Democrats push to stem corporate campaign money

Democratic lawmakers on Thursday introduced legislation to blunt the impact of a recent Supreme Court ruling that allows corporations, unions and other groups to spend unlimited funds on political campaigns.

Unveiled by Sen Charles Schumer (D-NY) on the steps of the court, the White House-backed initiative calls for the unprecedented disclosure of money in politics three months after the court ruled 5-4 that long-standing campaign finance limits violated the free speech rights of corporations. New measures require corporations, unions and other groups to disclose their financial roles in political TV campaigns including those that favor or oppose specific candidates. The measures require corporate, union and advocacy group leaders to disclose their names in TV ads. The measures also ban election spending by government contractors, companies with over 20 percent foreign ownership and bank bailout recipients. "This legislation will stop the funneling of big money through shadow groups in order to fund ads that are virtually anonymous," said Schumer, who wants a Senate vote by July 4.