Fred Lucas, TheBlaze — Arguing it would restore democracy, two top House Democrats pushed for sweeping legislation to reverse the Supreme Court’s ruling in the Citizens United speech case, including a constitutional amendment limiting campaign contributions and instituting a taxpayer-financing system.House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Rep. John Sarbanes (D-Md.) published an op-ed in The Washington Post Wednesday advocating for the Government by the People Act on the day it was being introduced in the House.
“We must disclose the sources of the money in our campaigns, amend the Constitution to reverse the grievous error of the Citizens United decision, reform our broken campaign finance system and empower citizens everywhere to exercise their right to vote,” Pelosi and Sarbanes wrote.
The landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Citizens United vs. Federal Elections Commission lifted restraints on political speech, allowing corporations and unions to spend money on elections as long as they do not donate directly to a candidate’s campaign. The ruling overturned much, but not all, of the 2002 McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform act.
The case is named for the conservative group Citizens United, which sued when the FEC tried to block the airing of a documentary critical of Hillary Clinton during the early stages of the 2008 presidential campaign.
“We know that if the role of money in our elections were reduced and the level of civility in our politics increased, the result would be the election of more women, more minorities, more young people and more people dedicated to serving the public interest, not special interests,” Pelosi and Sarbanes wrote. “Most members of Congress would leap at the chance to fund their campaigns without having to turn to a familiar cast of big donors and entrenched interests. Today, that’s virtually impossible.”
The op-ed said that the bill has three main focuses: on a refundable $25 tax credit to encourage average citizens to deduct campaign donations on their taxes; on establishing federal matching funds for candidates for federal office who agree to limit the large donations to their own campaigns; and giving candidates the chance to get more federal tax dollars in the homestretch of the campaign.
Pelosi and Sarbanes compared a reversal of the Citizens United ruling with landmark civil rights events in American history for women and blacks.
“From Seneca Falls, N.Y., to Selma, Ala., generations of Americans have stood up against seemingly insurmountable status quos that denied their voices and their votes,” Pelosi and Sarbanes wrote. “Today’s generation, too, must have the courage to take back our politics.”
About the Author
Fred Lucas is TheBlaze's White House correspondent. He has more than a decade of political reporting experience and previously reported on the White House for CNSNews.com. He is the author of "The Right Frequency: The Talk Radio Giants Who Shook Up the Political and Media Establishment" and has written for The Weekly Standard, Townhall, Human Events, The American Spectator and Stateline.org. Before coming to Washington, he reported on state capitols in Kentucky and Connecticut. Fred earned an M.S. at Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and B.A. at Western Kentucky University. Follow him on Twitter @FredVLucas3.
» Fred Lucas | Article Archive
» TheBlaze
More Headline News On TheBlaze
» New Website Vows to Show You the Benghazi Documents the ‘White House Doesn’t Want You to Read’
“The investigation is ongoing, and the search for the truth continues, so new documents will be added as they are made available.”
» Another Big Name Just Officially Announced Their Support for a Convention of States
Wallbuilders founder David Barton has officially announced his support for a convention of states. The historian, who contemplated a Senate bid late last year, has spoken of the subject in the abstract before. But now that a convention is growing increasingly possible, Barton is “confident that this is the correct course of action.”
» Rising Recruitment of Young Westerners Means ‘A New Chapter in the History of Global Jihadism,’ Report Finds
An increasing number of young Al Qaeda recruits are pouring into war-ravaged areas of the Muslim world from the United States, Canada and Europe, presenting a direct threat to national security as they develop connections to jihadist leaders and acquire battlefield skills and weapons training, U.S. officials and European analysts told TheBlaze.