These weeks will determine whether we'll have meaningful disclosure laws for the presidential election in 2012, or whether secret slush funds from corporations and wealthy interest groups will increasingly overwhelm our democracy with misleading television ads paid for by anonymous donors.
Call 1-888-291-9824 RIGHT NOW to reach the U.S. Capitol switchboard. Use the toll-free number to call both of your senators and tell them to pass the DISCLOSE Act (S. 3628).
Tell them that if these groups are trying to influence your vote, then you deserve to know who is paying for their campaign ads and what their agenda is.
The DISCLOSE Act will require that the identities of those who fund election-season political ads be disclosed to the public regardless of whether that funding comes from corporations, unions or wealthy individuals.
We don't want a repeat of 2010, when corporate interests hid behind front groups with names like "Americans for Job Security" and ran deceitful ads against candidates they considered unlikely to obey their corporate agenda.*
The surge in new members of Congress who got elected because of money from shadowy front groups will make passing new transparency laws nearly impossible next year.
So today we've got to send an unmistakable message and make it loud and clear.
Use 1-888-291-9824 to be connected with your senators. Tell them to pass the DISCLOSE Act.
To let us know how your call went, go to:
www.citizen.org/disclose-act-call-now
Thanks for all you do,
Rick Claypool
Public Citizen's Online Action Team
* "Americans For Job Security, Shadowy Pro-Business Group, Has 'Misleading' Ad Pulled From Virginia Race." Sam Stein, Huffington Post. Sept. 24, 2010. www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/09/24/shadowy-probusiness-group_n_737868.html
