Norman D. Dicks: “Our system has been improved by having public disclosure of political contributions. The more the public knows about…”

“Our system has been improved by having public disclosure of political contributions. The more the public knows about where the money is coming from, the better off the citizenry is. The amendment is a legislative attempt to circumvent a draft executive order, which would provide for increased disclosure of the political contributions of government contractors, especially contributions given to third-party entities. Opposition exists for this effort because some believe this additional information could be used nefariously to create some kind of enemies list, like during the Nixon administration. {time} 1710 They argue that companies should not disclose more information because people in power could misuse that information to retaliate against them. Using the opposition's logic, all campaign disclosures would be bad. Government contractors already disclose contributions and expenditures by their PACs and those who contribute to them. Contributions by the officers and directors of government contractors are also required to be disclosed. These provisions are fine as they are written. The information is required to be provided already in law. And the executive order that the amendment would circumvent certainly enhances the quality of that information. Disclosure is good because disclosure of campaign contributions to candidates is good. Disclosure of companies making these disclosures is good.…”