Friend,

Congress had a chance to check rampant dark money spending and make Washington more transparent...and Senate Republicans got in the way (as they often do).

If you're already pro-transparency, know all about the DISCLOSE Act, and want to show that you're with Dean on his mission to get dark money out of our politics, you can skip ahead and sign the petition right now >> [link removed]

But if you're wondering what the heck happened in Congress recently, keep reading. Here's what you need to know about the DISCLOSE Act, what went down with the vote at the end of September, and where we go from here.

What is the DISCLOSE Act? The DISCLOSE Act -- an acronym for "Democracy Is Strengthened by Casting Light On Spending in Elections" -- was introduced in the Senate by Democrats to increase transparency around "dark money" election spending. This bill would have required super PACs, corporations, and other groups spending money in elections to publicly disclose donors who give more than $10,000 in a two-year period.

Hold up: What does "dark money" mean? Dark money basically refers to murky political spending. Certain groups like nonprofits and super PACs raise money to influence an election, but aren't required to disclose how much money they raise or where they're getting the money from. Essentially, the money can't be traced, which leaves room for rampant interference by special interests.

Why do we need the DISCLOSE Act? Election spending is out. of. control. The 2010 Supreme Court case Citizens United v. FEC ruled in a landmark decision that the federal government can't limit campaigns made by independent expenditures -- like labor unions, nonprofits, and corporations -- because that violates free speech. This ruling essentially gave these groups the green light to go ham and spend as much as they want on attack or promotion ads. Some would say that this gives these groups an unfair advantage and allows for special interests to meddle in our democracy. (It's us. We're "some." We say that. This @#$% is ridiculous.)

What happened with the recent vote? On September 22, Republicans in the Senate blocked its progress. Not a single one voted in favor to advance this bill. This would have been a crucial step forward in reforming our corrupt campaign finance laws, and we're just as disappointed as Dean is.

What happens now? Dean remains determined to rid Washington of dark money -- and so are we. He will push his colleagues to support this critical piece of legislation.
If we don't continue to push back against extremists who don't care if special interests rig our democracy, we'll never have a truly fair election. Add your name to our petition if you're with us.

SIGN ON » [link removed]

Thanks for reading,
The DeanTeam
 
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