Grayslake, IL – Republican Rep. Bob Dold is using his seat in Congress to remove a disclosure requirement for “major donors” (Crain’s Chicago Business, 5/5/16). This is troubling.
In a moderate area like Illinois’ 10th District, the Supreme Court’s Citizens United opinion is unpopular. The response from our leaders matters. In typical Double Talk Dold fashion, he’s tried to have it both ways. Dold says it shouldn’t be overturned…while also saying Congress should do something about it. That’s because, as Dold admitted, the ruling “diluted the voice of the average voter with the amount of advertising from outside groups. There are going to be those that say that was a good thing but I do think the people of the 10th District deserved better” (The New York Times, 10/23/12).
But that was Dold pandering less than a month before Election Day in 2012. What is Dold doing about our campaign finance system now that he’s in Congress? The New York Times says Dold is advancing a bill that would eliminate the requirement for outside groups, including Karl Rove’s Crossroads GPS, to disclose the identities of their donors, even to the government. This allows them to “work from the shadows” (The New York Times, 4/28/16).
And Crossroads GPS, one of those outside groups that benefits from donors’ anonymity? Well, Rove’s group spent $640,000 in 2014 on an ad campaign attacking Dold’s Democratic opponent Brad Schneider for not repealing Obamacare (Chicago Sun-Times, 8/20/14).
Yes, Bob Dold, the people of the 10th District deserved better. They’ll get it when they vote in November to replace you.