Did You Know...

They won’t take no for an answer. So we have to give them both barrels again.

On July 27, the Senate voted down the Democrats’ union-friendly, loophole-ridden, Orwellian-titled DISCLOSE Act. The bogus campaign finance reform bill was, as Sen. Mitch McConnell put it, a “transparent attempt to rig fall elections” that was written “behind closed doors” with help from lobbyists and riddled with political carve-outs for labor and other deep-pocketed organizations. Now, the hide-and-seek hypocrites on the Hill have resurrected their union pay-off.

Priorities, you know.

Hapless Harry Reid is leading the charge:

Democrats plan to rally their troops for the final stretch of the campaign season by bringing up a campaign-finance transparency bill.

A spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada) on Tuesday announced plans for a last-ditch vote on the measure, dubbed the Disclose Act. A vote on the bill is expected Thursday.

The legislation is intended to roll back a Supreme Court ruling from earlier this year that lifted spending restrictions on political advertisements by corporations and unions. The bill would require them to disclose the financial backers of a political advertisement within the message.

Other, more controversial provisions in the measure include prohibitions on political spending by companies with 20 percent or more foreign ownership and restrictions on ads by some government contractors.

The vote is designed to crank up the pressure on Maine GOP Sens. Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe, two longtime champions of greater limits on campaign finance.

Collins and Snowe voted no in July. The Democrats have changed nothing in the bill to address their concerns.

FYI:

In the past week, Senate Democrats considered a bare-bones strategy for the measure that would involve stripping the bill down to just the disclosure requirements, effectively setting up a vote for or against transparency.

With time running out before Senate heads out of town, however, leaders have decided to begin debate with the bill they voted on before the August recess. That vote attracted 58 votes in the Senate, two shy of the 60 needed to overcome a filibuster.

Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) was absent the day of the vote and has told watchdogs he will vote in favor of the bill, so supporters need to flip just one of Maine’s senators to break the filibuster.

Time for Operation Buck Up Maine:

Sen. Collins of Maine 202-224-2523
207-945-0417

Sen. Snowe of Maine 202-224-5344
207-874-0883

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Lookee here: DISCLOSE vote will wait for high-dollar fundraiser