Labor Unions vs. Campaign Finance Regulation
As Jacob Sullum noted earlier this week, the National Rifle Association successfully lobbied House Democrats for a very convenient exemption from the campaign finance restrictions contained in the DISCLOSE Act. Mother Jones' Suzy Khimm reports that labor unions want to be free from those pesky regulations as well:
On Tuesday afternoon, representatives from the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) met with top Democratic leaders who are involved with the bill, known as the DISCLOSE Act, to push for additional changes that would blunt the legislation's impact on unions. "I think there's just overreach in this bill," said Chuck Loveless, director of AFSCME's legislative department, who attended the meeting and said that "key people" were involved, though he declined to name them.
While many have warned that Citizens United would unleash a flood of corporate spending in elections by relaxing campaign finance rules, labor unions have been some of the first groups to try out tactics that would have previously been forbidden.
Read the whole thing here. Reason's coverage of Citizens United is here. Reason.tv provides 3 reasons not to sweat Citizens United below.