTION year…!?!?!
Too many Squishies not enough Statesmen!
Rags, I am not McCain fan, but I do not believe he would EVER vote for this piece of dirt under any circumstances. The DISCLOSE Act is a really, really horrid piece of legislation.
My lemming Congressman voted for this and I wrote probably the strongest condemnation of anyone to him that I have ever written.
Ragspierre….I love that…McAnus….I will use that in the future…..
***
Maybe this POS bill could be rammed through at 0030 hours on the Labor Day weekend. It worked for ObamaCare. It’s really hard to kill these vampire bills.
***
John Bibb
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Rags, I am not McCain fan, but I do not believe he would EVER vote for this piece of dirt under any circumstances. The DISCLOSE Act is a really, really horrid piece of legislation.
As opposed to the McCain-Feingold Act?
‘Vampire Bills’ – perfect description!!
I’m just wondering what exactly it is that they are holding out for from the administration.
If you don’t have the Collins and Graham vote, it must be bad.
All in the interest of fairness no less… we continue to live in an alternative Orwellian universe.
There is a differnce between stupidity and evil.
Graham is against it until Kagan gives him a hug and a kiss for his support.
I just read on HA that Lieberman won’t be there to vote, he will be at a funeral. It seems that if this holds, there are not enough votes to pass this. One can only hope!
L
I know that here in the People’s Republic of Hawaii, our two representatives will cancel each other’s vote.
That’ sooooo much better than a few months ago, when it would have gone two FOR votes.
He doesn’t mean the New Black Panthers and JouroListers, he means Tea Partiers, Church-goers, Veterans, the Elks….
As for the Senate, both Senators in Hawaii are Democrat octogenarians Bolsheviks, and their vote will be FOR.
Oops, “JournoListers”….I hate this keboard…keyboard….
Twitter feeds now saying Snowe is a NO.
Brown said he was a NO back on 7/14/10 in a Boston Herald story.
Yeah, wouldn’t want George Soros messing up any legislation and votes, would we. . .
Wait, maybe they’ll amend it for him.
Apparently any group not under the ACORN or NAACP or NBBP umbrella is a “shadow” group.
OOPs, NBPP vice NBBP above.
“Barack Obama had the chutzpah to complain about “shadow” groups holding sway over politics.”
You would think that the Tax Paying, working people of America would receive a little more respect than being called a shadow group. Barry? Oh Barry? Can you take a permanent hiatus to Kenya,please, or better yet to Zimbabwe. You are taking a page right out of the Mugabe playbook there Zippy.
Stupidity in a voter may or may not be evil, but regularly recurring wilfill stupidity on the part of someone who has fought to gain power over us for many years is just plain evil.
I am beyond astounded the Republican voters in Arizona still don’t get it.
You can always count on RINOs to stand up against Constitutional abuses – provided those abuses might negatively impact their reelection.
What else do they have? I’m not condoning this naked attempt to do what Democrats do best (trample all over the Constitution …what’s that?), but really, what else do they have?
They are cornered and they know it.
1) The resulting bill is a transparent attempt to rig fall elections, but the process used to write the bill, behind closed doors with help from lobbyists, is anything but transparent. It is a shining example of how massively Obama lied when he promised to keep lobbyists out and
2) The “Stimulus” bill was also an attempt to rig fall elections.
Taxpayer money will be funnelled to Democratic candidates via organizations that receive it from the government.
How each politician gets re-elected is as varied as can be. Take for example my GOP Senator. He’s been in office well over 20 years. Is he the sharpest tool in the shed? Nope. Has he done stupid things? Yep. Reached across the aisle to my fury. NO DOUBT!
However, like the old Adam and Eve joke (Adam do you love me?) while he’s not the sharpest tool in the shed, he’s been the sharpest tool available for me to pick.
Who has run against McCain in past years? Hayworth has been a HUGE disappointment. Point is that voters may be stupid, but they can also be pragmatic. Just because we don’t like thier rep does not make them stupid.
If you want the classic example look at our two choices for Governor this year in Iowa. Dumb and dumber.
Yes, Ladies & Gentleman: we have The Word from those GOP-Squishes that they are “no” votes…
But, tell me, do: how any times has a GOP-squish, eg That Brown Mess from Mass: Sen. Scott Brown, Ol’-limp-pea-a “Yellow” Snowe, “Gimme Anutha Wallbanger” Collins, “Miz Minnie Pearl” Lindsey Gramnesty, and their clones swore they would vote down a Liberty-stealing piece of work and switched later?
