House GOP Drops Effort To Block New FCC Campaign Ad Disclosure Rules
Embarrassing GOP Effort Dropped
WASHINGTON — Republicans controlling the House on Wednesday dropped an effort to block the Federal Communications Commission from implementing new rules requiring TV stations to disclose online information about political ad buys by candidates, political parties and outside groups.
The FCC adopted the rule in April over protests from the nation's broadcasters, who especially objected to having advertising rates disclosed online. The information is already publicly available, but only if one visits a TV station in person to examine it.
Democrats strongly opposed to efforts to block the new disclosure rules, and picked up support from outside watchdog groups. That put Republicans on the defensive over appearing to favor keeping information regarding who's paying for political ads from voters. And, since the effort was unlikely to become law before the election, there was little reason for Republicans to push the matter.
"It is obvious what this is all about and it is embarrassing, frankly. .It looks like you are trying to cover up the fact that these fat cats are coming into these elections and they don't want their names known," Rep. Norm Dicks, D-Wash., said during earlier debate on the measure.
