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The DISCLOSE Act, reintroduced for the 113th Congress by Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-RI, would create sensible disclosure standards for corporations, labor unions, and other entities that spend money in politics, Common Cause said today.

Common Cause of Connecticut, the Connecticut Citizen Action Group and the League of Women Voters joined Friday in commending the Democratic Governors Association for withdrawing a lawsuit challenging Connecticut’s campaign finance laws.

Today’s Senate subcommittee endorsement of a constitutional amendment permitting common-sense limits on campaign spending “is an important step toward putting voters back at the center of our elections,” said Common Cause President Miles Rapoport.

A diverse coalition of 16 civil rights and democracy organizations unveiled today a set of principles that should guide any process for drawing legislative lines. Endorsing organizations include: Advancement Project, American Civil Liberties Union, Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC, Brennan Center for Justice, CHANGE Illinois, Common Cause, Demos, LatinoJustice PRLDEF, Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area, Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, NAACP Legal Defense Fund, NALEO Educational Fund, Prison Policy Initiative, and Southern Coalition for Social Justice.

When people think of the filibuster, many recall the classic film Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. But Senator Smith—the heroic legislator played by Jimmy Stewart—was the little guy using the filibuster to stop the powerful special interests. Today, that has been turned upside down. It is the special interests using the filibuster to stop legislation that would benefit the little guy.

In America's early days, a filibuster was a pirate -- "filibustero" in the original Spanish -- a soldier of fortune who plundered foreign lands without his government's consent.