U.S. Chamber Report: Giving Unions Upper Hand In Elections
The campaign finance reform bill being pushed through Congress would give unions an upper hand during the upcoming fall elections by placing more restrictions on business than on unions, according to the U.S. Chamber’s Bruce Josten.
“It’s not lost on the business community that this is changing the rules in the middle of the game to clearly benefit one side and to clearly disadvantage one side’s voice,” Bruce Josten said. “The bill places onerous restrictions on corporate free speech, violating the First Amendment, and … ignores completely the immense political influence of organized labor.”
The DISCLOSE Act was drafted in response to the Supreme Court’s decision to lift limits on political advertising paid for by corporations, trade associations, and other nonprofit organizations. But while the Supreme Court decision applied to labor unions and businesses alike, the DISCLOSE Act only addresses corporate spending.
The real purpose of the bill Josten said, is to “hobble associations that give a voice to their members’ views in the political process and in the policy making process. It appears to be an attempt to fix election rules to give organized labor and Democratic incumbents particularly the upper hand.” Josten compared the DISCLOSE Act to another union-backed priority that has stalled, card check legislation.
The DISCLOSE Act also requires an organization’s CEO and the CEO of its top funder to appear in political radio and TV advertisements, identify themselves and their organization, and state their approval of the message. The names of the top five funders of the organization would have to appear on radio and television ads. These new rules would have a chilling effect on business participation in the political process and infringe on businesses’ right to free speech, Josten said.
The legislation’s provisions include an outright ban on campaign-related activity by companies that have contracts with the federal government valued at $7,000,000 or more.