Time for Devil in the Details to Go Digital
These days almost everything can be done electronically: paying bills, buying music, watching movies . . . the IRS even allows tax returns to be submitted online.
But not in the Senate. There, they prefer to waste taxpayer dollars on paper and keep voters in the dark about campaign dollars.
The current system for senators to submit campaign finance reports to the Federal Election Commission is a maze of back-and-forth between agencies that requires printing and re-typing the same information repeatedly. The result is an annual $250,000.00 bill to taxpayers and the delayed release of information to the public.
Right now, it can take months before the public sees campaign
disclosures. This means senators can reach out to special interests for
extra cash in the final weeks of their campaigns and we won’t know
about it until well after the election.
This may help explain why Sen. John Ensign – chairman and
fundraiser-in-chief for the National Republican Senatorial Committee –
is blocking the "Senate Campaign Disclosure Parity Act" (S. 223) with a
poison-pill amendment. The bill would finally bring senators into the
digital era by providing for more voter-friendly electronic
disclosures, like the ones used by presidential and House candidates.
Information on donor identities and contribution amounts would be
available online immediately.
Help us get your senators on the record in support of the
"Senate Campaign Disclosure Parity Act" without the unconstitutional
Ensign Amendment.