Senate Leaders Exchange Barbs Over DISCLOSE Act

By Jesse Zwick
9/22/10 12:21 PM

This morning’s Senate session was devoted to a debate surrounding the DISCLOSE Act, which Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has indicated will likely be put to a vote sometime tomorrow. http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/295598-1

Reid and Sen. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.), the Democratic Whip, spent the majority of their time ripping the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision and reminding Republicans that, once upon a time, they too supported increased transparency and disclosure of campaign spending as an alternative to strict limits on total dollar amounts. Republican Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) continued to claim that Democrats are raising the issue at at time when they should be focused on jobs and the economy — and that the bill is an attempt to rig the electoral system to their advantage.

Reid began things by surveying the current election spending landscape. “Nameless, faceless individuals are spending huge amounts of money – corporate money and other money — for which there is certainly no transparency whatsoever,â€