Source:
Wall Street Journal * FEBRUARY 11, 2010, 1:17 P.M. ET
Democrats Unveil Plan to Boost Campaign-Finance Laws
By PATRICK YOEST
WASHINGTON—Congressional Democrats unveiled a plan Thursday to put in place new restrictions on spending for political campaigns, an effort to combat the effects of a Supreme Court ruling that made it easier for corporations and other groups to fund campaign advertisements.
The plan was presented by Sen. Charles Schumer (D., N.Y.) and Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D., Md.) as a "framework" for future legislation. Groups that would be banned from making campaign expenditures include foreign entities, federal contractors and recipients of funds from the Treasury Department's Troubled Asset Relief Program.
The plan also would require chief executives from corporations that fund political ads to disclose that they paid for the ads.
Messrs. Schumer and Van Hollen's plan is in response to a Supreme Court ruling in January that is expected to have far-reaching effects on political campaigns this year. The court struck down a part of the 2002 McCain-Feingold campaign-finance law that prevented independent political groups, including corporations and labor unions, from running advertisements within 30 days of a primary election or 60 days of a general election.
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