Renewed Focus on DISCLOSE a Lack of Focus on Jobs

By Bruce Josten

The past few weeks have seen some unwelcome news about the economy, with current growth slowing, projected growth next year of only 2% and a rise in jobless claims. In response to this Senate leaders are focused on protecting their own jobs - not creating jobs for Americans - by passing a law stifling the free speech rights of select group from the political debate. The bill is called the DISCLOSE Act.

At its core, the DISCLOSE Act is an attempt to overturn the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission affirming that political speech by corporations is protected by the First Amendment. Sen. Schumer has acknowledged as much, stating that his legislation “will make [corporations] think twice” before attempting to influence election outcomes, and that this “deterrent effect should not be underestimated.” By focusing on corporate speech, the bill’s authors overlook the political influence of labor unions which—along with their political action committees—are the single largest campaign contributor. The disparity in how businesses and labor unions are treated by this legislation is staggering—and likely unconstitutional. By favoring union speech over corporate speech, the bill’s authors are departing from past campaign finance legislation that treated business and labor equally.

President Obama used his weekly radio address to support the reintroduction of the DISCLOSE Act and he was completely honest in identifying Congress’ target. With no mention of labor unions, the President stated that the goal of the legislation is to reduce corporate influence in elections by stopping the practice of corporate free speech support for candidates. We disagree with the President in this regard. Free speech does not corrupt our politics, but efforts to limit it do.

We do however agree completely with the President that “At a time of such challenge for America, we can’t afford these political games.” When they return to their jobs in September Congress needs to stop trying to protect themselves and focus on getting all Americans back to work.

R. Bruce Josten is the executive vice president for Government Affairs at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce