Al Franken continues to impress me with his work as a senator.

I wonder where all of the right’s outrage over activist judges is?

PRESS RELEASE

Washington, D.C. [Jan 28, 2010] – Late last night, U.S. Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) introduced the “American Elections Act of 2010” to keep foreign interests out of American elections. Franken’s bill would provide a legislative fix to the Supreme Court ruling, dubbed Citizens United, which allows corporations to spend unlimited amounts of money on American elections, effectively nullifying Minnesota’s prohibition on corporate spending on elections—a 20 year-old standard—and opening a door for foreign governments to interfere with American democracy.

In yesterday’s State of the Union address, President Obama explicitly warned of the danger inherent in the Citizens United ruling and urged exactly this type of legislative action:

“Last week, the Supreme Court reversed a century of law to open the floodgates for special interests – including foreign companies – to spend without limit in our elections,” said President Obama. “Well I don’t think American elections should be bankrolled by America’s most powerful interests, and worse, by foreign entities.  They should be decided by the American people, and that’s why I’m urging Democrats and Republicans to pass a bill that helps to right this wrong.”

Since 1974, federal law has banned foreign companies from giving or spending in American elections. Nothing in our current laws, however, explicitly prohibits foreign companies from creating American subsidiaries or getting control of American companies and using them to flood the airwaves in support of their preferred candidates.  Citizens United gives companies unlimited power to do that – and does not distinguish between American companies and companies that are owned or controlled by foreign interests.

“I was pleased to hear the President recognize the need for this bill in his address last night,” said Sen. Franken. “I think we can all agree that foreign interests have no place in American elections.”

The “American Elections Act of 2010” was developed in coordination with Professor David Schultz of Hamline University School of Business in Minnesota.

“The Supreme Court decision in Citizens United was an attack on democracy and fair elections,” said Professor Schultz. “It undid laws seeking to regulate corporations across the country and in Minnesota that go back over 60 years. As a result of it corporate money will flood into Minnesota, threatening the basic integrity of our elections and the power of citizens to control their own government. Senator Franken’s bill is an important first step in addressing Citizens United and preventing money from further destroying our elections in Minnesota.”

The “American Elections Act of 2010” will keep foreign interests out of our elections by:

·       Banning election contributions and spending by corporations that are controlled or highly influenced by foreign nationals (foreign governments, companies, and persons).  This includes:

- Corporations that receive most of their financing from foreign nationals.

- Corporations where foreign nationals hold a controlling share of stock (as defined under leading corporate law) or a majority of the Board of Directors.

- Corporations that allow foreign nationals to control or participate in their political activities – including ad spending, donations, and political action committees.

·       Requiring all corporations to certify, before giving or spending in elections, that they are in compliance with these requirements.

·       Requiring all corporations to disclose in their political advertising how much of their company is controlled by foreign nationals, or if this isn’t possible, how much of their financing comes from foreign nationals.

The “American Elections Act of 2010” is supported by Common Cause, People for the American Way, Common Cause Minnesota, and MPIRG.

Office of Sen. Al Franken.