As the Senate Judiciary Committee prepares to consider a Constitutional Amendment to address the issue of unlimited campaign spending by corporations, wealthy donors and other special interests, the FACT (Financial Accountability and Corporate Transparency) Coalition is calling attention to the troubling use of anonymous shell companies in this area.
The Judiciary Committee is holding hearings in the wake of two recent Supreme Court decisions, McCutcheon v. Federal Election Commission and Citizens United, both of which have unleashed a torrent of big money into the elections process. However, both of these cases involved companies with identifiable owners.
The question that we are asking is what about all those donations from companies with hidden ownership? According to a report by U.S. PIRG, almost 17% of all business contributions to election Super PACs alone came from anonymous shellcompanies. In the 2012 election cycle, this totaled nearly $17 million.
“Looking at the impact unfettered campaign spending is having on the political system in general is only part of the story,” said Nick Jacobs, communications director for the FACT Coalition. “When almost 17% of business contributions to Super PACs are made by anonymous companies, we have a very real issue with accountability in campaign finance.”
Jacobs continued, “Until we have a system where we can identify the real owners of corporations, these anonymouscompanies will continue to be used to influence campaigns to say nothing of laundering money made from drug and sex trafficking, Medicare fraud, tax evasion and other illegal acts.”
We’re not backing down in the face of Trump’s threats.
As Donald Trump is inaugurated a second time, independent media organizations are faced with urgent mandates: Tell the truth more loudly than ever before. Do that work even as our standard modes of distribution (such as social media platforms) are being manipulated and curtailed by forces of fascist repression and ruthless capitalism. Do that work even as journalism and journalists face targeted attacks, including from the government itself. And do that work in community, never forgetting that we’re not shouting into a faceless void – we’re reaching out to real people amid a life-threatening political climate.
Our task is formidable, and it requires us to ground ourselves in our principles, remind ourselves of our utility, dig in and commit.
As a dizzying number of corporate news organizations – either through need or greed – rush to implement new ways to further monetize their content, and others acquiesce to Trump’s wishes, now is a time for movement media-makers to double down on community-first models.
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