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Washington, Jun 24, 2010 -

What happened???

·         Rep. John Boehner: “I think what we ought to do is we ought to have full disclosure, full disclosure of all of the money that we raise and how it is spent. And I think that sunlight is the best disinfectant.” (NBC, Meet the Press Transcript, 02/11/2007)

·         Sen. Mitch McConnell: “We need to have real disclosure. And so what we ought to do is broaden the disclosure to include at least labor unions and tax-exempt business associations and trial lawyers so that you include the major political players in America. Why would a little disclosure be better than a lot of disclosure?”  (The Hill, Campaign finance bill has GOP wary, 04/22/2010)

·         Rep. John Boehner: “The House is going to take up 527 legislation next week. And there may be several proposals on the floor in terms of how we rein in their activity. I think this was a gaping loophole in the McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform bill. I think it needs to be fixed. To have all of this unregulated campaign cash going to these organizations and allowing them to engage in campaign activities without any disclosure is -- it's wrong. And so we've worked closely with Senator McCain. The House needs to deal with this, and we will next week.” (Boehner Press Conference, 3/30/06)

·         Rep. John Boehner: The 527s were created out of the bipartisan campaign finance reform, something that many of us foresaw, that we were pushing money out of a regulated system into an unregulated system. You know, most people wanted to get rid of soft money because they didn't think it was regulated, even though soft money had to be disclosed in terms of who gave it, what amounts, and how you spent it -- and there were rules around how you could spend it. And when you look at what happened after campaign reform passed, these 527 organizations erupted. There is no disclosure of where their money comes from or how they spend it or what they do with it. And they're spending hundreds of millions of dollars trying to influence federal elections. And I believe that these organizations ought to be covered under the same kind of regulations that govern political parties. (Boehner Remarks, 3/16/06)

·         Rep. Eric Cantor: “Anything that moves us back towards that notion of transparency and real-time reporting of donations and contributions I think would be a helpful move towards restoring confidence of voters.” (Newsweek, SCOTUS Ruling Spells Disaster for Political Transparency, 01/21/2010)

·         Sen. Lamar Alexander: “I support campaign finance reform, but to me that means individual contributions, free speech and full disclosure. In other words, any individual can give whatever they want as long as it is disclosed every day on the Internet. Otherwise, you restrict free speech and favor super-rich candidates -- candidates with famous names, the media and special interest groups, all of whom can spend unlimited money. (Washington Post, Presidential Candidate Lamar Alexander, 05/19/1999)

·         Sen. John McCain: “This is not a partisan issue. It should not advantage one party over the other. What reform does is create transparency, equality, and participation, and inspire confidence in those we represent. The strength and real muscle in this fight lies with the American people. During the long battle in the Senate to pass campaign finance reform, we called on the American public to make their voices heard on Capitol Hill. They answered, and the impact was astounding.” (Congressional Record, Speech On Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act, 02/04/2004)

·         Sen. John Cornyn: “I think the system needs more transparency, so people can more easily reach their own conclusions.” (McClatchy, What do both parties have in common? Wall Street donations, 04/25/2010)

·         Sen. Susan Collins: “Sen. Collins…believes that it is important that any future campaign finance laws include strong transparency provisions so the American public knows who is contributing to a candidate’s campaign, as well as who is funding communications in support of or in opposition to a political candidate or issue.” (The Hill, GOP senators avoid co-sponsoring campaign finance reform legislation, 04/20/2010)

·         Sen. Jeff Sessions: “I don’t like it when a large source of money is out there funding ads and is unaccountable… To the extent we can, I tend to favor disclosure.” (The Hill, Campaign finance bill has GOP wary, 04/22/2010)

·         Sen. Thad Cochran: “We are Senators with varying political views, but we agree that the public has a right to expect electronic filing and online disclosure of campaign finance records.” (Roll Call, Four Senators Urge Expansion of Mandatory Electronic Filing, 09/12/2009)

·         Rep. Kevin McCarthy: “The best way, the fairest way, is greater transparency. Let people understand where it is going and what's happening.” (Newsweek, SCOTUS Ruling Spells Disaster for Political Transparency, 01/21/2010)

·         Rep. Fred Upton: “But advocates of full disclosure say the groups skirt the law with barely concealed electioneering, such as messages that encourage viewers to call a certain lawmaker if they agree with the group's views. "It's a gigantic loophole that needs to be closed," said Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich., a moderate who supports campaign finance reform.” (Newport News Daily Press, 6/10/00)

·         Rep. David Dreier: “Well, let me just say at the outset, Ray, that I, I agree with him that we need to move ahead with campaign finance reform. I'm one who wants to empower the voters and have greater disclosure, that's really my priority when it comes to campaign finance reform.” (NPR, 1/6/97)

·         Rep. David Dreier: “Well, the fact of the matter is George Bush has, in fact, reformed. He's reformed frivolous lawsuits, he's reformed education, he's reformed taxes, he's reformed patient protection. He's done all that as the governor of Texas. Now, there has not been a lot of attention focused on it, but that's something to which we can all look and be extremely proud. On the issue of campaign finance reform, he's been out there arguing vigorously for full disclosure. He wants to make sure that we have parity established, if we eliminate soft money for both unions and businesses. And so Yes, he's been reforming. He's been doing it and he's got proposals for when he gets to the White House that he wants us to move.” (MSNBC, 2/15/00)

·         Rep. Vern Ehlers: “Republican Vernon J. Ehlers of Michigan, called 527s "a curse to the political process" that lacks accountability.” (Congressional Quarterly, 6/29/05)

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