CORPORATE INFLUENCE ON ELECTIONS IS A VIRUS TO DEMOCRACY

Washington, D.C.--  Late last week, Senate Republicans made a move to try and block the Lobbying Disclosure Enhancement Act— a bill that would have stopped big business from secretly funneling money into elections through fly-by-night front groups.

The bill requires corporations, plus unions and nonprofit groups to disclose their top five donors if they participate in political activity and to agree to other disclosures in connection with expenditures prior to elections. The bill and a similar measure in the Senate was aimed at countering a Supreme Court ruling that unleashed unlimited political spending by corporations.

The Lobbying Disclosure Enhancement Act is the first step towards knowing who's buying our election, and we need to do much more—including getting fair elections, overturning Citizens United, and curbing the overwhelming influence of corporate lobbyists in our nation's capital.

The bill is designed to:

*Prevent government contractors from spending money on elections
*Prevent corporate beneficiaries of TARP from spending money on elections
*Prevent foreign influence in U.S. elections
*Prevent organizations from coordinating their activties with specific candidates and political parties

However, it looks like it is going to die in the Senate.  The bill (H.R.5751) passed 219-206 in the House, receiving most of the opposition from guess who, the GOP. Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) called the Disclosure Act a violation of free speech.  The legislation would disclose suspected violators of the Lobbying Disclosure Act (LDA) for the first time to the public. The bill would also set up a Justice Department taskforce to investigate those cases, likely upping the law’s lax enforcement.

It’s unclear if the legislation will be approved by the Senate and reach President Obama’s desk, but the House vote sends a tough message to K Street that lawmakers are interested in being seen as cracking down on lobbyists.  The problem here folks, is that the Senate Dems do not have 60 votes to pass the measure.

According to Moveon.org, 11 of those Senators who oppose this bill are up for reelection this fall. If working class America is going to get a handle on our democracy and take it back from corporate interests, we need show them that siding with their corporate backers instead of with the American people has real and significant consequences.

This bill was pretty modest in scope. It wouldn't even have barred corporations from buying elections—it just would have told us when they did it, by requiring disclosure of corporate election spending.

The politicians who side with BP and AIG to block it need to see immediate repercussions. They need to be exposed for what they truly are-- lawmakers who put personal interest before the greater good of their consitituents.

If the Senators who blocked this effort get away with siding with big corporations, we'll never be able to pass the stronger reforms we need to truly fix our democracy. We've got to show them that if they won't expose corporations meddling in our elections, we'll expose them.

The Republicans who blocked this first step don't want big changes made because they have the most to gain from allowing unlimited secret corporate spending in this election cycle. Corporate interests will pay big bucks to keep their friends in office, especially if they can do it in secret so their political preferences don't risk angering their customers.

Corporate influence over a democracy is a virus that will prevent us from ever getting a just economy, a real energy policy, workplace rights and an equal voice with our elected officials.

Labor unions and working families should be prepared to go the distance and fight for the changes we need to really tackle this problem. But the fight starts here: with holding senators accountable who showed their true colors by standing with corporations and not with the American people.  Shame on them.

Commentary by Ove Overmyer