Dems face backlash over NRA deal

House Democrats are facing a backlash from some liberal and
government reform advocacy groups over an exemption for the National
Rifle Association (NRA) that was added to a campaign finance bill.

The U.S. Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) and the Sierra Club
said Tuesday they will now oppose the Disclose Act, which Democrats are
pushing as a response to the January Supreme Court decision that
overturned limits on corporate and union contributions to political
campaigns.

{mosads}The opposition comes after Democrats agreed to a provision
that would exempt the NRA and a few other large organizations from
disclosure requirements that are central to the bill.

The exemption has rankled House liberals. Rep. Raúl Grijalva
(D-Ariz.), co-chairman of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, said
Tuesday he would try to mobilize members to oppose the NRA amendment and
force it from the bill.

Democratic leaders hope to pass the campaign finance bill by the end
of the week, but aides said they had yet to nail down the votes.

The decision by U.S. PIRG is significant because the group has been
heavily involved in crafting the legislation, and it marks a split with
several other good-government groups that support the legislation. PIRG
research advocate Lisa Gilbert emphasized that the organization supports
the goals of the legislation but that the carve-out for the NRA is too
big a compromise.

“It’s a sea change, and we hope that we’ll be able to remove this
exemption and support the bill,” Gilbert said.

Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), the chief sponsor of the legislation,
defended the agreement.

“Our key objective in responding to the Supreme Court’s radical
ruling in Citizens United has been to increase transparency and
disclosure, and the final bill achieves that goal,” Van Hollen said in a
statement.

“Reform in Washington is never easy — that is why powerful special
interests are mobilizing against our effort to shine a light on
campaign-related spending. The vast majority of Americans on the right,
left and in the center support these efforts and I am confident that
when the bill comes to the House floor it will pass.”

Leadership aides pointed to five good-government groups that have
endorsed the revised legislation, including the NRA exemption. Common
Cause, Public Citizen, Democracy 21, the League of Women Voters and the
Campaign Legal Center are all supporting the bill.

It remained unclear Tuesday whether House liberals would ultimately
withhold their support for the bill — which most broadly support — over
the NRA exemption. The Progressive Caucus sent an e-mail to gauge member
support for taking a stand against the amendment. Leadership aides were
also concerned about labor unions, which have yet to endorse the bill
and were said to be upset at the exemption for the NRA.

Grijalva and Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-N.Y.), a leading supporter of
gun control, both said they would vote against a manager’s amendment
including the NRA exemption but had yet to decide on the final bill.

“Even final passage is jeopardized for me,” Grijalva said. He said
the overall bill “continues to be a good piece of legislation” but that
the “bad taste” of the exemption had caused consternation among members.

“We don’t think it’s equitable,” he said.

McCarthy said she was less concerned about the exemption for the NRA
than about the perception that the gun lobby had such a heavy influence
on the legislation. The NRA, she said, already discloses its involvement
in political campaigns, unlike many large corporations that try to
disguise their influence through political action committees. When the
NRA sends out mailers and runs ads, McCarthy said, “you know where that
information is coming from.”

The NRA on Tuesday confirmed it would stand down from lobbying
against the bill because of the exemption. In a statement, the group
said that as long as the provision remains intact, the NRA “will not be
involved in final consideration of the House bill.”

The Sierra Club, a leading environmental advocacy group, had not
taken a position on the Disclose Act before the NRA provision was added.
A spokesman, David Willett, said the group had concerns both with that
provision and others he said might limit the Club’s non-electoral
grassroots activities.

“We are supportive of the underlying goals,” he said.

The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, the U.S. Chamber of
Commerce and the National Right to Life Committee have also come out
against the bill.

The NRA carve-out, negotiated by gun-rights supporters in Congress,
would exempt organizations that have more than 1 million members, have
existed for more than 10 years and raise a maximum of 15 percent of
contributions from corporations. Democratic aides said the AARP and the
Humane Society were the only other organizations believed to qualify for
the exemption.

The president of the Brady Campaign, Paul Helmke, said lawmakers
should be more concerned about limiting the influence of smaller
interest groups than giants like the NRA.

“This is such a completely backward type of proposal,” he said. “It
makes no sense to exempt larger organizations who spend more.”

{mosads}The legislation has two Republican sponsors: Reps. Mike
Castle (Del.) and Walter Jones (N.C.). Most other GOP lawmakers are
expected to oppose it.

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.), a champion of gun
rights, lambasted the NRA exemption as a “backroom deal” reminiscent of
the healthcare debate.

“Taxpayers are still fuming over a healthcare process where their
money was thrown around like a high roller in a hotel lobby to win
last-minute votes, and now the same backroom dealing is being repeated
with their freedom of speech,” McConnell said in a statement. “Just as
it wasn’t the Democrats’ money to offer in the healthcare debate, free
speech isn’t theirs to ration out to those willing to play ball — it’s a
right guaranteed by our First Amendment to all Americans.”