Disclosure & Transparency

Common Cause statement supporting House members request that the FCC order disclosure of "true identity" of political ad funders

President Obama's valedictory State of the Union last week brimmed with optimism. Refraining from a traditional laundry list of policy proposals, he stayed rooted in big themes about America, our future and the challenges ahead. He spoke eloquently about how our democracy is built upon "voices of unarmed truth and unconditional love."

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) can work on a rule requiring corporate disclosure of political spending despite a policy rider contained in the omnibus budget approved last week, the Corporate Reform Coalition and congressional leaders said today.

The tax inversion provisions Allergan and Pfizer are about to exploit are well-known and could easily be eliminated. They exist because Pfizer and other large corporations, individually and through groups like the American Legislative Exchange Council and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, have used campaign contributions and an army of lobbyists to persuade a long line of Congresses and Presidents to riddle the federal tax code with loopholes.

Common Cause and several coalition partners delivered petitions signed by nearly 1 million Americans to the White House today, asking President Obama to order federal contractors to disclose their political spending.

With the presidential election just a year away and critical primaries and caucuses beginning in a few weeks, a coalition of legal and civic advocacy groups called on the Federal Communications Commission on Wednesday to require broadcasters to disclose the “true sponsors” of political advertising.