(NB: “Senator Snowe (R) says she’s a no on the Disclose Act calling the bill “premature”" is what the twit said. Note the use of the word “premature” which is simply meant to signal they haven’t offered enough for her vote yet…)
These people are masters of “bait & switch”!
A serious question:
Why do you continue to believe them? Every Conserv seems to hang on these traitors professed votes, and I watch the tone of comments gets more cheerful when they
liesay they are going to do right and defend the Constitution — with the inevitable drop-off when they vote opposite of their promise. After 100 or 150 times you’d think that a more “let us see if they follow through” mode of thought would present.Sorry, back to my question:
Is it that you can’t bring yourselves to believe these are men whose only thought is their own aggrandizement and accretion of power, or wishful thinking b/c the cumulative results of these clowns works are too horrific to contemplate, or a naive belief in the essential good of mankind?
I no longer believe anything these people claim, even until 6 days after they “show the body” — I’d still have to touch it myself.
What have I done, besides moaning about the current state of Our Country?
I have liquidated all my life savings and everything else to (through family, friends, and other various diverse ways) spread those monies to people who love our Constitution and have the fruits of that love to prove it.
But I will tell you: there is a reason that the Progressives have filled the Sec. positions in almost all the States with their thugs: “…it isn’t who the people vote for that matters, it is who counts the ballots.”
I am old… and tired. More than nine decades to see THIS! I have become ashamed of these people! Ashamed!
We have failed of our legacy. We are passing nothing but ashes to our posterity.
My point was that McCain is not stupid. McCain-Feingold really is the way he thinks. It accurately represents his values.
The only reason for a conservative to ever consider voting for McCain is when the last man standing against him is a Democrat.
Voting for McCain now is like jumping out of a jet without a parachute because you think it might crash.
The reason McCain keeps getting re-elected is because “you can fool some of the people all of the time“.
Arizona is being over-run by illegals and the crime associated thanks to McCain, Kyl, Napolitano, Bush, and other Assistant Democrats. Yet it’s always the right thing to vote for them.
See McCain on the ballot? Vote for the other guy! Stop thinking! Just do it!
I’m afraid you couldn’t be more wrong. This bill is intended to restore McCain-Feingold.
Curly: “Hey Moe! I was just thinking…”
Moe: “Well don’t! Every time you think, you weaken the nation!”
If McCain-Feingold was a firecracker, this thing is a 500 pound bomb.
I stand by my remarks, based on the contents of the bill.
Yes, Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe are wrong on many issues, and side with Democrats far too often, but they have been on the right side against much of the corrupt Democrat agenda, and YES we need to thank them for it! Loudly and repeatedly!. Who knows, they may discover that they like being praised by conservatives and start agreeing with us more often….after all, you attract more flies with honey than with vinegar as they say!
If you’re intellectually honest what you wrote is exactly what you should do.
Hey! Found this a few days ago. How many of these things apply to our country?
I’ve bold-ed the ones I can find evidence for.
Which should cement in your mind why we call him Chucky.
Why win an election when you can rig it, right Chuck? Better hurry the countdown clock is ticking.
I can breathe now, but this vote was waaaaaayy too close to be believed.
What are these bastards smoking?
Disclose 2: the Bribe Wars.
How many billions in tax dollars in earmarks will this cost us taxpayers to get this passed the next time ?
That’s great, but how about supporting and defending Section 3 of the 20th Amendment and performing your Constitutional duty to qualify the President and Vice-President?
Have any of them asked to see the initial long-form birth certificates for Obama and Biden?
Why NOT?!?
Actually what will go a long way toward restoring faith in the functiong of this government is to publish a list of the 3 top criminal investigations that will be initiated by Republicans in 2011.
Several members of Congress need to prepare for Federal prison. So many targets of opportunity, so little time.
Stand anywhere that pleases you, but your assumption that McCain wouldn’t support anything under the name of “campaign finance reform” in other than an election year is, I’m afraid, naive.
If you’re expecting a vengeful Republican congress to take charge in January and actually go after any of these corrupticians, you’re in for a sad surprise.
Gee, seems like Chucky needs a timeout till he stops throwing his temper tantrum.
Well, I’d be absoluletly surprised if the GOP DID go after them. I’m sure some Republicans will be eager to do so, but sadly, they’ll be taken behind closed doors and lectured sternly about how DC “really works” and otherwise given lip service or ignored.
