Time To Wake Up the Sleeping Watchdog That Is the Federal Elections Commission

Perhaps the only good thing about the Supreme Court's ruling last year in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission was that it called for greater transparency in political campaign contributions.

By a 5-4 majority, the court ruled that corporations and unions were, in effect, citizens with the right to spend unlimited amounts of money on issue advertisements or advocacy. Eight of the justices (Clarence Thomas being the outlier) agreed that donors, corporate as well as individual, should have to disclose their identities.

In his majority opinion, Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote:

"With the advent of the Internet, prompt disclosure of expenditures can provide shareholders and citizens with the information needed to hold corporations and elected officials accountable for their positions and supporters. Shareholders can determine whether their corporation's political speech advances the corporation's interest in making profits, and citizens can see whether elected officials are 'in the pocket' of so-called moneyed interests."

It didn't quite work out like that. Venal political operatives — most notably Karl Rove, former political adviser to President George W. Bush, and billionaire industrialist David Koch — found a way for corporate donors to avoid disclosure.

"Social welfare" groups set up under Section 501(c)4 of the Internal Revenue code don't have to disclose the names of donors. Such a group may dabble in political activity, IRS rules say, "so long as that is not its primary activity."

Before Citizens United, 501(c)4s didn't take money from corporations and unions because they'd have to disclose their donors' names.

Since Citizens United, all bets are off. C spent at least $85 million on U.S. Senate races last year, all without disclosing where the money came from.

In October, Public Citizen, a left-leaning consumer and public policy organization founded by Ralph Nader, filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission against the best-known of the political 501(c)4s, conceived by Mr. Rove and former GOP National Chairman Ed Gillespie.

Public Citizen alleges that Crossroads GPS is a political committee, not a social welfare organization. Its clear intention was to "influence the 2010 federal elections and to elect Republicans to federal office," the complaint charged.

Mr. Rove himself has all but acknowledged this to be true. There's also no doubt that Crossroads GPS violates the intent of Citizens United and previous Supreme Court campaign finance decisions.

But there is also no doubt that the FEC is completely useless as a watchdog agency. The FEC by statute has six commissioners, three from each party. It was created in 1975 in a quaint era when politicians sometimes acted in bipartisan ways for the pubic good.

The terms of three of the commissioners already have expired; the terms of two others are up on April 30. In theory, President Barack Obama could appoint five new commissioners (two Republicans and three Democrats) and kick the watchdog into action.

But they'd all have to survive Senate confirmation, and there is no greater opponent of campaign finance reform than Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., He could bring the Senate to a halt over the issue.

There are few issues facing the country more important than the integrity of elections. Though he refused public money in his own election to avoid spending limits, Mr. Obama says he supports strong campaign finance laws. It's time for him to prove it.

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