DISCLOSE very bad legislation

"Democracy is Strengthened by Casting Light on Spending in Elections Act."

That mouthful title sounds like an idea whose time may have come. Americans would get to know which corporations, fat cats and lobbyists are buying their legislators.

Except, as it's passed the House of Representatives, the DISCLOSE Act is not aimed at corporations, fat cats and lobbyists. It's aimed at small donors to grass roots organizations and believers in causes.

It's another naked attempt by liberals to preserve their power in the mid-term elections.

It starts out innocuously enough, placing a $10 million cap on donations, and preventing foreign nationals from buying elections.

But then comes the turn to the left.

The legislation requires a report to be filed every time a person donates $10,000 to a campaign or cause that is subject to an election. The limit drops to $1,000 if it's within 20 days of the election.

This piece of supposed campaign finance reform, which was suppoted by our representative, U.S. Rep. Charlie Wilson, D-St. Clairsville, would target small donors by putting them into a searchable database on the Federal Elections Commission website. Organizations accepting donations would have to place a link to the database on their websites.

What all of that means is that no longer would there be any effort involved for extremists to physically target donors to opposing causes. Imagine if the pro-abortion and pro-life forces were able to physically find one another where they live, for example. Imagine if the tea party movement suddenly was listed as the "opposition" party via a searchable database.

To avoid the possibility of major organizations worrying about being targeted in this, there are exceptions specifically for corporations, labor unions and major charitable organizations. In other words, if you're in the right category, you can still donate without fear of reprisal.

Unlike other campaign reform attempts, this gem doesn't include provisions for expedited judicial review, which means that if it is brought up in the Senate on just the right day, when just the right combination of senators is present or absent, it could fly on through and become law, affecting immediately the mid-term elections.

We suggest letting your senators know that this effort is not only wrong in spirit, it would be another reason to get the broom and sweep clean the Congress if it should pass.