Chamber runs ad against Disclose Act

The bill was created in reaction to the Supreme Court’s decision in the Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission case, which ruled corporations are covered under the First Amendment. The ruling essentially removed campaign funding limits for these organizations.

The Chamber ad comes as the office of Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) is circulating a memo to members showing strong, bipartisan support for opposing the Supreme Court case. 

President Obama’s campaign pollster Joel Benenson found that “voters overwhelmingly oppose the Supreme Court’s decision in the Citizens United case and show extremely strong support for measures contained in the Disclose Act.” 

Benenson states his findings cross party lines, with 51 percent of Republican voters opposing the court’s ruling, including 33 percent who strongly oppose it.  

“This high level of support [for the bill] holds up to Republican attacks, with few voters and even fewer Independents showing sympathy with arguments that support the [court’s] decision on the grounds of free speech,” the Benenson memo states, adding that “53 percent of Independents and 52 percent of all voters agree that ‘this Supreme Court Decision is wrong because it will give even more power to the big corporations and special interests that are already drowning out the voices of ordinary Americans.'”

Van Hollen hopes to see House action on this bill this week.