President Obama Must Answer Enhanced Disclosure Call

Activist group Rootstrikers says it has gotten 100,000 signatures on its petition to the White House (108,307 at last count), which it says means President Barack Obama must now respond to its call on the White House to urge Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler to boost on-air disclosures of funders of political ads. Demand Progress released a report Dec 8 calling President Obama out for inaction on "secret money in politics,"
Rootstrikers says because its petition is integrated with the White House's "We the People" petitions, the Administration is now obligated to respond within 60 days to their call for, among other things, the FCC to use its authority to "unmask secret political donors."

Actually, the White House has some wiggle room with that that 60 days since its policy says it will do so "whenever possible." Petitions must also collect 100,000 signatures within 30 days. It meets that test since the petition was launched Nov. 16, according to a spokesperson. Various groups and some in Congress have been pushing the FCC to require more detailed on-air disclosures of PAC ads running on TV stations.