Free Speech Is Still Free

Obama still doesn't have the votes to smother free speech.

Despite a last-minute assist Monday from President Barack Obama, Senate Democrats are likely to fall short of the votes needed to break a filibuster of the campaign finance reform bill set for a key vote Tuesday.

The DISCLOSE Act — developed in response to a Supreme Court ruling revoking many of the nation’s campaign finance laws — would force corporations to disclose their contributions to federal campaigns. The bill already has cleared the House, but even with support from the White House, and changes made late last week by Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) aimed at making the bill more appealing to moderates, the path to the 60 votes needed in the Senate is just as bleak as it was weeks ago.

Schumer, the Senate’s No. 3 Democrat, would not say definitively Monday whether leadership had corralled every Democratic vote — Ben Nelson of Nebraska, for example, broke with his party in 2002 to vote against the McCain-Feingold campaign reform bill. His office did not respond to requests Monday about how the senator, who also has voted against his party on recent unemployment benefit packages, intends to vote Tuesday.

The DISCLOSE Act should have informed everyone why we shouldn't trust Democrats on anything. In response to to the Supreme Court decision, the Democrats crafted a bill that limited the political speech of Republican leaning special interests while easing rules for Democrat leaning groups.

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