On the recordJuly 27, 2010
Mr. President, I thank the leader for yielding. First, all votes cast in this body are important, but it is rare that a single vote can so unmistakably reveal whose side you are on. Make no mistake about it, with today's vote, we are picking sides, and no amount of words, no amount of sophistry in terms of explanations of calling black white and white black can change that around. At a time when the public's fears about influence of special interests are already high, this decision by the Court stacks the deck even more against the average American. And my good friend from Kentucky is defending the average American? The average American who sets up a 501(c)(4) and spends tens of millions of dollars to get his views made known or the average American who puts out 3,400 ads, without his or her name on them, to vilify a candidate for reasons unstated? That is not the average American. We know that. It is very clear who is defending the average American: those of us who support the DISCLOSE Act. My friend from Kentucky is worried about transparency in this body all of a sudden but doesn't speak for a bill that brings transparency to our politics. No one can argue that this bill brings less transparency. No one can argue that. We know what is going on here. There are visions--visions in people's heads of Karl Rove spending $50 million, funded by people we don't know, to attack candidates for reasons we are not sure of, and never putting their name to it.…
Source
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