More disclosure always better

The League of Women Voters of the Spokane Area disagrees with The Spokesman-Review’s opinion that the new federal campaign finance bill is partisan legislation.

Voters deserve to know the sources of funding for election advertising – whether it is a corporation, a union, a trade association, a nonprofit advocacy group making unlimited political expenditures and influencing elections. Secret money has no place in America’s democracy. We urgently need enhanced disclosure and transparency in the financing of American elections.

The proposed DISCLOSE Act builds on requirements already approved by the Supreme Court. It bars foreign-controlled corporations and those which have received federal bailout money or large government contracts from spending huge amounts trying to elect or defeat particular candidates.

Doesn’t it make sense that foreign-controlled corporations shouldn’t be turned loose to spend unlimited amounts in American elections? Doesn’t it make sense that federal money from bailouts and contracts shouldn’t be recycled to elect or defeat federal candidates for election?

We appreciate that the S-R supports the disclosure provisions of the bill, but it is the League’s view that the additional provisions for corporations make sense as well.

This vitally important campaign finance legislation deserves to become law.

Ann Murphy

President, League of Women Voters Spokane Area

Editor’s note: The editorial’s criticism was not directed at the bill’s restrictions on corporate donations but on its failure to impose them on labor unions in the same way.