ALL the elitists in party leadership must be kicked out and replaced before the GOP will go after anything or anyone.
Read the bill. Why do you think three people to the left of McCain had ZERO trouble killing this?
If you are GOP and support his bill you are confirmed to be suicidal. It’s one thing to whack yourself with a board; it’s another to pour gasoline on yourself and strike a match.
You should be talking to Congress. They don’t read the bills, which is why McCain would have no trouble supporting it under “campaign finance reform”.
I assume you meant “this” bill. Of course they won’t, and he won’t, during an election year. Just as with “immigration reform”, they won’t touch it until they’re safely re-elected.
Chuck U Schumer makes it real easy: if he’s for something, I’m against it. If he’s against something, I’m for it. I don’t have to go any further than that and I’ll be right 100% of the time.
Schumer is acting the way all NY politicians do. They – especially the Dems – will hold their breath, stamp their little feet, and yell “Obstruction!” Then they will turn right around and submit the exact same bill again, and again, and again, until the other corruptocrats throw their hands in the air and say “Okay – you win – now shut up!”
It’s going on right now in the NY leg with majority leader Schneiderman (running for Att Gen) has submitted a bill to prohibit ALL semi-auto handguns unless they use the micro-stamping technology. Problem is, NONE of the currently available semis use it, because it doesn’t work! And he knows it, thus creating a backdoor (typically sneaky Dem trick) to complete ban on semi-auto handguns.
As an aside, I was so outraged by the NRA wheeling and dealing on DISCLOSE so as not to lose their entitlement at the expense of my 1st Amendment rights I resigned from the organization and sent my membership card back in pieces. They don’t do a damned thing except for hunters anyway.
I’ve never been that big in the NRA anyway. Way, way back, when I was a kid, they used to sponsor gun safety classes, which was a really worthwhile activity. But as far as their politics are concerned, my father was a lifelong member and he was a yellow dog Democrat.
And yet, they have no time to pass a budget.
That will come up on November 4th.
we can still dream can we not?
The reason I say dream is: “Well, I’d be absolutely surprised if the GOP DID go after them. I’m sure some Republicans will be eager to do so, but sadly, they’ll be taken behind closed doors and lectured sternly about how DC “really works” and otherwise given lip service or ignored. ” That’s reality of it, that’s real change we can hope for.
DISCLOSE = Democracy is Strengthened by Casting Light on Spending in Elections Act
Of course none of the restrictions on businesses in this piece of cr@p legislation applies to unions.
Why can’t government contractors have free speech?
Schumer is the most distasteful Senator in Congress. I literally wretch at seeing his mug let alone his voice.
Libtards will do anything to hold onto power. Has anyone seen this?
Mass. Legislature approves plan to bypass Electoral College
Sneaky, underhanded, unbelievable. No, actually, I do believe it.
The liberal motto: By Any Means Necessary.
I don’t hunt and I’m a proud NRA member. I’m curious, which NRA magazine did you choose to receive with your membership?
I don’t get it. Then NRA is a 2nd Amendment org, not a 1st Amendment org. If you want a vigorous defense of the 1st, then give to a group that focuses exclusively on that. The NRA is a single issue organization. Any other issue in which they get involved is only to the extent to which that issue impacts gun rights or the NRA itself. Go donate to the Center for Responsive Politics or another group for First Amendment fights.
At first, I opposed the NRA’s “carveout” thinking that they should have fought harder for everyone. However, the more I thought about it, I realized that while their resources are great, they are not infinite. I sincerely hope you will read my post documenting my position and how and why it changed.
Whatever you do, leaving the NRA over this issue is not a good idea.
Sorry, but that shows a fundamental misunderstanding of our natural rights. The right to bear arms can not and will not be able to stand alone.
So the NRA gets their exception carved out today. What do you think will happen to that exception tomorrow??
Like with McCain, this is beyond stupid, and it shows the NRA leadership does not actually understand or appreciate the Constitution.
Graham, Collins, Brown, and Snowe vote NO and DISCLOSE gets defeated. 57-41.
High five for the RINOS!
It does not stand alone. There are plenty of organizations that defend the first amendment. Some organizationslike the ACLJ are generalists, focusing on many areas. Others, like the NRA focus on one area. They are specialists.
You don’t go to a podiatrist to get your teeth cleaned.