The most productive reform that could pass the House and Senate right now would be to mandate less frequent disclosure. Counterintuitively, it would greatly reduce the influence of money in the political system. It would condense the campaign season and allow members, candidates, and donors the freedom not to raise money and not to give money.



In Citizens United and more recently in April’s McCutcheon v. FEC decision, the Supreme Court has affirmed its belief that political money is free speech and the influence of money in politics does not cross the threshold of bribery. The Court’s view is a reaction to the flawed 2002 Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act, otherwise known as McCain-Feingold. The well-intentioned but poorly written campaign-reform law suffocated the party committees and created new, less-regulated vehicles for money like super PACs.

In their rhetoric and with bills like the DISCLOSE Act, Democrats in Congress have tried to curtail the influence that super-PAC donors could have, yet their party has at the same time fully embraced super PACs and perfected the ability to funnel money to these outside groups. Call it hypocrisy, or call it rational: They’ve accepted that the current Congress won’t end the era of super PACs, but perhaps there are ways to better regulate them.

"Americans deserve a campaign-finance system that is transparent and just, and information on who is funding political advocacy should be readily available to the public so voters can make fully informed decisions when they head to the ballot box,” said Senator Kay Hagan, a North Carolina Democrat. “The DISCLOSE Act would take a step in the right direction by ensuring accountability and transparency in our electoral system.”

Hagan is right that voters have a right to know who is funding candidates and about the need for a transparent system. But instead of limiting or reducing money in politics, early financial disclosure has had the opposite effect.



Here’s how. As disclosure has become more frequent and more detailed, it is nearly impossible to run for Congress without focusing on early money. FEC compliance is not cheap, and the bigger the campaign, the more you spend. The norm for compliance cost is upwards of $200,000 a year for a big Senate race. That’s an additional $200,000 cost for the campaign that has to be raised. The same applies to House candidates and political action committees, which will spend as much as $5,000 a month on compliance issues and more than $100,000 per election. In the past, with less frequent filings, candidates could fill out the form themselves or use campaign staff that were hired closer to the election. Now this is no longer possible, because the flow of money begins so early in the election cycle.

Frequent disclosure also makes early impressions matter more. If you’re elected to Congress in November, you can’t spend time learning the job or getting to know colleagues. By March, you have to report how much you have raised. Ninety days after being sworn in, political reporters, the opposing party, and political hacks will pore over your report to determine the strength of your reelection campaign based on money. If you haven’t raised enough, you end up on the list of candidates who might be in trouble. Money in the war chest will scare away opponents and calm simplistic political reporters—at first. But a member or candidate can’t rest after that first report, because the next report is due again in 90 short days.