In a news release issued today, the Missouri Democratic Party notes that Seventh District Congressman Roy Blunt, a candidate for U. S. Senate, skipped June's House vote on the Disclose Act. A portion of that release follows:
Yesterday, Republicans in the U.S. Senate blocked the DISCLOSE Act, which would prevent corporations from secretly spending mounds of money promoting and advertising for candidates running for federal office. If Congressman Roy Blunt was in the U.S. Senate, you can be certain that he would stand against this measure to promote transparency in elections. In fact, in June, Blunt skipped a vote on the DISCLOSE act in the House, and when the U.S. Supreme Court issued its ruling in the Citizen's United case that gave free rein to big corporations who want to use their money to influence elections, Blunt's spokeswoman said he was "pleased". [HR 5175, Vote #391, 6/24/10; Springfield News Leader, 1/21/10]
It is no surprise that Congressman Blunt would stand on the side of corporate special interests since he tops more than one chart when it comes to their campaign donations. Congressman Blunt has taken more money from lobbyists than any other candidate last year and ranks second in the US House this cycle in money received from PACs -- in total he has received over $8 million from corporate PACs over the course of his 14-year Washington career. [USA Today, 10/4/09; FEC.gov; OpenSecrets.org]
“After 14 years of standing on the side of corporate special interests, of course he wants them to have more influence in campaigns,” said Ryan Hobart, Communications Director for the Missouri Democratic Party. “Congressman Blunt didn’t get to be the top recipient of lobbyist campaign contributions for nothing.”
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