Obama warns of hidden corporate money in midterm campaigns

VINEYARD HAVEN, Mass. -- President Obama warned voters Saturday about the hidden influence of corporate donations in midterm campaigns after a Supreme Court decision this year that allows companies, unions and other special interests to spend unlimited amounts of money on behalf of candidates and causes for the first time.

In his weekly radio and Internet address, Obama blamed Senate Republicans, his villain of choice as the November elections near, for blocking legislation that would have placed restrictions on corporate or union campaign spending after the court's Citizens United ruling lifted many of the regulations.

"This can only mean that the leaders of the other party want to keep the public in the dark," Obama said. "They don't want you to know which interests are paying for the ads. The only people who don't want to disclose the truth are people with something to hide."

Obama has increasingly used his weekly address - usually a folksy presidential explanation of legislation or inspirational homily to the American people - as a way to make a political statement with the midterm campaign season beginning in earnest.

This week, Obama again criticizes the tactics of Senate Republicans, whom he took to task during his cross-country fund-raising tour earlier in the week for blocking much of his legislative agenda. His partisan tone has sharpened in recent weeks, with his party facing potentially big Congressional losses in November and his own poll numbers slipping.

In Seattle, for example, he called on Senate Republicans to allow a vote on small-business legislation when they return from summer recess as part of the message he is building around steps he has taken to improve a still-flagging economy.

The Supreme Court's January ruling in the Citizens United case infuriated Obama, who took the unusual step of publicly rebuking the justices in his State of the Union address as they sat in the front rows. Chief Justice John Roberts later called the comments inappropriate from a president in such a setting.

Last month, Senate Democrats failed to muster enough votes to bring legislation, known as the Disclose Act, to a vote, with Republicans opposing the measure as a bloc. Republican leaders have said the Democrats are only pushing the legislation to preserve their majorities in the House and Senate this fall.

"Americans want us to focus on jobs, but by focusing on an election bill, Democrats are sending a clear message to the American people that their jobs aren't as important as the jobs of embattled Democrat politicians," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) said in an e-mail response to Obama's address.

"The President says this bill is about transparency. It's transparent alright -- it's a transparent effort to rig the fall elections."

The bill would require organizations involved in campaigns to identify large donors, and to make them known explicitly in campaign ads.

As an example, Obama said, "whoever is running and funding the ad would have to appear in the advertisement and take responsibility for it - like a company's CEO or an organization's biggest contributor."

The measure would also bar political spending by foreign companies, government contractors and companies that received federal bailout money. Shareholders would also have to be notified of any political spending by the corporations they own a stake in.

"We cannot allow the corporate takeover of our democracy," Obama said in his address. "So we're going to continue to fight for reform and transparency. And I urge all of you to take up the same fight. Let's challenge every elected official who benefits from these ads to defend this practice or join us in stopping it."