Congress Takes on Citizens United

Democrats plan to introduce a bill next week that will curtail the ability of corporations to make political contributions in the wake of January's Supreme Court ruling, which found that companies and unions could spend unlimited amounts of money on political candidates. The new bill proposes a wide variety of measures, such as requiring CEOs and group leaders to attach their names to ads, much as political candidates do, forcing the disclosure of major donors whose money is used for "campaign-related activity," and tightening political restrictions on companies with 20 percent or more foreign voting shares. So far, corporate interests and Republicans don't like the idea, but given Main Street's antipathy toward Wall Street, some Republicans are coming around; Rep. Michael N. Castle (R-Del.) is sponsoring the bill in the House.