GOP Blocks Campaign Finance Bill Again

The Senate failed to advance campaign finance legislation that would force businesses, unions and others to disclose how they were spending money in political campaigns and where they were getting it. Republicans blocked the bill, the DISCLOSE Act, from even coming to a vote and accusing Democrats of ignoring bigger problems.

Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican minority leader, said Democrats should be focusing on issues that Americans really care about -- especially jobs and the economy -- instead of wasting two days of debate on a measure that he asserted would mean "more government control" over political finance. Liberals pushing for changes in campaign finance did take some solace, however, in a separate vote in a House committee to provide some public financing for Congressional candidates. "It was a 'you win some, you lose some' day for campaign finance," Lisa Gilbert, who tracks political finance issues for U.S. PIRG, a federation of public interest groups. The House committee on administration voted to approve a bill that would provide matching federal money for Congressional candidates who attract enough small local donors. The financing -- potentially hundreds of millions of dollars -- would come from the sale of broadcast spectrum and would not require any additional taxpayer money, sponsors say. Republicans quickly signaled that they would fight this bill as well. Mr. McConnell, in fact, linked the two measures in voicing his opposition and questioning the priorities of Democrats who support public financing.