Eh, Newt was all for Citizens United, until the money barrel was aimed at him...funny.
Now they're running
scared of their own SuperPacs.
The rapid rise and far-reaching impact of super PACs -- the well-financed non-party groups that helped carry former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney to victory in the Iowa caucuses -- have persuaded some prominent Republicans that restrictions of some sort on the groups' activities may be in order.
In an interview with The Huffington Post on Wednesday evening, former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge said he saw no legal way in which to limit the amount of money that these groups could spend or raise. But he said that both he and the candidate he supports, former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman, believed firmly that the names of the donors funding those groups should be subject to near instantaneous disclosure.
"I've talked to Jon about this and he and I are like-minded," said Ridge. "He has a modest super PAC [supporting him]. I have felt for the longest time, it is very unlikely that the Supreme Court of the United States would put financial limits on free speech. But I think it is within the power of the president and the Congress to say: 'Guess what? Any contribution in excess of $500 to $1,000 to you personally or the super PAC, it is on the Internet within 24 hours, so people can know.' Not quarterly. Transparency now, it is the best antiseptic."
Told that his proposed solution echoes the general theory behind the campaign finance disclosure legislation that Democrats failed to move through the Senate in 2010, Ridge argued that a bit of presidential leadership could do the trick. As of now, there are no plans to reintroduce the bill, known as the DISCLOSE Act.
Under current law, super PACs can chose to file the names of their donors either quarterly or monthly. If they elect to do so quarterly, then they only have to file twice during an off-year of an election cycle such as 2011.
