Category: Citizens United (Page 4 of 13)

Time is running out for disclosure. We only have one more day to submit comments to the Federal Election Commission (FEC) as it considers proposing new rules to expose the dark money spenders flooding our airwaves with anonymous political ads in the wake of Citizens United.

This is an opportunity we can’t afford to miss, and special interests who want to stay hidden are doing everything they can to keep the FEC from acting. But we have numbers on our side. If we all stand up today, we can win this fight.

The deadline is TOMORROW, so contact the FEC today!

Here’s a sample comment you can use, but a message in your own words will be even more effective:

We have a right to know to whom elected officials are beholden, but our current system allows many political spenders to hide their true identities. That’s simply unacceptable in a democracy. Please enact new rules to bring dark money political spenders out into the open and disclose the true identities of those who bankroll political ads.

In Citizens United, the Supreme Court assumed we would know who is trying to influence our decisions on Election Day – and who is buying attention from our elected officials. But since that decision five years ago, hundreds of millions of dollars from secret sources have been spent in ways that will lead to corruption.

Please update and strengthen the FEC’s disclosure rules to protect our democracy.

On the FEC’s website, you don’t need to log in — just select “I am submitting this comment on behalf of myself” and click “Next.”

Tell the FEC not to let the 1% drown your voice out in secret.

Corporations and wealthy special interests hide behind front groups to keep us from knowing who’s trying to influence our votes, and to make sure we won’t know whom our elected officials will owe favors to after they take office.  It’s dishonest, and it’s bad for our democracy.

In the five years since Citizens United, Senate Republicans have repeatedly filibustered the DISCLOSE Act which would shine a light on secret spending. The FEC has the right and the responsibility to do what it can – and if we all speak out, it’ll know that the pressure is on.

If dark money groups try to challenge new disclosure rules in court, the FEC will have your comments to show the court why transparency in political spending is important to you and how critical it is to a democracy of, by, and for the people.

This is our last chance. Contact the FEC right now and demand real disclosure.

Thanks for all you do,

Stephen Spaulding
and the team at Common Cause