The Hill News

Congressional Republicans are shedding “crocodile tears” about the supposed politicization of government contracting that could result from a draft executive order requiring contractors to disclose political contributions. 

Since this spring, the White House has let the leaked executive order twist slowly in the wind and done little to counter the bogus claims being made about it. 

In the meantime, shadowy 501(c)(4) groups have been raising and spending money from secret donors, with the Republican-oriented Crossroads GPS alone spending $20 million on attack ads. The Democratic-leaning (c)(4)s, like Priorities USA, are desperately trying to keep up.
 
The reality is that the ground-shifting Supreme Court decision in Citizens United v. FEC cleared the way for a new avenue in political spending.  This new outlet allows corporations and unions to funnel money from their treasury funds into groups that run political ads on television ! and undertake other activities intended to influence the outcome of elections. The question is whether this new political spending should be disclosed like other political expenditures.  The answer is, “yes.”
 

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