Political Quotes

“Mr. President, today I wish to express my strong support for the DISCLOSE Act of 2012. This bill is a first step toward restoring some transparency and accountability to our electoral system, an action sorely needed in the wake of the Supreme Court's misguided Citizens United decision. If the DISCLOSE Act is passed by Congress and signed into law it would put in place the following two new campaign disclosure measures: One, it requires third-party groups to disclose their top funding sources those over $10,000 to the Federal Election Commission; and, two, it requires these independent groups to certify that their activities are not coordinated with candidates or political parties. Why are these new disclosure requirements necessary? The DISCLOSE Act is necessary because Citizens United, a narrow 5-4 decision by the Roberts Court, struck down critical parts of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act. Let me be clear: Citizens United upended nearly a century of congressional law and overturned two Supreme Court rulings. It is the reason super PAC is now a household phrase, and the decision troubled me greatly. The Court held that the first amendment affords corporations and interest groups the right to spend freely millions, even billions of dollars on election ads to support or defeat a particular candidate. The practical effect of the decision didn't take long to appear.…”