Election shows need for the California DISCLOSE Act
By Steve Levin, Letter to the Editor
It took an emergency California Supreme Court ruling on
Sunday to reveal that the $11 million in secret campaign
money spent on Prop. 32 and against Prop. 30 from an
obscure Arizona nonprofit was actually laundered from other
nonprofits associated with the Koch brothers. This clearly
shows two things.
These hidden donations illustrate that Prop. 32's claims to
be campaign reform are false. Real campaign reform
initiatives aren't pushed by shadowy organizations that
hide who's funding them. And they don't unilaterally disarm
one side while creating special exemptions for corporations
and billionaires. That's why real reform organizations
like the California Clean Money Campaign, California Common
Cause and the League of Women Voters of California all
oppose Prop. 32.
It also illustrates how badly we need to pass the
California DISCLOSE Act next year to strengthen our
disclosure laws and to make sure that political ads have to
show who really pays for them.
Steve Levin
Portola Valley
See the article on San Jose Mercury News website